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gerg_861 View Drop Down
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    Posted: 15 Mar 2022 at 21:07
Looks like the Pirates situation has been clarified.

Cornish Pirates owner announces his Sunset Plan to secure a Premiership future

 

After 27 years Penzance born entrepreneur Dicky Evans announced on Tuesday 15th March 2022 his three- year “Sunset Plan” to complete his investment in the Cornish Pirates. Under his leadership the Pirates have risen from a Division 7 amateur club to a leading professional Championship team, competing to enter the Premiership.

The Sunset Plan offers a £2.5m funding programme and security for up to three years for the Pirates, allowing a full-time professional side to continue to challenge for the Premiership while a graceful transition to new investors is executed.

Interest is expected to be keen from Cornish and International parties. This is a strong proposition for the right person or people. Pirates have been in two Championship play offs and this season may well win the league. The staff and coaching team at Pirates have an exceptional track record and remain committed to the club. The Stadium has planning permission in perpetuity thanks to Dicky’s investment of £1.3m in design and legals to get to this stable position. With new investors, a strong team and the development of a Stadium to the standards demanded by the RFU, Pirates will have the capacity to enter and remain as a competitive Premiership side.

Players, staff and shareholders were informed of this announcement at a meeting earlier on 15th March.

 

Dicky Evans said:

  • I have enjoyed every minute of the last 27 years and as we say, “once a Pirate, always a Pirate”. I would never let the team down. This move is my last gift to them, handing on a successful club with a large and loyal fan base, to investors with the will and capacity to see the Pirates into the Premiership, up to the top of that league and into Europe. This is my Sunset Plan, but a new dawn for Pirates.

Paul Durkin, Chairman Cornish Pirates, said:

  • Dicky Evans is a home-grown champion without whom Cornish Pirates would not exist. He saved us from bankruptcy and led us up division after division to the very top of the Championship. His tenure will be forever a golden age for Pirates.
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cheshire exile View Drop Down
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Points: 2521 		Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote cheshire exile Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 15 Mar 2022 at 21:17
Indeed it is.
Dickie Evans has Parkinson’s. His contribution to his hometown club is immeasurable.
Our dream is still alive despite the best efforts of the RFU.
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Points: 3415 		Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote OldNick Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 15 Mar 2022 at 21:17
Three years. No pressure then.

At least it's not the previous rumour then. Onward and upward, not sliding back into semi-professionalism.
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Has there been any development on the S4C?
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Originally posted by corporalcarrot corporalcarrot wrote:

Has there been any development on the S4C?
Lifted from Pirates' Unoffy post by Pirate15:
 
Here is the latest S4C Blog in full;
Has the stadium for Cornwall dream ended?
The dream of a community stadium for Cornwall hosting sport, education, music concerts and the community began in 2009. Land was acquired, plans were drawn up and, in stages over a number of years, passed by Cornwall Council. For example, Reserved Matters approval was given as long ago as 2013. Only last month Cornwall Council announced it was including the stadium project in its Levelling Up Fund [LUF] Round 2 bid.

However, after Cornwall Council Leader, Linda Taylor, recently said the Authority has not made any provisions for the community stadium scheme in its budget many fear that could be the end for what would have been a fitting home for the Cornish Pirates Rugby team, Truro City Football Club, and Cornwall Rugby League Football Club.
Together with these sporting teams the community stadium would have been the home for additional Truro & Penwith College degree level education courses and used by the community.
Let us analyse Councillor Linda Taylor’s press statement

Cornwall Live



“The Authority has not made any provisions for the stadium in its budget.”

We understand that in 2018 the then Cornwall Council Cabinet member, Cllr Egerton, said the Council had approved and they had ring fenced £3m toward the cost of the stadium.

“It is the Stadium Partners fault the project collapsed.”

“They had not provided a sound business case for the stadium.”

We should start by pointing out we understand the Stadium Partners, ie Truro & Penwith College, Cornish Pirates Rugby and Truro City Football Club, are not the body responsible for taking this project forward. Cllr Taylor is out of date with this.

We would ask, what reason does Cllr Taylor have for saying this?

Cllr Taylor must know, as Leader of the ruling party within Cornwall Council, that in October 2021 the business case for the community stadium was reviewed by the government quango, Sport England, on behalf of and approved by, the government as being fit for purpose.


Cllr Taylor who might argue there is no business case for the smaller scheme of using the stadium land, initially, just to get Truro City Football Club back into Truro but that is disingenuous. The LUF bid, which is the point in issue here, was for the original sports, education and community project, not the alternative initial starter project. It is that LUF bid project Cllr Taylor has withdrawn.

“We did not achieve that particular objective [working with HM Treasury] because we did not get the full business case submitted to us.”

Is this correct?


“We don’t have a current bid going through for the stadium”

This statement is in fact correct, but, why is the bid not going through? is the question we ask. The answer is that Cllr Taylor removed it from the Councils’ LUF bid. We also ask, ‘Was this a unilateral decision?’

“We’ve just got to guarantee that we can provide value for money on every project we’re looking at”.

Lord Paul Myners, recently deceased, a former government City Minister responsible for overseeing the financial sector during the global financial crisis, said the stadium would create 400 to 500 new jobs as well as £8-10m every year to the local economy.

Perhaps, it is not unfair to suggest Lord Myners might have been better placed than Cllr Taylor to decide whether the stadium could provide value for money.

Additionally, the 2021 Community Interest Company (CIC) submission to government outlines the stadium business case returns £5.40 for every £1 of public money invested. This was accepted by government.

“There would have to have been the [Community Interest Company] set up to take over the land so that was one little hurdle”.

Cllr Taylor must be fully aware that in 2021 the Stadium For Cornwall Community Interest Company [CIC] was set up for this purpose.

There was not ‘one little hurdle’ as Cllr Taylor suggests.

Cllr Taylor also persists in referring the Stadium Partners being responsible for the stadium when she must know it is the CIC.

One wonders why Cllr Taylor promulgates inaccurate information? Is it because she has not got a grasp on the value of the stadium which the Cornwall Council Langarth Garden Village website describes thus;

Maximising the potential of proximity to the stadium and Threemilestone Industrial Estate for work and leisure opportunities.

Despite this, Cllr Taylor, or is it the full Cornwall Council, has pulled the plug on the community stadium’s chances of getting a government Levelling Up Fund Round 2 contribution to the build cost of such an iconic and much need project.
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Points: 2146 		Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Stalwart Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 29 Jun 2022 at 12:35
We are completely gutted by this. It is unbelievable. Cornwall Council should hang their heads in shame. After a twelve year battle they've finally killed off the dream.
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Points: 1920 		Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote CJB1 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 29 Jun 2022 at 13:38
The "ruling party" in Cornwall, lest anyone is remaining in ignorance, is the Conservatives, who have had a majority since May 2021.  Before that it was the Lib Dems and Independents in charge.

Given the popularity of rugby in the Duchy, could this be a political own-goal for them?


Edited by CJB1 - 29 Jun 2022 at 13:45
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I recall several years ago receiving a severe slapping on this forum for suggesting that this project was always likely to fall foul of Cornish politics. I take absolutely no pleasure in being proved right. Whilst I’ve lived in west London for over forty years and support my local club, I was born and bred in Cornwall and will forever be a Cornishman. This is sad news for Pirates, Cornwall and rugby.
Speak softly, but carry a big stick.
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Points: 592 		Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Donnyknightfan Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 29 Jun 2022 at 15:58
That’s very disappointing news, not just for Pirates and Cornwall but Championship Rugby as a whole. Short-sightedness and self-interest seems to have won out again. I guess the Pirates will be going part-time sooner rather than later. 
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Originally posted by Donnyknightfan Donnyknightfan wrote:

That’s very disappointing news, not just for Pirates and Cornwall but Championship Rugby as a whole. Short-sightedness and self-interest seems to have won out again. I guess the Pirates will be going part-time sooner rather than later. 

Dicky Evans, the Pirates benefactor, has said he will fund the club for three more years (his health is not good and he's in his late 70s). With the stadium in place there was a great chance to attract new investors and sponsors. This has now been scuppered by the ridiculous incompetence of Cornwall Council.
Part time rugby is difficult in Cornwall as jobs are not that plentiful and are generally low paid. Not sure what the future holds but I feel for the numerous people who have put their heart and soul into this project only to have it snatched away by duplicitous politicians.
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Originally posted by Stalwart Stalwart wrote:

Originally posted by Donnyknightfan Donnyknightfan wrote:

That’s very disappointing news, not just for Pirates and Cornwall but Championship Rugby as a whole. Short-sightedness and self-interest seems to have won out again. I guess the Pirates will be going part-time sooner rather than later. 

Dicky Evans, the Pirates benefactor, has said he will fund the club for three more years (his health is not good and he's in his late 70s). With the stadium in place there was a great chance to attract new investors and sponsors. This has now been scuppered by the ridiculous incompetence of Cornwall Council.
Part time rugby is difficult in Cornwall as jobs are not that plentiful and are generally low paid. Not sure what the future holds but I feel for the numerous people who have put their heart and soul into this project only to have it snatched away by duplicitous politicians.

I do feel your pain, but I hope that something good comes of this in the end. Good luck to all involved with the Cornish Pirates in finding their way around this dilemma.
Onward and Upwards C'mon Donny!
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Pirates are a brilliant rugby club with great support and the most important thing going forward is to have a management team driving the bus who have a proper business plan which is based on realistic objectives. I would encourage them to look at Bedford as a model to emulate rather than Exeter but whatever they aspire to I personally wish them well. 
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Originally posted by corporalcarrot corporalcarrot wrote:

Pirates are a brilliant rugby club with great support and the most important thing going forward is to have a management team driving the bus who have a proper business plan which is based on realistic objectives. I would encourage them to look at Bedford as a model to emulate rather than Exeter but whatever they aspire to I personally wish them well. 

Trouble is that we aren't capable of attracting crowds in the way that Bedford do. We needed to move to a more central location to tap into punters from the East and middle of Kernow. We get crowds of around 1,000 generally and 1500 on a good day. Clearly pro rugby is not sustainable on those numbers without significant income from sponsors/benefactors etc. 
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Field of Dreams - build it and they will come was a cracking movie but Pirates need to move on and be the best team they can with the hand of cards they are dealt. Pirates & Bedford are still the teams I measure Jersey's progress against. 
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Points: 1220 		Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Runitback Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 30 Jun 2022 at 15:10
I think this is a bigger comment on English rugby and the ambition of the RFU.

Compare with France . . every small town seems to have an aspiring rugby club with a good stadium and excellent support . . . Federale 1 getting big crowds 5-8k . . then a fully professional Pro 2 getting north of 15k. Federale 1 is soon to go fully pro. It is no wonder French rugby is getting stronger and stronger. Great TV coverage, good stadiums and financial support from Union!!!! if only!!!

Or is there simply not the supporter base for top level club rugby?
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Originally posted by Runitback Runitback wrote:

I think this is a bigger comment on English rugby and the ambition of the RFU.

Compare with France . . every small town seems to have an aspiring rugby club with a good stadium and excellent support . . . Federale 1 getting big crowds 5-8k . . then a fully professional Pro 2 getting north of 15k. Federale 1 is soon to go fully pro. It is no wonder French rugby is getting stronger and stronger. Great TV coverage, good stadiums and financial support from Union!!!! if only!!!

Or is there simply not the supporter base for top level club rugby?

Apples and bananas - how many of those French clubs own/have built their own ground? The French clubs generally don't, the FFR generally don't, it's French local government. So to match France should we be giving the clubs and the RFU a free pass and demanding our local councils build us grounds while we concentrate on the playing side? Because that's the true comparison. 

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We're an Association Football country.
Time the dreamers realised it.
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Originally posted by CJB1 CJB1 wrote:

The "ruling party" in Cornwall, lest anyone is remaining in ignorance, is the Conservatives, who have had a majority since May 2021.  Before that it was the Lib Dems and Independents in charge.

Given the popularity of rugby in the Duchy, could this be a political own-goal for them?

Well based on recent events if the Tories say the stadium will not be built then the opposite is probably true so don't give up hope!
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Originally posted by WEvans WEvans wrote:

Originally posted by CJB1 CJB1 wrote:

The "ruling party" in Cornwall, lest anyone is remaining in ignorance, is the Conservatives, who have had a majority since May 2021.  Before that it was the Lib Dems and Independents in charge.

Given the popularity of rugby in the Duchy, could this be a political own-goal for them?

Well based on recent events if the Tories say the stadium will not be built then the opposite is probably true so don't give up hope!

I'm not sure even a Mebyon Kernow administration would stump up for it at the moment. I'm not a Tory voter so not defending them - in fact I have actually voted MK before now... 

No one's got any money in local government.


Edited by billesleyexile - 30 Jun 2022 at 17:25
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If we have a problem funding the NHS, Education, Roads etc its a tough job justifying tax or ratepayers money being used to fund a sports stadium which would probably rarely be filled. Surely the real problem is the rugby self imposed MSL which requires the huge Capital Investment in S4C. IMO if Pirates win the Championship they should be welcomed into the Premiership playing in Penzance. On the same basis if Bedford win they should be allowed to play at GR and play at another ground of their choice if they are confident of a sell out crowd. Falcons play matches at St James Park when it suits them so rugby should scrap the MSL and move forward based on playing merit.
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