Fraser explained “This is NOT about accepting or rejecting fresh capital. It’s not about specific individuals or specific sums of money. It’s about how YOU want YOUR club to continue to exist going forward. Within that structure, there are all sorts of different ways to bring in money – but as I hope we’ve made clear, the way this club and all clubs are run has to change, to stop stumbling from one year’s loss to the next’s and hoping there’s a fresh wedge of cash to finance it.
“One word I’ve tried desperately not to use is “investors.” There’s no such thing in football, unless you hope to take a club to the Premiership or Champions League and make your money back, or asset strip the club. People don’t put money into football clubs as an investment, so it’s the wrong word, it tries to draw a parallel with the business world, but football is not like other businesses. And if someone wants to put their cash into a club, they can be pretty sure they’re not going to get it back.
“So if and when people come along and want to put money into YOUR club, we need to make sure they’re the right people, that they’re putting money in for the right reasons, and that they’re supportive of the way YOU want YOUR club to be run. Requiring that you give up control of your club and your destiny doesn’t seem to be the kind of condition you would want to see attached to an offer of external funding.
“We’re operating within budget. We’re not asking this because we’re desperate for cash. I hope we’ve made it clear that we need to live within our means. And that if those means include additional funding, even better.
“It’s your club. It’s yours to lose. It’s your decision.”
“The vote’s not today. We’ll have a Q&A then you’ll have a lot more discussion with your friends and family over the days to come. You can vote by post, or by returning your form to the ballot boxes we’ll have at the next home game. Votes must be in by 31st August, and the independent Election Management Group will oversee the process, count them and return the results. The letter, form and rules are available on our website.
“So, it’s over to you.”[!]65279;
The Q&A then followed and will be online later this evening.