Dear Fishies

Quoted from Getyourfactsright

If there is genuine interest in me answering anything I will. There is a lot of total nonsense that has been said about pensions. I have not profited one iota from pension payments to me they simply contra / replaced loans that I made to the club from my company Five Star Fish when I owned it.  

Proceeds from the Trust shares will be invested in Grimsby causes in due course of which there are many. The Club has new investors and financing the club is a matter for them now.

Quoted from Getyourfactsright

I am sorry if my presence at the game yesterday offends some.

I have cared passionately for this club for many years and have looked after it and its finances with all the care and consideration within my capacity and have always been a fan and will always be a fan.

Today was the first game I could make with the season ticket purchased before the season start due to being away on business, and it was great to see a performance that looks like there’s another gear there if needed.

Congratulations to Paul Hurst on the fantastic start to the season and long may that continue with a swift return to the Football League. Hiring a manger is always a lottery, but with Paul the odds favoured it being a very good appointment, so it is pleasing to see things are going well on the field and long may that continue.

I am aware of much inuendo and frankly miss information / inuendo and downright rubbish published about me, and my time involved in the club that is well off the mark. I have opted for the dignified silence route and to let the new owners get on with the sterling job in hand.  

Like you guys. I am massively disappointed to be out of the football league. Crap happens on the field, but I refute that the club was run down, or has been handed over in a bad shape. Or that there has been any malpractice in the financial accounting whatsoever.

The deal struck with 1878 was negotiated to help the new owners in their newfound responsibility. I continue to finance the football club for up to 3 years with just £1.5million of my loans remaining in the club.

These negotiations considered the wellbeing of the club, with myself agreeing to continue to fund the club for up to three years upon resignation from the board of directors and that I leave in place for the time being my financial guarantees which underpinned season ticket sales, which I have graciously done.  

There is no other past director that has left the club without being fully repaid their loans. During my time approaching £1 million has been repaid to past directors and I don’t believe that I should be treated any differently. At the peak of my financial support for the club my commitment was in excess of £4.5million. The loans have been described as benign and certainly have been with not one penny interest ever being charged.

It should be known that the club is without any other debt, unlike most clubs which have run up overdraft facilities, HMRC debt and had taken Football League loans just to get through covid. In contrast when the deal was done, there was no such debt ‘NIL’. Additionally, there was a cash balance of around £800 thousand pounds in the club’s bank account, and it owns Blundell Park and has a considerable number of assets.

During my time, I engendered wider ownership of the club with an open-door policy where my contact details were there for all and have never knowingly not responded with good grace and humility that such office should demand.

The Club was a Public Limited Company ‘PLC’ and as such the accounts published disclose much more information than a standard limited company does. This brought considerable scrutiny with the accounts being published, prior to AGM’s EGM’s and at fans forums, that were always well attended and video recorded for wider interest. I embraced this and have always been very open to those who attended and as witnessed by others who viewed the recorded footage.

The club was left in a very sound financial position with 1878 not having to provide one single penny of investment into the club to date. Funds left on account enabled the club to continue its investment of the past regime in ground and facility improvements at Blundell Park, Cheapside and the Wintringham Academy, with major items such as new flood lighting, Led lighting in various stands, new heating systems and showers in the main stand, new disabled facilities and toilets, a new ladies toilet block, four changing rooms at Oasis Wintringham school, new heart and GPS monitors, Gym equipment, new ticketing system, pitch renovations at BP & WOS and the list goes on and on.

I could go into specifics about Academy funding and the boards consideration of proposed funding from Alex May that have raised much question along with other sensitive subjects but sign off here for now!! wishing you all well and the very best of health.

UTMM
Kind Regards John  

Quoted from DB

At about 9.15 am I posted :-

"You like all on here have a right to your opinions, one of which is that you say you are a true fan.

You obtained the £200k of trust funds legally albeit as reports go you were holding a gun to their head. Presumably, this was to enforce your position as a shareholder and you are no longer a shareholder. Morally why not gift the £200k back to the Trust? This is what I, and many others, think a true fan should do given that you have a few bob in the bank.

As far as fans know your £1.5 million is being paid over 3 years. So why have a red line about transfer fees? and suck money from the club earlier than need be. That transfer money could have helped the club rebuild more quickly which is what a true fan would want, and forgo his personal interest which had been secured.

Like any club director you put up cash, loans or guarantees when funds are low, that is not just you but done in all clubs. So as a true fan why don't you do the honorable thing and admit that got it wrong. You could say:-

'To all fans and supporters at Grimsby Town Football I got wrong, big time. I am truly sorry for the mess I caused and left behind. As a token of my repentance I am returning the £200k to the Trust and have told 1878 that I no longer require any funds from transfers; this money can then be able to be reinvested in the club.'

So there you have it John cut and paste and some MIGHT start to forgive you and many won't. This in my opinion is what a person who claims to be a TRUE FAN should do."

In reply to this, and other comments you said "In the absence of rational debate and ridicules perpetual obsession in having a pop at me there is little point in making further comments."

So I didn't swear at you or take a pop at you. I offered you the means of a rational debate to answer my opinions. So why have you chosen not to?

Why do you choose not to return the £200K to the trust, the money came from them through shares. Although there are many good needy causes in Grimsby, the money did come from the Trust members, some of which do not reside in Grimsby so they would see no benefit in their local areas. You made an open statement that you will invest the £200K but didn't say when or give a time scale. Hence, if alive, you could do this in 10/20/30 years' time so please give a definite time scale, also how do the needy apply to you to get the money?

Why do you want the transfer monies when as a True Fan ( your words) it would be better for the money to be invested back in the club?

From what I have read there are many who think you got it very wrong in the way ran the club. I have no idea of the numbers but probably somewhere in the excess of 50% and up to 90% of the fans. So why don't you say sorry to them?

I am not having a pop at you John, so as you want a rational debate what are your answers to my above points. This will give us a means to a rational debate.