A Concerned Chairman

By: John Fenty
Date: 18/01/2005

IT should have been no surprise that we have this tax debt. When we appointed Russell Slade as the manager I personally made a public reference to the debt in the absence of the chairman who was away at the time.

I again repeated this when I became chairman detailing that we had a strategy to balance the books and remained hopeful that football fortune would help us pay this debt from the past.

The debt is owed to the Inland Revenue who have been very sympathetic to our plight, it is because of this, they allowed us to start the season and see what we could achieve without worsening the club's debt position. With a strategy to balance the books, a decent Cup run alone could well have solved the tax debt.

The board decided it would have been counter productive to have made more than a reference to the debt prior to the start of the season. Attracting players, selling season tickets, Commercial income, sponsorships, suppliers, etc, etc, would all have been affected. The knock on effect could well have been devastating to the football club.

The board issued answers to questions, regarding the tax debt, to the Grimsby Evening Telegraph and also on the clubs website on the 11th of January 2005, they included a full and frank disclosure of the club current position.

The answers to the questions can be accessed on the clubs website free of charge.

By the end of the week the club together with its media partners, plan to launch a campaign that will be branded, and give people and companies a clear understanding how they can help this football club.

A successful campaign will rely on an open and honest agenda. Publicised letters, internet postings and correspondence that do not reference, take account and ignore the difficulties that the club has faced in recent years will be counter productive to a campaign and not help at all.

Directors have put them self forward to help this football club, some of the defamatory, insulting and rude comments towards those that help, and work tirelessly for the football club (try their best) cannot be a good advert in attracting inward finance and new blood to the board.

Why be a director? Why help the club?

Well for the love of the club, why should you think different?