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BloggerProfile |
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Peter
Bishop |
Bio
Hi, my name is Peter Bishop and I’ve been
watching Rovers since 1968 and can now proudly
say I am a shareholder - which is something I
was once promised by a now departed director of
the club as a reward for being heavily involved
in the ‘Save the Rovers’ campaign in 1982. They
say everything comes to those who wait…
For my sins I was Tranmere Programme Editor
between 1985 and 1999 when the pressure of doing
a second, almost full time, job ( not forgetting
the fags, booze and too much fatty food!)
brought about a skirmish with the Grim Reaper on
the back of publishing my second book, a
pictorial history of the club.
My first book, the ‘A-Z of Tranmere Rovers’ is
now in the ‘JR Hartley’ category while my
latest, the Complete Record, with Steve Wilson
and Gil Upton, was launched in September and is,
we believe, the definitive bible on all things
Rovers.
I also used to write a 300 word weekly column in
the Daily Post called “View from the stands”
which was supposed to reflect the views of
supporters but was much sanitised by the
Newspapers’ sports editor so not to upset a
certain female Chief Executive who had bent his
ear about my supposed subversive opinions…..
Having spent much of the past 30 years sat in
the Press box having to control myself in a
professional manner I now sit in the home
paddock and enjoy the banter and the opportunity
to abuse referees and opposing coaching staff as
everyone else does!
Related links
Buy the 'Complete Record' here |
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3/2/10
Bishop's blog
Chester: There for the
grace of PJ...
There
was a time, over 30 years ago now, when I would happily have
rubbed my hands with glee at the prospect of Chester’s imminent
demise, Wrexham’s fall from grace and Stockport’s continuing
difficulties in Administration. For generations since the
downfall of New Brighton they had been our traditional rivals
and you don’t wish anything but hell and damnation to the door
of your greatest rivals.
But times change, one gets older and able to take a more mature
view. They have diehard fans just like us (and I know a few
personally) and they don’t deserve the piles of manure that has
been heaped upon them by a succession of megalomaniac owners who
left their common sense and business acumen with the
Commissionaire at the front door.
Thus the old expression, “There for the grace of God go I”
springs readily to mind. Or rather than the grace of God in our
case, the grace of Peter Johnson whose safe hands have been on
the tiller for a generation now and has jealously guarded us
from a number of indecent proposals by persons you wouldn’t
trust with the office tea club money.
Now here I will admit to being on the horns of a dilemma with PJ.
Whilst eternally grateful for the good, nay brilliant, times his
stewardship provided during his first spell at the club - events
and matches I could only have dreamt of in the dark days (see,
it has happened to us) – like any fan I will admit to being
increasingly frustrated as the purse strings have become ever
more strangulated during his second spell of ownership, having
repossessed and rescued us from Frank Corfe’s profligacy.
If Lorraine Rogers ran a tight ship and kept the wolves from the
door during her tenure Peter Johnson, reacting to falling gates,
has seemingly turned the screw even further, resulting in the
thin squad Les Parry now finds himself with.
Leaving aside the rights and wrongs of dispensing with Ronnie’s
services and dancing with the fleet footed and machine gun fire
talking John Barnes both complained their budgets were
constantly being squeezed to the bone.
But then Football people always do. Their concept is that the
game is a great big cash cow that can be milked ad infinitum and
when you look at the obscene amounts of money awash in the
Premiership, and even at some clubs in both the Championship and
our own division, you can understand why.
I don’t know about you but I am fed up to the back teeth
listening to whinging Liverpool fans bemoaning the fact their
American owners wont stump up £600 million for a new stadium and
another £100 million for Raffa to fritter away on a few more
Spanish speaking players no one has ever heard of. The poor
things. It just proves reality has flown the nest and they are
all in cloud cuckoo land.
Contrast that with poor old Chester City. Mismanaged for a
decade now they are in their death throws and the even their
most ardent fans have had enough and staged a total boycott.
Whatever his intentions when he arrived Stephen Vaughan has
presided over a collapse of almost biblical proportions, but if
reports are to be believed he once turned up at our door before
PJ thankfully gave his unsolicited approach and his stadium
sharing idea short shrift. If you do nothing else, thank the man
for his good judgement on that one.
It seems to be a trend in the lower divisions and a worrying
one. Flashy, big time Charlie owners with seductive promises, an
empire built on quicksand that very quickly engulfs everyone.
Not long ago I can remember then Second division Wrexham in the
European Cup Winners Cup playing before 20,000 at the
Racecourse. Look at them now.
Football, you see, swallows up an owner’s investment at an
incredible rate and the cost of ambition far exceeds gate money
and other income streams, and clubs can easily become laden with
debt. Greedy players and agents will see to that.
Worse still, the millions that swill about the top flight rarely
filter down to the lower echelons. When was the last time you
can recall a third or fourth tier club selling a prospect to a
Premiership club for a million pounds? Much easier to buy an
international from Honduras. Thus all the Sky money is heading
abroad via fat agents.
The end result is that clubs like Chester and Stockport are
being cut adrift. No one is interested other than a handful of
disgruntled fans and the greater World of Football couldn’t care
less. Just kick ‘em when they are down.
Maybe the good people of Chester won’t miss their Football club.
Every time I go there all I see is people wearing Manchester
United and Liverpool shirts, but hark the warning. They will not
be the last to vanish into oblivion. That’s why we must be
grateful for Peter Johnson’s support during increasingly hard
times.
Yes, I’d love to see us go out and buy a few players for modest
fees and show the Wirral public there is a determination to not
only get out of trouble but mount a credible bid next season for
a Play off place at least. The reality however is that until
someone comes along whom Peter Johnson genuinely believes could
give this club a better and more secure future he will continue
to run our affairs prudently because it is a damn side better
than having no club at all.
Unfortunately, the biggest barrier to new ownership is the debt
to Peter himself, which currently stands at around £4.5million
(how did that get whittled down from £6 million?) and at 70 that
probably amounts to much of his pension fund.
Every potential buyer so far has baulked at the notion of paying
that debt off in order to take ownership. That said, fit and
proper potential owners in the UK or USA are not exactly queuing
up at the door even though we are relatively debt free in
comparison to some. On the basis PJ clearly wants some long term
resolution to his continued ownership maybe he would consider a
‘realistic offer’ as a homeowner would whose property had been
on the market for years. Better to sell while it still has a
residual value than wait until it’s a crumbling edifice like
Chester City?
So if Chester does go down the pan don’t gloat. Pity them
because it could have been us.
Just be grateful we have someone at the helm that cared enough
about his home town club to say no when it mattered most. A
person who continues –for the time being at least – to give
Tranmere Rovers the kind of stability that our unfortunate local
rivals and a few more in our division would at this moment give
their eye teeth for.
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