Hur hamnade Port Vale i detta ekonomiska kaos ?
Många undrar hur Port Vale har hamnat i denna ekonomiska soppa igen. Det som verkade så bra när ett supporter konsortium V2001 tog över klubben i början av 2000-talet och som lovade en ny inriktning för klubben. Där fanns drömmen om att den lilla klubbens supportar skulle ha någonting att säga till om bara man köpte en aktie i klubben.
Det har hänt mycket sedan dess. Den första devisen om en aktieägare=en röst blev så småningom en aktie=en röst och det betydde att några få stora aktieägare kunde styra och ställa i klubben som de ville även om ingen fick äga 24,9 % av aktierna. Vår egen specielle krönikör med den giftiga pennan (tangentbord kanske man ska säga nuförtiden) Martin Tideswell har på ett bra sammanfattat vad som har hänt sedan Port Vale gick i administration under den förre ordföranden Bill Bell i början av 2000-talet och vad som har hänt under resans gång.
“It began with a dream and ended with a nightmare.It started with a vision of a fan-run club – never again to be at the whim of a sole owner in the mould of Chairman Bill Bell. It finished with a small band of desperate, embattled men who are now, unquestionably, more unpopular and reviled than the aforementioned Bell ever was.
Today, as Port Vale stands on the precipice, we can all be forgiven for asking how and where did it all go wrong? The answer is complex – a series of near-misses, “what ifs” and “what are the odds?” However, it can be boiled down to attempts by a small group of individuals to defy the will of the majority of their customers: The supporters and shareholders of Port Vale – the lifeblood of the club.Over time the “For Us All” motto somehow got lost in translation to be replaced by ‘For a few of us who know better than the rest (and have put more money in).’ Let’s not forget, there was a honeymoon period: A period of grace for the Valiant 2001 regime where the future looked rosy. We wondered how the club could fail with heroes like Martin Foyle, Dean Glover and Any Porter around the place to guide the team like echoes of past glories.
Chairman Bill Bratt was a man of integrity. He was the man who had given up his business to save the club he loved and could often be found painting dressing rooms or building something: Mucking in to help the Vale – a club he’d supported, man and boy, for 50-odd years.
Good old Bill. He and his fellow directors didn’t have sackfuls of cash, but they would work hard to get us some investment. More importantly they cared – just like the supporters – because they were fans themselves. Bridges were built with everyone from the police to the city council, who had previously been viewed as hugely pro-Stoke City. Things were looking up. So much so that the authority loaned Vale £2.25m to help towards the creation of business and enterprise units and a children’s centre. Vale was suddenly a thriving hub of the community – and not just on match days.
Over time, however, a pattern began to emerge. Promised investment never quite materialised. It was always just over the horizon. Potential investors were ignored or dismissed as chancers, property developers or “total fantasists”, as I was once told. Fans and shareholders were told that none of these individuals or groups were right for our club. Not the Texans, not Mike Newton – nor anyone else for that matter.”
Den fullständiga artikeln återfinns på…
http://martintideswell.wordpress.com/2012/03/01/how-on-earth-did-port-vale-end-up-in-this-sorry-mess/
