MOTHERWELL moved into a bold new era yesterday as fan group the Well Society took ownership of the club.
A deal was finally concluded with Barbados-based Scot Les Hutchison to buy his 76 per cent share at Fir Park for £1, allowing the Lanarkshire institution to be the first top-flight Scottish club to become fully run by supporters. Hearts were bought in 2014 by Ann Budge with a view of Foundation of Hearts eventually assuming control. A similar goal is also being pursued at Championship side St Mirren.
Hutchison had stepped in back in January 2015 to take over at Motherwell to act as a temporary owner and to stabilise the club financially with interest-free loans while the Well Society raised funds. Discussions had been ongoing for months with the businessman who replaced John Boyle as majority shareholder to agree terms and conditions to facilitate a hand over. This process was completed yesterday with a repayment plan put in place that allowed Motherwell, and their supporters, to move forward together as one.
A Motherwell statement read: "Motherwell FC can today confirm that negotiations between the ‘Well Society and Les Hutchison have been successfully concluded and the club has now transferred into fan ownership.
"The Society wish to acknowledge and to thank Mr Les Hutchison for his valuable input to the club in terms of financial support and business experience, and for assisting in our drive towards fan ownership.
"They would also like to thank Mr John Boyle for his huge service over the years as majority shareholder and continuing support and assistance in concluding this successful transfer agreement. And finally, to the loyal, dedicated, passionate Motherwell supporters, without whom, none of this would have happened."
Formed in 2012, the Well Society is made up of supporters who have both paid a lump sum from £300 upwards and those who contribute via direct debit. The recruitment drive for more fans to sign up to the scheme will kick on again to help the club build a sustainable future, with a focus on donors contributing at least £10 each month/
As part of the handover deal, an agreement has been reached that all money owed to Mr Hutchison on loan repayments will be taken only from a percentage of transfer fee income for the first three years. This will allow those running the club to continue to reinvest any potential funds and secure the club financially before a structured repayment schedule begins in 2019.
Jim McMahon, Motherwell chairman and founder member of the Well Society, admitted it has not been an easy road on the way to this momentous occasion for the Fir Park club.
"The last two years have been dramatic and challenging for the club," he said. “Having triumphed in the play offs we all hoped that the next period would be more settled and allow us to move gradually to fan ownership over the five-year timescale envisaged. Instead the opportunity arose almost immediately and it is a credit to the Well Society that they have been able to deal with the abrupt change. I agreed to act as chairman during that transition and it is an honour to serve the club that I have supported all my life.
“I appreciate there have been different views expressed in meetings, online and on social media about the validity of fan ownership, but it is now up to us to make this work – for our part, we will aim to become more open, change the governance structure and listen to all and any ways to help. This is a real chance to do something special.”
Douglas Dickie, Well Society joint chair, added: “Our aim of fan-ownership has been, at times, a challenging road, but it has been achieved by a great amount of effort by Well Society members, fans and volunteers.
“It has also been made possible by a number of people who have given their expertise and commitment over a period of time to reach a satisfactory conclusion to our goal. We are now entering a new phase in our history.
“Fan ownership has responsibilities and we all need to realise that continued and growing financial support from all fans will be required. Together we can maintain, strengthen and be proud of the qualities and values of this great Community Club. The future is what we make it!”
As of September, the Well Society had a total of 1920 members with 1402 adults and 518 juniors, a figure that brought in an income of £10,000 the month prior. The target is to get that figure up towards £20,000.
For more information visit www.thewellsociety.co.uk
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