Yeovil Town chairman John Fry spoke to Radio Bristol this morning regarding the circumstances surrounding the resignation of former chief executive David Webb. During the interview two main points emerged: Firstly, that Mr Fry has once again resumed the chief executive's role he relinquished for David Webb when Webb took over Jon Goddard-Watts shareholding at the club; secondly that Mr Webb plans to remain as majority shareholder but will not be investing money into the club - the club will have to live or die on the income the club generates. The transcript of Mr Fry's interview is as follows:
"I'd like to on behalf of the vast majority of supporters thank David Webb for what he has achieved in his short spell as Chief Executive. His vision and his inspiration has already progressed the club into the next stage of our development and we intend to continue his ideas irrespective of disruptive views of a minority of our supporters to which David has referred to within his press statement.
"The facts of life is that people have to be patient. I get this abuse all the time. I've had it for thirteen years. Yes, David Webb is a strong person and he has put his money up into this football club and he was going to support and still wants to support this football club. But when you get this abuse and innuendo from both the press and from a minority of supporters you begin to wonder what you've let yourself in for. Everyone at Huish Park is very saddened by David's decision to give up his role as Chief Executive, but extremely relieved that he intends to continue with his support and help as a majority shareholder of this club. Apart from a minority of supporters, I know our supporters will understand David's problems and his position.
"We have a club that has been extremely successful, but we have a limited amount of resources. If the fans knew what our resources were and what we have to manage with, including our financial resources, maybe they would get a better understanding. We are trying to be transparent in our football club in everything that we do. But there is an element of supporters that operate within these (internet) forums that are not transparent. They operate behind names that do not exist, and they won't come forward and face us with these criticisms through our Customer Charter Meetings. We are a club that has operated that Charter very successfully and properly and we ask our supporters to come along. We have a company to run, we have a board to run, we have strategic plans laid down by David Webb during the short time in which he was there.
"Maybe the fans didn't understand what he was trying to do. He took the role as the majority shareholder but perhaps he shouldn't have taken up the Chief Executive position. Like Jon Goddard-Watts was just our investor, he wanted to do the best for this club but he received no end of stick for what he has done. I want to give him a lot of credit here.
"David Webb is the majority shareholder - he owns the club. He has clarified his position with his press statement. The directors of the club will later today be putting out their own press statement describing how the board see that position. We have however already regrouped and I have taken back the responsibility of Chief Executive. It is a position that I have worked for 13 years, during which most of the time I have worked full time and for nothing for this football club and taken a load of stick for it along the way. That's now in the past, but I have taken back that position and I don't find that a problem.
"We still have 90 percent of our (League Two) Championship winning team at Huish Park. We have a lot of quality and talented people working at Huish Park with a limited amount of resources. Our immediate task is to get back to winning ways, starting with Blackpool this weekend. The strategic plan of bringing in young players, which David Webb was brought in to do, and through which we have already brought in a number of players who are very talented, will continue to be implemented. We do not have the financial resources, both for wages and for big transfer fees at this level to spend. Every club in football is spending more money than they can earn and it is going to take a long time before we can get proper business income streams running in football.
"It is not the job of a majority shareholder to invest money into a football club, because very few people put themselves up for that these days. Our business runs on its own two feet with its Commercial operations and the backing of our supporters. They are a wonderful set of supporters and I hope that this weekend they give us their support at Blackpool and with a bit of luck in front of goal, we can all put this distraction behind us."
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