Darragh on the Tory story, Bond money, stadium plans and bids rejected that suggest Peterborough United have high value player assets

The controversial £5k donation to the Conservative Party, the use of the money raised by the Bond scheme, the apparent lack of playing assets, the ownership situation and a lack of progress with a new stadium were all covered in a podcast recorded on Sunday evening and released on Wednesday morning.

MacAnthony stressed in his podcast that he is a firm believer in free speech and accepts criticism of him personally and of the way he runs the club, but he wanted the right of reply to correct what he saw as distorted facts and false comments.

Hard Truth

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TORY STORY

For background, a £5k donation was made by the club to the Conservative Party in May. There remains a dispute as to who was responsible and how much the individual members of the Posh ownership knew about it.There was a suggestion the donation was made to smooth the process of building a new stadium.

MacAnthony said: “There was nothing dodgy or underhand about the donation. It was nothing to do with the planning of a new stadium

“You wouldn’t do it through the club if that’s what your intentions were. Anyway planning approval doesn’t work like that. Donations won’t guarantee anything.

"I have no love for either major party in the UK after the way football clubs were treated during Covid.”

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BOND MONEY

For background, Posh raised £2.5 million in a matter of days with the money pledged to create a safe standing area, create a Sports Bar at the Weston Homes Stadium and to finance the initial planning stages of a new stadium.

MacAnthony said: "I’ve addressed this already with the supporters groups. The promised interest to those who supported the Bond has been paid. Safe standing is there. The Sports Bar will happen. Talks have taken place."

NEW STADIUM

For background, it’s alleged little has been heard since plans for a new stadium on the Embankment were first revealed a couple of years ago.

MacAnthony said: “My ideal legacy for the club would be a brand new stadium, but it won’t happen overnight. It’s certainly not dead in the water. We’ve already had a finance offer from overseas, but borrowing rates are currently very high. Things will improve over time. Why borrow at 16-17% now when you might be able to borrow at 9% in the future?”

​OWNERSHIP

For background, co-owners Dr Jason Neale and Stewart ‘Randy’ Thompson are no longer business partners outside of the football club after a fall-out.

MacAnthony said: “You don’t have to be best friends to work well in business together. I speak with Jason around three times a day. I haven’t fallen out with Randy, but he has told has told me his current focus is the fund he manages and I understand that. We will address the ownership situation at the end of the season, but the bills are still being paid. I own half the club and any sale has to be agreed by the three of us. I have no intention of selling.”

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PLAYER ASSETS

For background, it was claimed Posh haven’t had a player capable of raising a big transfer fee since Ivan Toney and Siriki Dembele left.

MacAnthony said: “This is just plain wrong. I turned down an £8 million bid for Ronnie Edwards in August. A top-end League One club made four offers for Jack Taylor up to just short of £2 million in January, but I turned that down as he’s worth more. There was a bid of millions for Jonson Clarke-Harris just five hours before the transfer deadline, but I rejected that because I want to win promotion. We’ve always had a great pipeline of assets. Premier League clubs have watched Hector Kyprianou and talked about Kwame Poku.’