2009 - United we stand...

Thursday, 11 June 09, 11:05 AM · Comments (0)

I sometimes wonder readers... I sometimes wonder if this club is ever destined for success and stability.

The amount of back biting and bitching that goes on by text, email and message board seems to increase by the minute and I am amazed the internet hasn't collapsed under the amount of shite that is written about Weymouth FC.

I think we all went into this latest saving of the club back in March/April time knowing we were drinking in the last chance saloon and happy that the club had appeared to have been saved. I think we all knew the path would be rocky along the way, but I honestly hadn't realised how difficult it would be to get to pre-season.

The appointment of Matthew Hale was a master stroke, but there were those that complained he was bringing too many players in from Bath.

The club was trying to pay its bills in full to avoid annoying local and national suppliers who would have missed out on vital monies in a credit crunch. Some complained that the club should have been put into administration to short change these businesses.

The news this week that £50,000 was needed to pay off an immediate creditor who would look to liquidate the club comes as no surprise. There are going to be a number of individuals and company's out there who would might be panicking and wanting to get at least some of their money back if they don't see Weymouth FC as a viable business.

But I still maintain that where possible, creditors need to show patience and allow the club to sort out the mess.

In recent days the message board has picked up after a slow period for activity. I feel sorry for the board who are trying to make good on their promises.

I know I have said that the era of the board communicating though an internet forum should be over, but this statement from Shaun Henessey deserves reproducing. Well said Shaun. Can't wait to see who the new sponsor is.

Well I’m not sure what has gone so very wrong as to upset so many fans and people associated with the club, when Paul and I
made our offer to the previous board we did so in the certain knowledge that within hours the club would be in administration ,now having been party to the consortiums talks we knew that lurking in the background there were people who we felt might not have the best interests of the club at heart. The situation that could have left us with no club and been of financial benefit to the larkers worried us enough to galvanise an offer though it was a very simple and not particularly developed one it was we believe the only way we could still have a club to watch on a Saturday afternoon.

Once we knew the offer was being taken seriously we ASKED both Ian Ridley and Dave Higson to be involved both of them only have the club at heart and despite previous historical slip ups felt that this was the only way to save the club
The full extend of the financial mess we inherited was really an unknown quantity (and this fact alone scared of so many potential takeovers) and over the last three months we have continued to discover the profligate spending of the previous regime and have been astounded at some of the rather unbalanced contracts entered into on behalf of the club !!
We have tried to be as open and as honest as we can we are all known and continue to run our own businesses in town and therefore easily available so both Paul and I have been asked many thousands of questions regarding the club, all of them answered honestly and openly My own family have taken to refusing to talk football as even they cant go out without being questioned about the club
to me this shows how important the club is to so many people.
From a financial point of view we never ever claimed to be the financial saviours of the club , the board have invested an amount of money but are not a financially strong group and have never claimed to be but the amount of work needed has to all intent and purposes overwhelmed us I can assure all of you that every single member of the board and of course the board of the terras trust have been putting in an unbelievable number of hours to stabilise the reeling ship. We have goods days and we have bad days but with the appointment of our manager and his team and the enthusiastic approach they have , combined with the new players arriving the good days are starting to out number the bad ones.
What I for one cant understand is why if any dissatisfied fan has a problem or a query they don’t just ring us and ask us rather than snipe on here or in the echo
Many business owners in Weymouth have told us we are mad and that getting involved in the club will be the ruin of us !!!
Why
All we are doing is running a medium sized company that has historically been run by egos rather than practicalities
As for the accusation on the Echo website that we might make money out of this , please explain how as lets face it this club hasn’t so much as been bled dry over the last year or so it has been dried skinned and sold for dog food
We are not completely stupid when it comes to the finances we did budget for the close season and our staff levels are at the bare minimum and anybody who has come into contact with the club this year will know that it was only kept running by the hard free work and dedication of the girls and Tim in the office , Do you think that getting cost savings this way would be a good message to send out ?
We felt and still feel that we can run this cub in an honest and fair manner and that is why we have worked so hard to avoid administration a process that would maybe save the club, but is running away from debt an honest way to start rebuilding an honest club ?if you are not sure about that think of the guys owed money , or look at what happened in the echo the days after Portland spa collapsed , all the small guys trying to survive with hard earned money owed to them now not arriving,
What has been overwhelming is the help and support of so many fans , ones who have swept, typed , painted and done countless other jobs to ensure when everyone turns up for the new season not only will we have a team to be proud of but a stadium that finally has all the required safety requirements met.
We continue to fight financial fires and are fully committed to do so until they are all extinguished
But sometimes I cant help but wonder about the thought process of the previous regime and the continued attempts to de stabilise the club and why some people feel the need to still shower local media in a bizarre self promotion campaign when we all know history and full financial and legal process will out the truth
but lets leave that to experts and let us amateurs get on with trying to save the club !!
Over the next week we hope to introduce to you all our new shirt sponsors and are very happy to have a company such as we have showing willing to invest in our club
We made a promise at the forum on the first day at the club that we will be open and honest so if you want to know just ask
and back to the debts and debtors yes they are overwhelming but by sticking to our budgets and working hard to bring in either new sponsors or even investment we will avoid administration but no matter what happens you can be assured the we will leave no stone unturned and will use every avenue available to return the club to its previous land owning profitable status
Shaun Hennesy

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