Press
Release
Trust condemns AGM farce
The Walsall Supporters'
Trust has condemned the annual farce that is the Walsall FC Annual General
Meeting. The Trust raised questions which focused upon the funding of the
proposed new stand at Bescot Stadium, and the Board’s plans for turning around
the £1 million debt. Unfortunately the Board of Directors gave only cursory and
unconvincing answers.
Trust Chair Richard Hall had
hoped that the issues raised would be seen by the club in a positive light. He
noted that “The news of the debt was a shock to many supporters and its
management is of major interest to them. The answers that we received today
gave us very little reassurance. We are particularly concerned that there was
no risk assessment implemented at the time of the ITV Digital contract being
signed, despite the club’s protestations at the time that the fall-out from
that deal was unlikely to affect the club.
“At the time of the ITV Digital collapse, Mr Bonser stated
that ‘Any well-run business will always have contingency plans in hand, just in
case a major sponsor pulls out or it hits a difficult trading situation’ and
yet today we found out that there was no risk assessment. In today’s business
environment we would simply like to know exactly how the Club are ensuring that
this will not happen again. We are also concerned that the Board did not state
how they would fund repayments for the new stand, or what security would be put
up for any concomitant loans.”
The Trust will be raising
these issues with the Board, but will be asking the Directors for a more open
and transparent approach to dealing with the supporters and shareholders.
The Trust’s questions can be
found in the News section of this web site:
Note
to editors:
For
more information contact the Trust press officer Bob Barnard – 01922 624943.
The Walsall Supporters’ Trust is a membership organisation of dedicated Walsall FC supporters and has 230 paid-up members. These people are also major shareholders in the football club with 133 shares.