›› ST Trust Meeting Notes

Derek Timoney of the AFC Bournemouth Supporters' Trust met with the Cherries Chairman and Vice-Chairman. This is his account of the meeting.

Today I had my meeting with Jeff Mostyn and Steve Sly at the football club. I was armed with a list of questions and queries both from Supporters Trust members and fans. Jeff started the meeting by addressing one of my most important questions, why did he not convert his loans to shares as stated.

The answer he gave was that following the takeover there was much pressing business to do and that no time scale was given as to the transfer, this is borne out by discussions the Supporters Trust had following Jeff and Steve’s investment. As time went on the true financial position of the club became apparent and it was decided to take independent financial advice on the state of the club. Three companies were consulted and in view of the clubs finances the advice was given to leave the money as loans not shares particularly as administration was by then a real threat. Obviously this gives The Club and advantage as Jeff and Steve would be able to counter any negative proposals i.e. the revenue.  However Jeff and Steve reiterated that as their bid had been accepted they will not take any of the money offered to creditors increasing the payout to such creditors.

What about the debentures I asked and what benefit are these to you. Jeff stated that in order to pay wages, rent  and general running costs just prior to and during the administration period and to fund the administration he after seeking legal advice and thereafter being sanctioned by the board took out debentures with a limit  of £360.000.00 the maximum amount he can be paid back.  In discussions with the board Jeff abstained in any of the voting with regards to setting up the debenture. These facts he stated are minuted in the meetings of the board members and are set in stone. He was particularly concerned as to the gross exaggeration of the figures and payments made by various parties who seem to want to undermine all his efforts to secure the future of the club.

The next question I asked was about rumours stating he will only relinquish control if somebody pays him what he has invested to date.  I clearly touched a nerve with this one and Jeff made it quite clear that the only monies he would receive would be the debentures and administration funding plus anything that an investor was to offer. .

Clearly this would mean that Jeff and Steve would stand to lose nearly 800k into the famous Bournemouth “Black Hole”. That led me to ask if either or both of them would be prepared to walk away from the club if someone else came forward particularly this “mystery midlands businessman” we have heard about, after all much has been made about an offer previously made to Jeff that was rejected. Jeff made it perfectly clear that irrespective that any demands he may or may not have made with negotiations with numerous interested parties anybody could have completely bypassed Jeffs personal desires by making an offer direct to the administrator during the open bidding process. It is difficult therefore to conclude that he was in any position to block any other bids.

Both Jeff and Steve were adamant that if anyone came in even now with an offer that would benefit the football club they would stand aside and issued a challenge to any interested parties to put up or shut up after all it is on record that the bid they made was the only bid on the table and that bid has been accepted by the legally appointed administrators. What was made very clear to me was the fact that the amount invested by Jeff and Steve has been verified by others and sworn under oath as part of the statement of affairs at the High Court.

So what about if the creditors’ meeting goes against them what next for the future of our club? That they stated was in the hands of the administrator and out of their hands.

If he gets the club will he sell Sam Vokes and if so what happens to the money? Steve replied that any future player sales would go into the normal running of the clubs budgets and questioned why certain parties think they may benefit personally from any player sales. Sam Voles is currently under contract and as a consequence could not be sold without his and his advisors consent.

Going back to our mystery man Jeff has met with him and does not rule out further meetings but at present he along with Steve are continuing in their efforts to secure the club and its future as you would expect in the circumstances that their bid bas been accepted by the administrator.

One thing he did stress was his regret in allowing the dialogue between the Supporters Trust and other parties to reach what was described as an all time low, there can be no doubting in my mind that we have in Jeff and Steve two people who feel that there every word and action has been analysed, dissected and in some cases much distorted and they have kept themselves very much to themselves over the last month or so however they apologized to me for this and would like to start repairing any cracks that have appeared.

There is no question  that in the early days they were let down by promises of investment and that they have manfully struggled on to date, Jeff and Steve’s money invested initially has gone with little or no hope of recovering it despite what people may suggest. Has their desire to take the club on any further gone well it has certainly taken a knock but I left the meeting with the overwhelming feeling that they would love the club to come through this turbulent time and now with the prospect of a club debt free and assets back in the hands of the club things could start to be looking upwards do they want to be there yes I think they do, It will require building bridges making plans and getting supporters back to the ground, this will have to start quickly and time will tell but they answered my questions in a very open way and in the Supporters Trust view this process has at least started.

Finally There is and never has been intention by Jeff or Steve to change the clubs logo.

Derek Timoney