Yeovil Town director Stuart Robins has said the decision of owner Scott Priestnall to sell the Huish Park site is the reason the club has survived the financial impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The shareholder, who owns a 20% stake in the club, said the sale of the stadium and surrounding land to South Somerset District Council in a deal worth £2.8m “had to take place for the club to survive.”
He also told Three Valleys Radio‘s ‘In Conversation With…..’ programme on Tuesday night that he “had it on pretty good authority” that no bidders for the club, including the Simul Sports consortium led by former Cardiff City director Julian Jenkins, put “any money on the table” despite months of takeover talks.
Robins said: “We all have to remember COVID was devastating for so many clubs, including our own, there was no revenue whatsoever and only costs, except obviously there was furlough and whatever.
“The losses are substantial for a club at this level and it had to be financed and we are still here.
Asked about the sale to SSDC completed in May, he said: “A transaction of that type had to take place for the club to survive. There was always the opportunity before the SSDC deal that a developer could have come in and done goodness knows what.
“That was certainly said by (SSDC portfolio holder Councillor) John Clark when he’s been interviewed a number of times and the club has survived because of what Scott has done.
“There were a number of debts that had to be settled and that was driven by the council. Some money has gone in to the football, but there was some moneys that went in to buying the convenents back, so there was a number of areas where that money had to go.”
We certainly know of one interview conducted by Councillor Clark on the Gloverscast back in May, which you can listen to – here.
Robins was asked by Three Valleys Radio presenter Adrian Hopper, a former club press officer, whether he had thought he might be going in to business with a group including Simul Sports, well, he referred to him them as “this fella Jenkins.”
For your recollection, the Simul consortium also including former Yeovil Town midfielder Marc Bircham, investment specialist Darren DeLandro and, following the collapse of the bid, Damien Singh, the Chief Financial Officer of online graphic design tool firm, Canva, revealed himself as part of the bid. And “this fella Jenkins“, of course,
In response, the director said: “I was pretty confident it was only going to be with Scott (I went in to business with) because there were a number of parties that had not put their money where their mouth is.
“I have heard a number of parties had put money on the table, but as I understand it that never happened, I have it on pretty good authority.
“The difference with me was I did and when the time was to sign the cheque, I did it, as you would with any transaction of this nature.
“There was never any danger of working with the other parties you have mentioned, because they simply did not put the money where it should have been to conclude that transaction.
He added: “From what I know now, a lot of the stuff you read and here whether it’s on Twitter or via other parties simply is not true.
“I know on very good authority I was the only one that was prepared to put the money in.”
He spoke about his introduction to Priestnall via a mutual friend, saying: “My pal, Dave, introduced me to (Scott), I was invited down to have lunch, one thing led to another and one day Scott asked if I would like to be involved.
“I said I would like to be involved at a meaningful level and I am quite prepared to invest, that’s how it all started and we concluded the transaction four to five months ago.“