Trust in Luton Press Release Answer the questions, says Supporters Trust!
Trust in Luton came out this week and said that it was very disappointed that the statement by Luton Town Football Club in response to their leaflet had numerous and major omissions. They were also surprised that the Club will respond to supporters but still fail to take up offers from the Trust of discussion, both directly and through radio and TV interviews. The Trust has had over 7000 hits on its website in the seven days since the leaflet drop with 98% of responses being totally supportive of the Trust and its actions to protect the Club. Everyone wants answers and everyone wants the Club’s board to talk to the Trust.
Liam Day said “On behalf of this huge number of fans, the Trust is still calling for the missing answers to be provided. By way of example, what have the Club got to hide and why did the Club refuse to answer these vital questions:
How could the board make proper decisions when they did not know the financial state of the Club, and in reality, did not have the money? These decisions include increasing the playing staff, extending player contracts and negotiating the sale of players. All of these add to the Club’s cost base and losses. These ‘long-term’ player contracts and player movements were signed off by our current CEO, John Mitchell.
When will Trust in Luton get the information it has requested, it is legally entitled to, and yet after five months it is still missing? Why do the Club continue to break UK law after so many months?
Why is the Club still refusing a Trust representative seat on the Board? Why are they still claiming a ‘hidden agenda’ when they refuse to meet the Trust in order to understand its aims?
Why has Kevin Blackwell had so little of the promised transfer money? Remember fans were told that he would get half of the money from player sales at a time, if we are to believe the Club’s statement, when the board was fully aware of the financial situation.
Will the Club have any debt, to anyone, on the day that they move into the proposed new stadium? We were originally told that the Club would have no debt, but now we are told that ‘any shortfall will be underwritten’. By who and on what terms?”
Liam continued “To blame the fans for the state of the Club is yet another ludicrous statement from a CEO clutching at straws. It’s insulting to thousands of people. To blame three months worth of policing/stewarding costs for an additional £1.5m loss is so silly that it doesn’t warrant comment. To say that £13m of player sales income has been swallowed up by operating losses is ridiculous. If the Chairman has invested so much money, in addition to funds raised by John Mitchell just three years ago, it is laughable to suggest that we have to sell six first team regulars in just twelve months. To blame previous management, when John Mitchell and Richard Bagehot were part of that management, is baffling. To say that the Board is not hiding anything, whilst they are illegally withholding information and refusing to answer legitimate questions, is plainly embarrassing. To blame unnamed ‘external factions’ is concerning when the Club well know that Trust in Luton, and other supporters groups, lobbied for an extension to the season ticket discount period in an effort to sell more tickets, and have never asked for a boycott or any sort of protest. Who are these new ‘external factions’ we now face or is this just another excuse in an attempt to cover up mismanagement?”
The Club says that they are aware of the reasons for the financial position and yet three weeks ago the Chairman said that he was ‘trying to get to the bottom of the losses’. The Trust feels that this smacks of a management that have no idea what is going on, no idea how to solve the issues, no respect for the great institution they are custodians of, and a total lack of affinity with the majority of fans. Liam Day said, “Will they be telling us next that ‘the only way forward is administration and the fans only have themselves to blame’!”
The claims that Mr Pinkney has invested in the new training facilities contradicts information that the Trust has. Liam said “I would like to go on record and thank Mr Bob Curson for his funding of the new training facilities and the significant input he has had on this positive development for the Club”
Finally, the Trust would like to point out that, whilst the Club has stated twice in recent weeks that Mr Pinkney and his team would be forwarding a communication to the Trust relating to the missing financial information, the Trust is still waiting. Will they be waiting another five months for this, too?
The Trust would also like to know who these ‘external factions’ are that the Club refers to? Club CEO, John Mitchell, will know that the Trust worked with the Club to extend the initial discount period for season tickets in July to encourage more sales of season tickets. The Club also knows that the Trust has never called for a boycott of tickets or games at any time, and the Club has absolutely no evidence of any protest action requested by the Trust, simply because the Trust has never called for such a thing, not since the Gurney days. So Mr Mitchell, who are these new factions that we face, and wouldn’t it be better if we faced them together?
The Trust has had such a huge response to the leaflet that our website now carries a page answering the most common enquiries raised. |