stuart

Crystal Palace FC
Network Communications
BSc (Hons) Physics - University of Sussex

[stuart @stuart301073]

Heavy weighting on TV revenue, but even if we had a stadium with similar attendances to Man U our matchday income would be £45mil Vs their £160mil. In other words it's the other matchday spend that really boosts their income.

[stuart @stuart301073]

@Patrickspups @mikeinmyhand @xmeganrichards It’s true we have to sell to balance books - when you look at the figures in this picture we are £400 million + from these income levels. But it still feels rubbish.

[stuart @stuart301073]

@runthinkwrite I get your point, I do wonder where PEDs start and end. Baking Soda? Creatine? I am not being silly I get HGH and steroid use is high level performance enhancement, but it does make me wonder!

[stuart @stuart301073]

@Luke_Seychell I think it’s part of life for us, better to act decisively and bring new talented players in, build a new generation. But I'm disappointed- I thought he would be a great captain for us

[stuart @stuart301073]

@PalaceReport It feels like one of the best and most considered appointments we have made. He does seem to have success, hopefully that works out! 9/10

[Football Away Days @FBAwayDays]

A spine tingling rendition of Flower of Scotland being belted out by The Tartan Army, before their first World Cup Finals game in 28 years.

A moment that many have waited a lifetime for. 🥹🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿❤️

[Jim Chimirie 🇬🇧 @JChimirie66677]

Burnham Promised Affordable Homes. He Built Luxury Towers For Chinese Investors

Before Andy Burnham stood for Mayor of Greater Manchester in 2017 he was explicit about what he would do with the region's housing investment fund. He criticised public loans for city centre and luxury schemes. He promised to renegotiate the fund so it would fully focus on the long term goal of an affordable home for all. Here is what he actually did.

Burnham's Greater Manchester Combined Authority lent £578 million in public money to a single developer, Daren Whitaker of Renaker. In March 2024 Burnham chaired a meeting that approved £120 million in loans to Renaker companies in the space of one minute. Out of 11,000 homes built with that public money, 503 are classed as affordable. Less than five percent. Since 2020 Whitaker's personal fortune has grown from £140 million to an estimated £698 million, making him one of the wealthiest individuals in the North West. He briefly registered his residency in Monaco before switching it back to Britain.

A tribunal found that GMCA failed to obtain a statement of assets and liabilities from Whitaker before lending him the money, exposing taxpayers to a risk the tribunal described as potentially wiping out the public funds. Whitaker also received a £40 million dividend payout despite restrictions in the original loan agreement. The GMCA would not say whether it knew about or approved those payments. The terms of the loans remain secret. A Court of Appeal hearing on £140 million of those loans is scheduled for June 9. Nine days before the Makerfield by-election.

The China dimension is where the story connects to something considerably larger. The taxpayer backed developments were actively marketed to Chinese buy to let investors through Hong Kong estate agents. A marketing event was held in Hong Kong just weeks before the GMCA approved a £69 million loan for the Contour development. Hundreds of flats in taxpayer backed skyscrapers have been sold to Asian investors according to Telegraph analysis of Companies House filings.

Angela Rayner, then Deputy Prime Minister, was simultaneously telling the Telegraph that it was a real frustration that international investors could buy up houses before local people get a look in. Her government's mayor in Manchester was lending public money to a developer marketing those same homes to Chinese buy to let investors in Hong Kong. Labour was pledging a stamp duty surcharge on overseas landlords while its most prominent northern mayor was facilitating exactly the investment it claimed to oppose.

For Makerfield voters the question is direct. The constituency sits within a region where 18,000 people have no permanent address and one in 61 Manchester residents is homeless. The man asking them to send him to Westminster promised in 2017 to focus public money on affordable homes for all. He then lent £578 million to a developer who built luxury towers now owned by Chinese landlords, extracted dividend payments despite loan restrictions, and left taxpayers exposed without conducting adequate financial checks.

For Britain as a whole the question is broader. The pattern of accommodating Chinese financial interests runs from the super embassy in London to the spy trial collapse to Mandelson's undisclosed relationship with China's finance minister. The Renaker story adds a further dimension. Public money, lent without adequate due diligence, flowing into luxury developments marketed directly to Chinese investors, by the mayor now seeking to become Prime Minister.

The Court of Appeal will hear the case on June 9. The voters of Makerfield deliver their verdict on June 18. Both deserve an honest answer.

"Burnham's Greater Manchester Combined Authority lent £578 million in public money to a single developer, Daren Whitaker of Renaker."

[stuart @stuart301073]

@CFO4TAG Double Agent Woodman 🙏

[stuart @stuart301073]

@red_blue_review @JHFootballAgent He was manager and Lyon, which of course was the French club belonging to Textor. So I imagine he is known to many around Crystal Palace already.

[stuart @stuart301073]

@SomePalaceGuy @Sumo08112 Kenny Sansom is so overlooked, because for most fans they never really see what he was as a player. I’m old enough to just have been around but didn’t appreciate how good he was. My dad said at 16 he was incredible!

[stuart @stuart301073]

El Mundo … Crystal Palace, Premier League Capitalism 🤣. Really? Little CPFC @kevinhunterday

[Marca Zonal | Data & Fútbol 📊 @Marca_Zonal]

INCREÍBLE 😅

Armaron un compilado de 7 MINUTOS con errores arbitrales que favorecieron al Arsenal durante la Premier League 2025/26 😳 https://t.co/9opI7l4eS3

[stuart @stuart301073]

As a @CPFC fan I find it frustrating that Luton are moving at pace to build their new stadium, but we are just having a new stand and it’s still ongoing.
https://t.co/WpAQQiEkua

[stuart @stuart301073]

@PalaceProud Sadly probably 50% of Croydon support Arsenal, instead of their own local heroes!

[stuart @stuart301073]

@BenClapperton @Jsize18 I think you need to go on dragons den with that one 😂

[stuart @stuart301073]

@GeorgeHilder5 @todwellscat George is getting a hard time here! But it’s a real concern that we are looking very like Spurs last season… all on the UECL and there will be players leave this summer, Mateta had a medical in Jan. Nketiah was off to West Ham but got injured. We will have a new manager.

[stuart @stuart301073]

@eagleeyedball Definitely millwall 😂

[AlphaFox @alphafox]

The flights to Turkey have been nicknamed the 'Turkish Hairlines' due to the overwhelming number of hair transplant customers on board: