Möt Keith Ryder - Port Vales tilltänkte nye ägare
Vi publicerar här utdrag ur en intervju med Port Vales nye ägare Keith Ryder som om konkurs förvaltarna godtar hans anbud på 1,4 miljoner pund för att köpa klubben blir Port Vales nye ägare. Han besökte ett mycket välbesökt öppet möte i onsdags där han berättade om sina framtidsplaner för klubben och han gav ett mycket gott intryck på de närvarande.
Bland huvudpunkterna som han framför om klubbens framtid är……
- god kommunikation med fansen är viktig
- rimliga priser på säsongkort och enstaka matchbiljetter
- han har diskuterat olika initiativ med supporterklubben
- Mickey Adams ingår i hans framtidsplaner för klubben
- Keith Ryder använder sina egna pengar för att köpa klubben
- avancemang till League One nästa säsong är målet,
Vi publicerar här utdrag ur intervjun med honom som lokaltidningen The Sentinel gjorde. Keith Ryder är en 43-årig företagskonsult från Lancashire, gift med tre barn. Han har varit fotbollsintresserad i hela sitt liv och även hans barn spelar fotboll.
MICHAEL BAGGALEY: Tell us about your background
KEITH RYDER: I am married and have three children. I'm a management consultant by trade, involved in a lot of different aspects of business. I've done a lot of financial management and that has led to many other interests, so I have my fingers in a number of pies.
I'm from the North West, near Preston, so do a lot of business predominately around Manchester and the North West, but also London, Cardiff and some international business as well. I'm a big football fan, from kids' football to league football. My mum's born in Manchester so I have an affinity with the best club in Manchester ... that's United.
MB: Why Port Vale?
KR: From when I saw Port Vale I was really impressed by the infrastructure. At some of the other clubs that are available, the infrastructure is nowhere near as good as it is at Port Vale. That's a good base to work from. I think there's a lot we can do with the club. We need to get things right off and on the pitch and recognise there's a lot of work to do there, but if we can make the product on and off the pitch good and get people coming to Vale Park to support the football club, that would be great.
MB: Are you using your own money?
KR: Yes. There are rules with the Football League about minimum share capital in the club. We haven't made a firm decision on what will be share capital or whether some will be loan capital.
MB: But it is your own money?
KR: Yes. I have seen various rumours that I am a front for other people. No, I am definitely not.
MB: What are your plans for the new board?
KR: A number of people have asked me to talk to them about investing in Port Vale. I would also be happy to talk to unsuccessful bidders for the club. They know where I am. If they want to talk about investing in Port Vale and it is something that I think is best for all of us then I have no problem with that.
MB: Would you become chairman?
KR: Yes, that's the plan. We need to put a strong management team in place so I will be more hands on at least to begin with, but then we need to build a strong management team. The commercial department has been decimated, there's no marketing department any more, that's one of the unfortunate aspects of administration. So, there is a lot of work to do quickly in rebuilding those teams and getting things right in the infrastructure of the club.
MB: How will you make Vale a success off the field?
KR: Lots of small steps. I wouldn't be coming in giving Micky Adams £100m. We want to make this a long-term, financially stable football club.We need to invest in the off-the-field side of the football club. If we can get things right then we can reinvest that money in the team.
MB: So you think you can run the business at a profit?
KR: Last year the business made a loss of a bit less than £100,000, and that was in a difficult time. So, I think if we can get things structured right, sustainability for the club is achievable.
MB: So you are not a sugar daddy for the Vale then?
KR: I certainly recognise there needs to be some investment and will facilitate that, but the best thing for the club in the long-term is that is sustainable.
MB: Are you buying the club as a 'sporting' purchase or a business investment?
KR: It's a business investment. It's a different kind of investment because there is a lot of passion and emotion with it. But at the end of the day it is a business as well so we have to make that work.
MB: Do any of your plans involve building houses on Vale Park?
KR: There are no plans to do that. We are giving a clause to the council that we are not going to suddenly knock the ground down and build houses. That's not our plan. I am not saying that necessarily we will always be here. It could be that in 10 years' time we want to build a new stadium. But I am not saying we are planning a new stadium.
MB: What about redeveloping Vale Park?
KR: Yes, over the coming years we'd like to get the Lorne Street Stand finished. We also need to look at what other commercial revenues we can generate and if that means redeveloping stands to do that, then that's something we'll look at as and when we need to.
MB: What is Micky Adams's future here?
KR: I have had some very positive meetings with Micky. I get on very well with him. I really look forward to working with him. His future is safe. We are really looking forward to Micky rebuilding over the next few years.
MB: What about his staff?
KR: That's Micky's area. He looks after the football side so that's his decision.
MB: Can you give us an idea of his budget for next season?
KR: I have already had initial conversation with Micky about that and we are planning a good increase to his budget for next year.
MB: With that in mind what are your ambitions for the club?
KR: We are not setting any big targets. It's about small steps. But this year without the 10 point deduction for administration we would have been knocking on the door for the play-offs. Having looked at the results this season, I think of the 15 games we have lost, 11 have been by the odd goal.Look at how many games Vale have won and we are in the top half-dozen teams in the league.
So, we are not far off. Micky is keen to be successful and we are hoping that, with the investment next season, we can have a big push towards promotion. Whether that's play-offs or automatic. I will be disappointed if we don't get to the play-offs. But that doesn't mean Micky's job would be on the line if we don't achieve it. We would be disappointed but would carry on building and working with Micky to try to get that right. It is by no means an ultimatum.
MB: How concerned are you that you can't sign or re-sign players until the club comes out of administration, probably in June?
KR: We can't issue contracts until the takeover is complete, but we have had initial discussions with Micky and he is going to speak to people he wants to keep hold of. Hopefully we can get the negotiations sorted out and the draft contracts so that, when we do take over, they will be ready to sign. We are hoping to get the deal complete by the end of June, but hopefully a bit sooner than that because the players are out of contract out on June 30.
MB: How confident are you that the city council, the club's main creditor, will support your bid?
KR: They have a meeting next week to decide how they will vote. It was the best bid out of all the written bids so I am hoping they will support it. I've had a positive meeting with the council about community involvement, working on health and education and also about helping the local economy by creating jobs and using local suppliers. The club has to be at the heart of the community. I realise that might take time because of what's happened to the supporters over the last few years but hopefully they will see what we are doing and give us a chance and we can get them back.
MB: So what's your message to supporters?
KR: I recognise that they have had a fairly torrid time for the last few years. We need to re-engage with the fans and have had positive initial discussions about how we can improve things. It was following a meeting with the supporters' club that we announced that we would review match-day pricing. On the whole, people are saying season-ticket prices are okay, but the big issue is match-day pricing. One of the first things we will do is review that. I recognise the number of people attending has dwindled over the last few years because of the off-field problems so we want to work on attracting those people back to Vale Park.
Källa: The Sentinel
