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Put Owls fans first in considering future, says Blunkett
BRIGHTSIDE and Hillsborough MP David Blunkett is a life-long Owls fan.
Here, the former Home Secretary makes an impassioned plea on behalf of all Sheffield Wednesday supporters as the club's ownership saga rumbles on.
At the risk of alienating half the city - namely Blades fans - can I say that I think the most patient and loyal people I have ever met are the Owls fans who have stuck with Wednesday through thick and thin?
That is why, as president of the fans' group Wednesdayite, I am appealing now for all those who are involved in seeking alternative investment to give as much information as possible and to put fans first in their consideration for the future.
There are three absolute imperatives as far as I can see. The first is that, whatever happens, we should get on with this as quickly as possible and avoid as many leaks and urban rumours as we can. It is - and has been for some time - not only deeply frustrating for fans, but also bewildering and disconcerting. After all, those who turn up and pay to go to matches, home and away, are the customers, the consumers, the people for whom all this is intended!
It is, therefore, the fans, who over many years have been alienated and sometimes treated with contempt, who deserve a better deal.
The second issue is that we must not go backwards. This relates, of course, to how fans have been treated and the relationship that Sheffield Wednesday has had with the wider community.
Whatever else can be said, this had improved enormously over the last 18 months - and it is beholden on all those engaged in negotiations with potential investors to make it clear that we want a solution that maximises future investment and, therefore, the stability and prospects for success in the years ahead.
To be ambitious - not only to get back into the Championship next season, but to go for the Premier League. Lack of ambition has been part of the problem, along with a bewildering array of manoeuvres in relation to the financial position of the club and a total lack of transparency.
It goes without saying that the existing high-value shareholders - Note holders and the Co-op Bank - will want to maximise benefits. This is human nature.
But it is time to have a genuinely fresh start, where every single member of the board is committed to going forward, to leaving recent history behind us and to ensuring that in a modern era we reach out to existing and potential fans, engage the club as an essential part of the well-being of this city and ensure that we are proud of how it is managed and run.
The third crucial issue relates to this, but also to the added factor of appropriate stability. Not stability in terms of those holding on to directorships - albeit that we have to thank them for not sinking the club and for the past contribution they have made.
No, I am talking about ensuring that whatever happens, there is a proper link between the progress we have made over recent times and the positive future we are all yearning for.
This means, in my view, giving a clear commitment that our current chairman, Howard Wilkinson, will stay in place whilst a new board is put together - speak out for us, Howard! - and that, working with Alan Irvine, we offer the new young players a prospect of at least knowing who is managing, who is making decisions and that those decisions will not cause such disruption on the field that we start going backwards, as we have done so tragically over recent seasons.
I have desperately been seeking to avoid inept intervention or to rock the boat and cause the kind of uncertainty that would lead inevitably to such dislocation on the field. But the time has come for closure on this prolonged agony, for the sake of all of us.
After all, we are in League One – and this humiliation is enough for any fan to have to stand, as is the recent court hearing over unpaid tax.
Now is the moment for a greater openness and honesty with the thousands of people who have stuck with Sheffield Wednesday through thick and thin; a genuine revitalised leadership for the future; and the prospect of keeping up the attendance which is so crucial to maintaining the viability of the club.
That is not, after all, a lot to ask; but in the present environment and with rumours abounding, it is crucial that we get on with the necessary steps to secure the future of the club and to do so with the fans at heart.
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No, I am talking about ensuring that whatever happens, there is a proper link between the progress we have made over recent times and the positive future we are all yearning for.
This means, in my view, giving a clear commitment that our current chairman, Howard Wilkinson, will stay in place whilst a new board is put together - speak out for us, Howard! - and that, working with Alan Irvine, we offer the new young players a prospect of at least knowing who is managing, who is making decisions and that those decisions will not cause such disruption on the field that we start going backwards, as we have done so tragically over recent seasons.
I have desperately been seeking to avoid inept intervention or to rock the boat and cause the kind of uncertainty that would lead inevitably to such dislocation on the field. But the time has come for closure on this prolonged agony, for the sake of all of us.
After all, we are in Division One - and this humiliation is enough for any fan to have to stand, as is the recent court hearing over unpaid tax.
Now is the moment for a greater openness and honesty with the thousands of people who have stuck with Sheffield Wednesday through thick and thin; a genuine revitalised leadership for the future; and the prospect of keeping up the attendance which is so crucial to maintaining the viability of the club.
That is not, after all, a lot to ask; but in the present environment and with rumours abounding, it is crucial that we get on with the necessary steps to secure the future of the club and to do so with the fans at heart.
Brightside and Hillsborough MP David Blunkett is a life-long Owls fan. Here, the former Home Secretary makes an impassioned plea on behalf of all Sheffield Wednesday supporters as the club's ownership saga rumbles on.
AT the risk of alienating half the city - namely Blades fans - can I say that I think the most patient and loyal people I have ever met are the Owls fans who have stuck with Wednesday through thick and thin?
That is why, as president of the fans' group Wednesdayite, I am appealing now for all those who are involved in seeking alternative investment to give as much information as possible and to put fans first in their consideration for the future.
There are three absolute imperatives as far as I can see. The first is that, whatever happens, we should get on with this as quickly as possible and avoid as many leaks and urban rumours as we can. It is - and has been for some time - not only deeply frustrating for fans, but also bewildering and disconcerting. After all, those who turn up and pay to go to matches, home and away, are the customers, the consumers, the people for whom all this is intended!
It is, therefore, the fans, who over many years have been alienated and sometimes treated with contempt, who deserve a better deal.
The second issue is that we must not go backwards. This relates, of course, to how fans have been treated and the relationship that Sheffield Wednesday has had with the wider community.
Whatever else can be said, this had improved enormously over the last 18 months - and it is beholden on all those engaged in negotiations with potential investors to make it clear that we want a solution that maximises future investment and, therefore, the stability and prospects for success in the years ahead. To be ambitious - not only to get back into the Championship next season, but to go for the Premier League. Lack of ambition has been part of the problem, along with a bewildering array of manoeuvres in relation to the financial position of the club and a total lack of transparency.
It goes without saying that the existing high-value shareholders - noteholders and the Co-op Bank - will want to maximise benefits. This is human nature.
But it is time to have a genuinely fresh start, where every single member of the board is committed to going forward, to leaving recent history behind us and to ensuring that in a modern era we reach out to existing and potential fans, engage the club as an essential part of the well-being of this city and ensure that we are proud of how it is managed and run.
The third crucial issue relates to this, but also to the added factor of appropriate stability. Not stability in terms of those holding on to directorships - albeit that we have to thank them for not sinking the club and for the past contribution they have made. No, I am talking about ensuring that whatever happens, there is a proper link between the progress we have made over recent times and the positive future we are all yearning for.
This means, in my view, giving a clear commitment that our current chairman, Howard Wilkinson, will stay in place whilst a new board is put together - speak out for us, Howard! - and that, working with Alan Irvine, we offer the new young players a prospect of at least knowing who is managing, who is making decisions and that those decisions will not cause such disruption on the field that we start going backwards, as we have done so tragically over recent seasons.
I have desperately been seeking to avoid inept intervention or to rock the boat and cause the kind of uncertainty that would lead inevitably to such dislocation on the field. But the time has come for closure on this prolonged agony, for the sake of all of us.
After all, we are in League One - and this humiliation is enough for any fan to have to stand, as is the recent court hearing over unpaid tax.
Now is the moment for a greater openness and honesty with the thousands of people who have stuck with Sheffield Wednesday through thick and thin; a genuine revitalised leadership for the future; and the prospect of keeping up the attendance which is so crucial to maintaining the viability of the club.
That is not, after all, a lot to ask; but in the present environment and with rumours abounding, it is crucial that we get on with the necessary steps to secure the future of the club and to do so with the fans at heart.
Appeal: Brightside and Hillsborough MP David Blunkett has called on prospective Sheffield Wednesday investors to consider the club's fans.
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Thursday 09 February 2012
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