An open letter to Paul Retout
- Written by Wrexham Supporters Trust
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Dear Paul,
Supporters Association Podcast
We understand from your response to our recent meeting request that you feel that you have already addressed the concerns of the fans regarding the Racecourse Development and that you believe that no meeting is required to discuss these concerns.
However the board of the Society ,whilst supportive of the development, still has several concerns regarding the actual details of the scheme We would obviously prefer to discuss these face to face however if that is not possible we would be grateful if you could address the following issue which has arisen from the above mentioned interview.
As you will be aware one of our biggest concerns regarding the proposed development is the element of risk attached to the football club in the event of the development encountering any difficulties.
Therefore we were pleased to learn, in your interview with Mark Griffiths, that the football club will be ring fenced from any potential difficulties;
You state;
'We actually do the development in a separate entity, and we have named that company Wrexham Village Ltd , and that is where the development will happen, and that is where the loans from the banks will be, and that is where the interest will be paid out of. So it is completely ring fenced from the football club. The football club continues on as is. The football club will still have its own stadium; it will still have its own training ground; it will still retain its assets. The only asset that will be moved up into Wrexham Village is the land for the development, and that is all, and that will be ring fenced within this environment.'
However further on in the interview you state the following.
'Wrexham Village will own Wrexham Football Club 2006 Ltd - will be owned 100% by Wrexham Village, and it is a classic structure.'
This has caused us some confusion and also some concern.
You will be very aware of the recent history of Telford United. This club was owned by a development company that went bankrupt. As a 100% owned subsidiary of the building company the football club was also liquidated. The club was reborn as Telford AFC and is now owned by its supporters.
As you will no doubt appreciate, the long term security of the club is of fundamental concern to supporters of the club. We would hope that there is some mechanism already in place to ensure that the club and ground are ring fenced from any potential problems with the development. A Telford type scenario would be devastating to the club ,its supporters and the town.
It would provide some reassurance to our membership to have an understanding of what these specific mechanisms are and how they protect the football club from any potential problems in the development.
We will forward your response to our membership.
yours etc,
Nick Stockdale
(For the WST Board)