Wrexham FC fans set to reject donation appeal

By Mark Currie, Daily Post

08 April 2008

WREXHAM FC fans who want to buy a stake in the struggling League Two outfit look set to reject an appeal from the club’s co-owner for a no-strings donation of their £300,000 war chest.

Businessman Geoff Moss, who yesterday sold his Chester-based holiday company to Thomas Cook in a multi-million pound deal, offered to match pound for pound any cash injection from Wrexham Supporters Trust, which has countered by seeking talks on its recent bid for a 15% shareholding in the Racecourse club.

Currently bottom of League Two, the Dragons are odds-on to be relegated at the end of the season, which means the club’s finances will take a severe hit as they face up to life outside the Football League for the first time in more than 80 years.

Admitting to frustration with the team’s performances on the field, Mr Moss said: “I’m disappointed we have not been able to reach agreement with the supporters’ trust in respect of the £300,000 they have raised.

“So in a final effort to bring them to the table I am prepared to match pound for pound whatever donation they are willing to make.

“If they offer the full £300,000 I will write a personal cheque for the same amount, which means there will be a considerable amount of cash to take the club forward next season.

“The money would go into an independent bank account so that how it is spent could be determined by myself and representatives of the trust.

“In addition and in response to the trust’s request for boardroom representation it is proposed to invite WST president Arfon Griffiths to join the board of directors.

“I hope that if members of the trust genuinely care for Wrexham FC we can reach agreement that a total of £600,000, which represents around 25% of annual turnover, will be made available for the future benefit of the club.”

Last night WST chairman Rob Griffiths said he thought it extremely unlikely that the Trust membership would hand over its hard-earned cash without receiving any equity.

“The Trust recently put forward a formal proposal to invest £300,000 in Wrexham FC in exchange for a 15% equity stake in the club, but as yet we have not received a response from owners Geoff Moss and Neville Dickens,” he said

“It has taken six years and a lot of hard work by many people to raise this money which, by a mandate from the several hundred members of the trust, was ring-fenced for the purpose of obtaining a degree of ownership in the club.

“Notwithstanding that principle, over the past two years the trust has continued to provide financial and material support to the club on an almost daily basis.

“This has included the provision of £10,000 for the purchase of a mini-bus for Wrexham FC’s centre of excellence, the organisation and administration of the club’s Junior Dragons section and the sale of tickets and merchandise on match days.

“We are delighted by and view as positive the invitation to Trust president Arfon Griffiths to join the club’s board of directors because there is clearly a need for strengthening the boardroom team.

“But we have to question why the appointment has been linked to a request for us to make a £300,000 donation to the club.

“The WST board will of course discuss this latest proposal from Mr Moss at our next meeting.

“But I think it extremely unlikely that our members would be prepared to donate £300,000 to what is a privately-owned business unless we were to receive shares in return.”