Oxford City FC supporters and current owners of the club have never been told fully what actually happened when they lost their £1 million ground at White House Road. See below full details of the incredible loss of their ground.
This asset converted into cash terms was achieved through getting the City club transferred out of their playing premises which they had enjoyed for a 100 years or so and to a new ground. The football club used the ground via a lease with Brasenose College. The 15 years to run lease was held and owned by Oxford City Football Club and its nuisance value prevented the owners of the football ground Brasenose College developing the White House ground. The value of the lease's nuisance value was put at close on a £1million by chartered valuers and surveyors a valuation which my Rosser Group had instructed the valuers to provide.
The proposal which had not been officially made to Brasenose College from our Rosser Group was that armed with the lease value we would obtain settlement from Brasenose College. The monies received suggested to be £1million which we believed was the current value of the OCFC lease would be enough to purchase an alternative ground for the club. The college would then be free to develop the extremely valuable White House ground site which they clearly wanted to do. Our chartered surveyors already had unofficial talks with Brasenose College on our group's behalf regarding these proposals prior to the receivership of the group.
However receivership intervened, a receivership which should never have gone ahead as my group had many millions of net assets. Fuller details will be disclosed at a later stage.
Keith Rodgers a professional accountant was responsible for auditing my group's accounts apart from the Freenewspapers Group another part of the Rosser Group which were audited by a different firm of auditors. Rodgers in fact audited OCFC's accounts as part of his role and knew precisely what OCFC's plans ie our plans were in our dealings with Brasenose College. Rodgers held these posts until receivership. It should be noted that Rodgers is Goodhead's auditor and Colin Rosser's personal tax advisor.
Rodgers with his insider knowledge as to how valuable the OCFC lease was made a move after my group's receivership buying OCFC from the receivers for £29,000 this included all City Club's assets and of course the valuable 15 year lease. According to press reports and statements from Brasenose College Rodgers assigned the valuable lease to his company Citisports [ Oxford ] Ltd without the consent of Brasenose College. Basically Rodgers had transferred the lease worth a £1million for which he had paid £29,000 into his own company. Rodgers then controlled the club and owned through his company a valuable asset the lease.
As soon as Rodgers secured the lease and paid the receivers £29,000 he was keen to get the club booted off the ground so that he could sell the nuisance 15 year lease to Brasenose. Rodgers formed a company Citisports [ Oxford ] Ltd and another Good Deal Holidays and ran these companies at the ground for 9 months. By doing this he contravened the Brasenose lease terms. Rodgers then stated Brasenose wanted the football club to find another ground.
Brasenose College were then placed in a difficult position as regards the public, City supporters and of course the Oxford City Council. If they developed or sold the ground to a developer then they would have to deal with Rodgers first to get control of the lease. A worse scenario for the college was if Rodgers sold the lease to a developer then that developer would call the tune and in essence reduce the value of the freehold football site owned by Brasenose College.
The next step confronting Rodgers was how to get the public and supporters placated as to what he was doing and looking all very laudable. The manoeuvres over Oxford City FC by Rodgers and others were very astute and foxed everyone for a while, then the penny dropped. Meanwhile the club was aware of what went on of course when they dramatically lost their home of 100 years and Rodgers sold off all the contents of the club but they've never been told the full story.
I'm referring now to Rodgers next move, things like the hiring of a barrister by Rodgers and Rodgers's other partners to "fight" the then closure order by Brasenose College was not all it appeared. Rodgers had realised of course that if he ran businesses from the ground contrary to the terms of the lease and without the freeholders permission the club would be evicted. Rodgers' Citisports [Oxford ] Ltd and another company Good Deal Holidays were set up and ran their businesses at the ground for nine months. Rodgers held his post until 3 months after receivership. As a result the eviction notice of the club which had been made by Brasenose College was at the subsequent court hearing upheld.
The press state that the court case cost over £100,000 for which Rodgers was liable. This result was however just the verdict Rodgers wanted to gain the supporters into thinking Rodgers and Co had tried to retain the ground..[ see press cuttings ]. It looked to everyone that Rodgers had been knocked back. However Rodgers and others did not want the club to continue at the White House as they wanted to sell the lease to Brasenose and gain personally through Rodgers' Citisports.
In fact Rodgers and Co were hell bent on getting the club off the ground and evicted as really they wanted to finish the lease and give Brasenose College vacant possession.
Ironically the ground was being used by my Rosser Group previously for business purposes for over 6 years. My group had agreed with Brasenose that several of our businesses operated from the White House ground and in fact the City Club itself was a business. The Folly pub leased from Brasenose was a business and the managing director of our american football magazine Quarterback UK together with staff operated from the White House.
Really Rodgers wanted the club removed from the ground so that Brasenose could sell this valuable building site [ situated just a few hundred yards from the centre of Oxford ] clear of the football club ie with vacant possession.
This whole court action initiated by Rodgers was also a move to get the college vacant possession of the ground to sell it for property development and Rodgers could then cash in with his nuisance value lease of £1 million which his Citisports [ Oxford ] Ltd fully owned. It also enabled a move by Rodgers and Co to sell the lease to a property developer eventually Pegasus Properties in order for them to build the substantial development you see today. There was no need for the club to lose the ground and be without an alternative home which would have been provided by Brasenose College's £1 million to buy a new City FC ground. Rodgers then had control of that money which had been suggested for an alternative ground and OCFC were left with nothing. The club had to start again from scratch which thankfully they did.
These moves post the Rosser Group receivership by mainly Rodgers and others were very much against the interests of Oxford City FC and solely for their personal financial gain. Rodgers did not have any holding in the club he was just my group's auditor mainly for one of our companies viz housebuilders Techomes Ltd and crucially also for Oxford City FC. Also personal tax advisor a position of trust he held until he resigned some 3 months or so after the group's receivership. The mind boggles.
In the run up to the group's receivership Rodgers made a few what at the time seemed odd comments such as I'm going to change the advertiser on the shirts I just did not know what he was talking about. It was such an odd comment. I just put it down to Rodgers and his usual intense envy and ambition. I hadn't a clue this was all part of the overall plan to bring my group down and make Rodgers a millionaire overnight.
It is assumed Rodgers approached Pegasus Properties and offered them the lease who then approached Brasenose College and then a deal was done. The extensive Pegasus Properties Development at the White House ground just a few hundred yards from Oxford City centre then followed.
Rodgers at the time all this happened was a professional accountant living in modest circumstances but just after the club was forced off the ground purchased a substantial property in Boars Hill, Oxford which cost him a big figure. The same property [ details of property withheld ] was listed for sale by Knight Frank and Rutley for £1.25 million in 2010.
Tony Rosser
Previous chairman Oxford City FC.