The Poolie Bunker

On the OS within the last minute. American investor Landon Smith ?
Anybody any the wiser ?

Happy new year????

Just checking it's the eve of Jan 1st, not April 1st !

Well that came right out of the blue. Thanks Raj but bye.
Good days ahead, Who knows?

Finally
Should of just let Deadpool exit him.

Yes at last!!

Great news!!!

https://thetailwindgroup.com/our-team/

Gobsmacking news. Pic here - https://x.com/BBCTeesSport/status/2006399139022557256

Theer's not much about him online. He's not Landon Smith the singer or Landon Smith the film producer. He's passed all the ownership tests so howdy Landon!

Happy New Year….we move forward.

He's the one who ate all the pies!!!

Loads of info about the tailwind group online, founded in 2005, looks like his Dad was one of the founders?

Does he look like the sort of person who will welcome the local newspaper & radio station back into the ground ?!

Ban has already been lifted per Jeff Sterling on Twitter

Hope this American lad is the real deal if so fucking get in

What a daft time to announce it, my pizza’s just coming out of the oven.. …

The Devil’s in the detail.

I reckon the players knew yesterday - hence last night's performance.

YEEEEEEEEEEEEEE HAAAAAAAAAAAAAA.
I wonder if this announcement had anything to do with last night.

At last.
Fantastic news

Difficult to do much in the way of due diligence on a private US company but from what’s publically available from sources other than their own website they look the real deal.

See below ChatGPT’s initial analysis !

At the end of the day it was time for a change and we will see if the 37% start attending again!


Who Landon Smith Is (Based on Publicly Available Business Records)

Background
• Smith is a co-founder and executive in U.S. real estate-focused companies such as Tailwind Group and Tailwind Growth Fund — private real estate investment/development firms.
• His business experience is principally in property development, investment and asset management, not traditionally in sports or football club ownership.
• There are no publicly verified net-worth figures for Smith himself, and Tailwind Group is a private company without published audited financials, so precise valuation or assets under management aren’t available in public financial databases.

Important: There is no independent public estimate indicating he is a billionaire or in the top tier of global investors — at least as far as major media wealth trackers (e.g., Forbes, Bloomberg) go.

What This Means for Hartlepool United

Here’s a balanced view of how this takeover could play out:

Potential Positives

1. Fresh capital and stability
A completed takeover (with proof of funds accepted) could finally give the club a clear financial footing after a long period of uncertainty and stalled bids. 

2. New leadership and business focus
Smith’s background in business and property development might help modernise operations and commercial revenue streams, which is crucial for a club outside the Football League.

3. End of limbo
Supporters and staff will likely welcome clarity and a defined leadership structure after months of talks stall and deadlines missed without funds being deposited. 

Potential Risks / Uncertainties

1. Lack of football industry experience
Smith’s experience is clearly in real estate and finance — not football management. Success in sport ownership often requires deep knowledge of football finance, talent planning, and competitive strategy.

2. Unclear financial scale
Private business estimates suggest Tailwind might be mid-sized (possibly tens to low hundreds of millions in revenue), not a major international investment fund with huge liquidity — which raises questions about long-term capacity to support growth, competitive squad building, infrastructure upgrades, or wage budgets.

3. Transparency & expectations
The club and supporters will be watching closely for proof of sustainable investment, not just an initial takeover — including commitments to community engagement, stadium development, and competitive ambitions.

Comparison With Past Ownership

Raj Singh Era
• Stabilised the club financially after previous owners.
• Oversaw promotion back to the Football League in 2021.
• However, his later years were marked by internal disagreements, delayed communication, and stalled takeover attempts. 

Landon Smith Ownership
• A completed takeover gives the club a reset and new direction.
• But Smith’s football track record is not established publicly.
• Success will depend on investment scale, strategic hires, and alignment with fan/community.

Bottom Line

The official takeover by Landon Smith is now confirmed by Hartlepool United’s own website. 
This is a significant step forward from months of stalled talks and unclear ownership status. However:
• Smith is not yet a known figure in football ownership circles, and his financial capacity beyond the initial purchase is not transparent.
• The success of this move will hinge on whether the new ownership can commit consistent investment, football expertise, and community engagement.

In other words:
A positive structural shift — but not automatically a guaranteed sporting turnaround.

Apparently he looked at other clubs and picked ours, hopefully he's taken advice from other US owners and their advisors and can hit the ground running.

But what is guaranteed in football….nothing, but it is a positive move for the club and supporters

Owning football clubs is the in thing in the US it seems. No doubt brought about by the whole Wrexham netflix thing and Pools being relatively cheap and a decent history will have helped.

It is possible that one can make a small fortune out of owning a football club, as long as you start with a large fortune.

True but the Wrexham owners have made an even larger fortune by combining the takeover with a Netflix deal. The world has changed and there are new revenue streams.

Reynolds has made money out of Wrexham but you're right to be successful you need to be a rich persons plaything not an investment asset.

Looking at the portfolio of the business they have expanded a lot in the last 5 years, he has have been in the realty business since 2008. Starting out in a very profitable market, buying up college housing to rent out. Head office is just 2 n half hours north east of me. If i had to guess i would say he wants something that he dump can money into so he can show little profit on his portfolio, that way he does not pay much tax here in the u.s. Although its really hard to determine his wealth as a group they own close to 100 properties. 60 of those are college apartments and 10 pretty expensive apartments in several states. Employing over 50 people. He seems like a smart guy. Time will tell

CONGRATULATIONS GUYS.

As a Darlo fan I wish you well and I'm glad that singh has at last gone.

Cheers mate. See Darlo are back in the NLN play-off places. Bit of a yo-yo season but they're on the up again.

Oh theres an extra few rounds added to tonight!

Minnesota based I see.

What a way to start the new year!

Not convinced but only action and time will tell.

I'm excited- not because he potentially has pots of cash to plough into our club but because I reckon (from that pic that Flying Hogans posted) he wears a rug!

Welcome to Pools Landon- your life has just changed forever.
(Please be nice and NOT a shithouse ) You will have our unwavering collective backing for the foreseeable!
I would love it (LOVE IT)- if he turned up at the Vic, in the General Lee!

Let's all show a bit of patience.

Championship by 2030 then!

Are they into Real Estate, Snowys Spooooky Dream might well come true

Millhouse Masterplan back on with Vic Redevelopment!

Any truth in the rumour he plans to develop Old Town and Little India as prime real estate.

That long ……….

we just need to be totally positive on this takeover as it could be the last chance we might get to be a league club again. nothing much could be worse than the last few years. like yank businessmen or not failure is not part of their vocabulary.

I see in a press release that he is "delighted to have purchased Liverpool for such a reasonable price"

Will be interesting to see how this goes and how their approach differs from Raj. Hopefully get some comms from them soon on their intentions and plans. This season probably a write off as far as going up now, but in an ideal world York/Carlisle go up this year and things look a lot more open next year.

Pleased to have Raj gone, and as said above they’ve passed all the tests. But how much does that mean given some of the cowboys we’ve seen (and had owning our own club in the past)? The cynic in me worries that these guys are just looking to gain a bit of money from it, or potentially something to do with trying to buy the ground and re-develop for their business. But the optimist in me says we’re definitely going to be a football league club again in the not so distant future. Get us out of this shithole league and you’ll be alright by me, fellas.

one thing that will help him regarding fans is we are not a self entitled bunch like some are who will expect the earth and feel the club needs to be playing in the championship in X number of years. just getting back into the league is our main wish, staying there and enything else would be a big bonus.

Don’t think we will get a Netflix deal, that ship has sailed. Guess we will have to settle for Amazon

I imagine buying the ground will be on their agenda but in the past the council have always refused.

They are in the same business as the Stockport owner i believe.

“Approach”. Well the bans have been lifted, So thats a good start.

i,d bet many others have thought of that possibility. i,d say thank god we do not own the ground and the council refuse point blank to sell it to him. its not as if there is no room to expand the vic if that became a need as it aint kenilworth road. all councils now need money and like everyone they,ll have their price. the big problem is only poolies are bothered about the vic and those with no interest in football or pools which is the majority of the town and every town for that matter will have no interest what will happen to the future of the place.

Glad you have finally seen the back of Singh. We have been stung by property developers buying us before too, George Houghton springs to mind. Hopefully he’s a genuine bloke and not another wrong’un.

Why approach in quotations? They’ve been in the door less than a day we don’t know what they’re going to be like. Lifting the bans is the biggest slam dunk way to gain good faith, but 6 months from now they could be running a North Korean-style regime for all we know.

its hard to imagine anyone having to go thousands of miles from home to just sting a football club when he could do something shady closer to home. the worst of all aspects could be if he gets bored with his new toy quickly and wants out. i doubt he would have got pools at a new years bargain price either and how much of a hit would he be prepared to take if his interest does wain.