Silence is golden, so the saying goes. In the case of Dundee Football Cllub silence is indeed golden, for Peter Marr !!
It is our belief that Peter Marr is not a fit or proper person to be a director of Dundee FC (or any other company) having run up debts in excess of £23million and now we find his other companies are in deep financial trouble with the receiver being called in.
Despite this we have continued silence with regard to the debt restructuring and the way ahead for our 114 year old football club. As fans how long are we going to put up with this charade?
We at Dundee Mad have wholeheartedly supported Dee4Life from its early beginnnings but we feel now the time is right for a change of direction. No longer can we accept that a restructuring deal is around the next corner. We have been getting told this for over 9 months now.
Earlier this month we contacted Dee4Life with regard to the £152,000 raised by the fans to buy shares in a debt free football club. We asked that if the deal was not to be finalised by 28th February could we have our donations back in order that we could return identifiable monies to those who had contributed.
Here is a copy of that email in its entirety:-
"Gentlemen,
Due to the delay in implementing the "debt free" Dundee FC scenario we have been having much debate and discussion about how we progress from here. Dundee Mad have been fully supportive of everything Dee4Life have done and are still doing but we have serious problems as individuals and as a group with the conduct and speed of movement of the Board of Directors of Dundee Football Club.
Back in May 2006 we were given the details of how, with everyone's support, we could become a debt free club with the Trust having a major shareholding in Dundee FC. To date neither has been delivered.
We would like to make it clear that we in no way blame Dee4Life for this scenario and in fact remain proud to have helped and in awe of the effort and enthusiasm with which all involved with the Trust have tried their best to keep our club alive.
That said we can no longer stand by and be told week after week that something is imminent.
In view of this we have made the decision to formally request the return of our donations to the campaign if the debt free Dundee FC has not been delivered as promised by February 28th 2007.
This decision has not been taken lightly, and is designed to serve two purposes. Firstly, that our large individual donators can have their money returned to them so that they can decide as individuals whether they want to continue support in a financial sense and secondly so that the Board of Directors of Dundee FC can see that we as fans are not happy. We would expect that our Trust Chairman will convey this move to the Board at Dens Park.
We would like to make it clear again that our preferred situation is that the deal is signed, sealed and delivered by February 28th and that this move will not be necessary.
We hope that everyone at Dee4Life understands the motives and intentions in this email and would like to assure you all of our support at all times.
Regards
Dundee Mad "
To date we have received no response to our email and with the 28th fast approaching we do not expect to see a debt free Dundee FC in the near future.
With Peter Marr's other businesses going into receivership and ownership of the club in doubt the least we would expect is a statement of intent from Dee4Life with regard to the way ahead. It is our understanding that legal representations have been made to find out who actually runs the club now.
It's time to clearly inform the membership exactly what is going on and what the committee feels is the way ahead.
We are prepared to back any bid to take control of the club but are not prepared for a continued impasse and expect that Dee4Life could reach out to the members within 10 days. If this does not happen we will be prepared to look at other means of direct action to ensure Peter Marr has no future at the club. All Dundee fans deserve much better than the current situation and it's time for action.