SPECIAL REPORT: High stakes at the Oxford United poker table - but who holds the aces?

The powerful statement from the club’s board earlier this week made clear their position.

Unless they can get some answers, and quickly, there is a very serious risk that the time, money and efforts of Darryl Eales over the past two-and-a-half years to get the U’s climbing back up the footballing ladder could be in vain if the club is forced to go ahead with their threat and scale back its ambitions.

United are calling for Firoz Kassam to back up his statement in October when he said he wanted to sell the stadium which bears his name and make it a community-based asset for the security of the football club.

The U’s have been kept out of talks with supporters’ group OxVox and were clearly unimpressed with a statement on Saturday, saying heads of terms could be agreed by the end of the season.

That, they feel, is too long and warned if these negotiations are allowed to drag out, the club’s future could be in jeopardy.

Sports editor Mark Edwards puts himself in the position of each of the four ‘players’ in a high-level stakes game, where each has plenty to gain, but only one – Oxford United – has a lot to lose.

Oxford United

THEY have made their views clear this week, but are very much in the hands of others.

Under the stewardship of Darryl Eales, they have developed and progressed nearly all aspects of the club – most notably on the pitch where they won promotion from League Two and are well on the way to establishing themselves in the division above.

But this comes at a price. Eales went public and revealed he has put in more than £8m during his two-and-a-half years in charge.

Crowds have risen by more than 50 per cent and the club’s style of football – under the leadership of manager Michael Appleton – has drawn praise from the higher echelons of the game.

But there is only so far they can go under the current stadium arrangement.

And right now, another promotion – to the Championship – could be a financial disaster.

United looked at the possibility of putting in a temporary fourth stand, for which they got the necessary approval from the authorities and agreed to pay in full, only for landlord Firoz Kassam to refuse permission.

To compete at the higher level, United would need to dramatically increase their playing budget – maybe by around 50 per cent – but would only be able to claw a fraction of this cost back through extra ticket sales and revenue, which is their only source of income.

Their statement on Monday highlights the frustration of those at the club.

If a deal can be done, or indeed is likely to be done, great. But they are not aware of it.

If it cannot, they need to know so they can come up with another plan for the future – because the longer nothing happens, the greater the club’s debt and the lower their ambitions are forced to become.

If Mr Kassam sets out in no uncertain terms what it is he requires from the club/OxVox/council – whoever – for a deal to happen, everyone would know whether there is the possibility of a sale going ahead.

If those criteria cannot be met, the club must quickly talk to the authorities about the possibility of moving elsewhere in order to retain their ambitions of progression.

Either way, not knowing will hold them back and it will be a disaster if all the good work over the last few years is undone.

Mr Kassam said in October he wanted to do a deal for the ‘future security of the football club’, yet those in the club would suggest there is little evidence of this.

It could mean the club’s position is now the most vulnerable it has been since their move to the stadium in 2001.

OxVox

THE supporters’ trust have watched on as previous United owners have tried and failed to complete a deal to buy the stadium.

As a result, they decided to take a different approach – the softly-softly way – and to their credit are arguably further down the line than anyone else has been with Firoz Kassam.

They took the decision that the best way to make progress with talks is to not involve Oxford United.

It was their statement in October that made public their intentions, although it was only at the weekend that they were able to shed more light on discussions.

The cynic might suggest their lack of clout – they do only have around 800 signed-up members – raises questions about how they would back up with talk with financial muscle.

In truth, only they know how much progress has been made and how positive talks have been – and of course there is always confidentiality when a deal is trying to be struck.

Oxford United are clearly appreciative of their efforts in trying to negotiate a deal, but unhappy with the speed of progress.

That potentially presents OxVox – under the stewardship of Jeremy Faulkner, pictured – with a dilemma of whether they carry on as they have been, or try to put more pressure on Mr Kassam.

The club will ultimately have to be involved in discussions at some point as a potential tenant, but the timing of when this might happen will be of much deliberation.

Certainly criticism of their efforts is unjust, but what next?

City Council

AS MUCH as Firoz Kassam has the best hand, the city council is sure to prove the key to a deal being done.

The council has the power to say ‘yea or nay’ to the demands of the ground’s owner in trying to strike an agreement.

It appears the win-win situation is they help broker a deal which will see the stadium sold and become community-based, ridding Oxford United of huge costs while giving Mr Kassam the green light for developing surrounding land for housing – which in turn benefits the whole county.

It is, of course, not that easy.

Mr Kassam is a very successful businessman and will only sell if he was getting a good deal – probably a better deal than he should.

The council has an urgent need for more affordable housing and while they would, I am sure, be keen to strike an agreement, they simply cannot pay over the odds and throw money at a solution when they are having to make substantial cuts elsewhere due to budget issues.

Having been heavily criticised for failing to strike the best-possible deal when selling the 10-acre plot at Minchery Farm to Mr Kassam for £1.294million in 2001, the authority will not be wanting a repeat.

However, now is a good time to try to reach an agreement on any possible areas for redevelopment with the council in the middle of reviewing its Local Plan – the blueprint for development across the city.

City council leader Bob Price, pictured, has said previously the council would consider to put money towards an agreement if there is a solid case for doing so.

But just how far are they prepared to go in order to strike a deal?

Firoz Kassam

LET’S make no mistake, Firoz Kassam holds all the trump cards.

He has a regular income from renting out the stadium to Oxford United, makes money from the conference facilities and if you were him, why would you sell unless you were getting a very good deal?

However, Mr Kassam went public in October, stating he wanted the stadium to be a community-based facility for the ‘future security of the football club and to benefit the local community’.

That gave everyone hope, but since then he is the only ‘player’ to have kept his counsel and not gone public with any views, presumably because he feels he does not need to.

Clearly if there is a deal to be struck, it would have to be on his terms.

And that is the main obstacle to overcome.

Having negotiated a very good deal when the club moved to their new home in 2001, nobody doubts Mr Kassam’s capabilities as a businessman.

Does he want to be popular? Yes, ideally I am sure he does.

But most of all, he wants to be successful. And if this comes at the cost of the former, so be it.

Your bank balance does not increase because of popularity.

In any business deal you would start high and be open to negotiation in order to get an acceptable conclusion.

The big question is just how much is he willing to waver from his demands – whatever they might be.

But in any case, he is the winner here – either making money from a sale, or continuing to pull in rent from Oxford United and retaining his land.