Yeovil Town director Stuart Robins has said he is “working on taking the necessary steps to put this football club on the correct path” – but is still unable to update supporters on the future direction of the club.
The shareholder, who owns a 20% stake in the club alongside majority shareholder Scott Priestnall, apologised to supporters for a disastrous season which has seen them relegation to the sixth tier of English football, National League South, for next season.
Writing the matchday programme ahead of today’s final home game of the season against Oldham Athletic, he said: “Looking forward, we are working on taking the necessary steps to put this football club on the correct path. As soon as I am able to, I will provide a detailed update on club matters. I appreciate you have all been extremely patient over the past few years, and once again, I thank you for that.”
The comments following years of uncertainty about the ownership at Huish Park with Priestnall not seen at the club for almost a year and owner-in-waiting Matt Uggla on a self-imposed ban on speaking since his outburst against manager Mark Cooper earlier this month – see here.
We are now almost two months since the “stewardship” of SU Glovers, a company led by Uggla and his mother, Julie-Anne, supported by former England rugby player Paul Sackey, was announced and, despite repeated promises to the contrary, it shows no sign of being resolved.
Since relegation was confirmed in the week, a deafening silence was only broken by a statement from club captain (and the only true leader in the building) Josh Staunton – read that in full here.
In his pre-match press conference, Cooper referred to the fact there may be more than one consortium in the running to take Priestnall’s 72% majority shareholding. You can read more about that – here.
In his notes, Robins added: “I’d like to open my notes with a thank you and an apology. This season has been difficult, we can’t look at it any other way, but despite that your support has remained; I thank each and every one of you all. After the game against Eastleigh, I would never have thought we’d be in the position we are now. I realise I am privileged to be a shareholder and director of the club I love, and I take my responsibility to you all very seriously but firstly I’m a fan, and like it does for all of you, this hurts me deeply. It is now my responsibility to help build Yeovil Town back to where we all want it to be.
“I want to publicly thank and commend Mark Cooper, Josh Staunton and the rest of the Yeovil Town players & staff for their conduct on Tuesday evening. In a night that was bitterly disappointing, both Mark and Josh stood up and gave powerful interviews which truly highlighted the feeling around the club. I can assure you they care deeply and their sentiment is shared by me. We have to be better as a collective to start rebuilding in the National League South next season.“
You can read the director’s statement in full – here.
From us here at Gloverscast, we appreciate Stuart making an apology and hope that whatever he is “working on” will lead to a better future at the club.
However, it is those in control of the majority shareholding – be that Priestnall or Uggla – that needs to speak and give answers on the direction of the football club they claim to care for.