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Winter cold on Dons role
THE former elected Mayor of Doncaster claimed last night that he has no ambitions to take charge of the town's ailing rugby league club. Martin Winter feels that it wouldn't be in the club's best interests were he to take a prominent role in any successful takeover bid based on his experiences in local politics.
He told The Star: "What I have said to members of the business consortium interested in taking over the club is that I will talk to people. But I am not going to take a formal public role because if I did you may get some people wanting to try and destroy the club."
"As a former player, and former mayor of Doncaster, I'm very sad to see the club in its current situation.
"I've been trying to encourage investors to come forward. I've just spoken to another businessman who wants to come to the next meeting, so the interest is there."
Winter said that he would prefer not to go into details about the members of the group, or the amount of money that they were prepared to inject into the club - thought to be less the amount former chairman Craig Harrison pumped in last season.
"The consortium is a group of business people who want to get involved in Doncaster Rugby League Club," he said.
"They are a variety of different people with different interests.
"Some people I know, some of them are Dons fans and some just Doncaster business people.
"As a consortium, they are very keen, and very serious, about supporting Doncaster and, as a group, they are willing to commit to a three-year funding package."
He appreciated that a lack of progress had led to some fans believing that any rescue bid would not now happen, but blamed other parties for the delay.
"Until the administrator starts talking to interested parties, and showing them the books and explaining the process involved in taking over the club, the consortium can't move any further forward," he said.
Winter said that the consortium, who have held discussions with the Rugby Football League, had e-mailed the administrator last Wednesday asking for information and had yet to receive it.
The consortium met last night, but Winter, who chaired the meeting, denied a newspaper report that the purpose of the meeting was to make a final decision on whether to press ahead with a takeover.
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Friday 10 February 2012
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