Shareholders propose vote of no confidence in Lincoln City directors
THE future of Lincoln City's board of directors was plunged into extreme doubt today after disgruntled shareholders demanded they were sacked.
As exclusively revealed in the Echo two weeks ago, fan Paul Wilson is challenging the club's leadership for the first time since Gilbert Blades' empire crumbled in the early 80s.
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Lincoln City chairman Bob Dorrian
An Extraordinary General Meeting is now scheduled for July 21 at Sincil Bank, where all seven directors, including chairman Bob Dorrian, could be booted out of the boardroom.
That depends on the outcome of 10 resolutions which have been demanded by Wilson who has the backing of shareholders Keith Roe, Neil Foster and Shelly Harris.
And in what is an incredible twist, resolution seven asks for Chris Travers, who resigned as vice chairman last month, to "be re-appointed to the company with immediate effect".
In a letter sent to more than 1,300 shareholders, which details all the motions the group are aiming to push through, Dorrian warned they had yet to offer an alternative board of directors.
"It will probably come as no surprise that we are unhappy with the timing of this request for an EGM," he said.
"The uncertainty is very damaging at the moment for a whole host of reasons.
"Players that Steve Tilson has targeted are nervous of signing, new investment is being withheld by people who are committed supporters of the current board and offers of sponsorship are on hold," added Dorrian.
"Season ticket sales are lower than expected and the actual financial cost to the club of holding this EGM could be £5,000 as a result of time spent, legal and other costs the club cannot afford.
"Finally on the resolutions being put forward, while the four requisitioners want to sack the whole of the board, to date there have been no proposals for the membership of a new board or indeed any sign of new investment."
Jane Powell, who is the company secretary and is the Lincolnshire Co-operative's representative on the board, is one of the directors whose position is under threat.
She has done a stellar job for the club since she was appointed as Steve Galjaard's successor and used her expertise to help the club on a number of legal matters.
Powell said the timing of the EGM has come at the worst possible time with the new football season just over one month away.
"It's understandable that people want to have their say on the direction of the football club but there are more constructive ways of doing that," she said.
"This is a huge distraction at a difficult time when we've had a £500,000 cut in our budget.
"It also causes problems when we try and attract new players. At this time, we all need to pull together for future of the club.
"Lincolnshire Co-operative is a community organisation, owned by our 200,000 members, and we believe Lincoln City should be a community club representing the fans."
Wilson and his group of shareholders have so far remained silent, but their decision to seek the removal of the club's board stems from the club's performance on and off the field.
In the last four years Lincoln have posted heavy financial losses and last year they were relegated from the Football League under Steve Tilson's management.
Recently, former associate director Michael Foley has begun legal action against the club and Dorrian over comments about his failed investment bid earlier this year.
Having assessed their performance, Wilson, in his letter requesting the EGM that has also been sent to shareholders, claims the board are "no longer acting in the club's best interests.
"The nature of the business to be dealt with at the meeting is that the board have failed in their duty to exercise reasonable care and diligence for the benefit of its shareholders," he said.
"The fans' forum held on May 26 confirms the business failed in almost all important areas.
"There was little or no control over the management in the last two seasons.
"The anticipated loss of revenue, combined with an increase in the pro-football expenditure, will result in a loss, excluding depreciation, totalling around £300k for the last financial year ending June 30, 2011.
"This is 120 per cent more than the previous three years put together and although the board of directors do not appear to be too concerned, it should be unacceptable to its shareholders."
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by lincolnsar
Friday, July 08 2011, 12:06AM
“imps fan . not attacking you friend . i was at the open day too . i saw a gym with 3 or 4 pieces of equipment in it . certainly not enough for a team to train together with . oh and one punch bag . also a small room for the pysio to have one table in . then a field that was too hard in cold weather and hot weather to train on so i believe they had to go elsewhere anyway on a number of occasions .it is also the way the board claimed it was championship standard .thats a joke . look at derby countys training centre. that is championship standard. not our bit of brick next to a field . also we was ploughing money into this and probably still are with the lease, when we had just begun to be a club starting to lose money and attendances where down on previous years . better decision would have been this .
to attach the club in the community at somewhere like rustons , or the university permenantly , better gyms . better changing facilities . astro pitches and gymnasiums for bad weather . also in the middle of the community forging links . probably would have been cheaper too . bad bad bad bad business decision and on a rubbish sight too . i knew the groundsman up there and he was having a nightmare caring for the pitches on there . wrong sort of ground alltogether . i am pleased its mothballed now and hope they will do the sensible thing and give the lease up if we are still attached to it asap .”
by Dailyman
Thursday, July 07 2011, 6:46PM
“What a complete and utter shambles Lincoln City FC have become, and i mean a shambles! Barely a squad of note, boardroom unrest and a second relegation is becoming more probable each day. I bet our fishy friends are having a right laugh now the boot is on the other foot.”
by knitH
Thursday, July 07 2011, 4:10PM
“If Mr Wilson and Co plus the facebook group have no replacements for the present board then the point of rocking the boat with an EGM is pointless and only causing unrest within the supporters and club. Does Mr Travers want to join the board again, has anyone sounded him out? if not what is the point of bandying his name about for. The club for whatever reason has been on a downward spiral for some time ,not just last year, it really does not matter who was to blame but to move forward and hopefully lessons have been learnt from previous mistakes.Hopefully Steve Tilson will prove his doubters wrong and create a winning team and move us back where we belong but remember we have no divine right to be promoted we have to earn it. Hopefully this coming season.”
by eatmygoal
Thursday, July 07 2011, 2:03PM
“Why has Batman threatened you? What with constant riddles he might have mistaken you for the Riddler himself, or maybe the Joker?”
by georgegordon1
Thursday, July 07 2011, 10:48AM
“RedImps1... you know the reason why I can't comment on what you call the "PLC fiasco" on this site. Things will become much clearer within the next few weeks. All we want is what is best for the Club in the long term. I probably won't be writing any more on this site for the time being. Let's let events take their course now. Things will only become clear when change has happened.”
by impsfan
Wednesday, July 06 2011, 11:11PM
“lincolnsar, I understand what you say but will take this opportunity to clarify a couple of things. Firstly, the training ground is/ was purpose built (in my opinion, of course). The purpose was for Lincoln to have a permanent base for training, rather than travelling to different locations. You seem to be discussing the slightly different point which is is the training ground fit for purpose. Secondly, to answer your question did I ever visit, yes, I did. There was an open evening when Peter Jackson was manager and I remember seeing a good selection of gym equipment there.
You go on to state that the training ground was a bad decision. May I ask what, in your opinion, would have been a good decision? That it was never built?”
by eatmygoal
Wednesday, July 06 2011, 8:56PM
“Lincolnsar, you have a point with the ground itself that it is not all that great. I was disappointed to see it. However it is a lot better than a lot I have seen and certainly better than going around school to school when their pitches are free.”
by Kaftanimp
Wednesday, July 06 2011, 7:42PM
“"Should the Echo Headline not be 'A small minority of Shareholders with a significant shareholder stake propose a vote of No Confidence in the Board' or am I missing something because all the shareholders with a significant stake i've spoken to are behind the Board 100 %" There you go BigBarry1, that covers all angles now !”
by bigbarry1
Wednesday, July 06 2011, 7:26PM
“Its not a matter of share holders who you have spoken to being 100% behind it.
It boils down to the % of shares they have invested and whether thy vote for or against it.”
by Kaftanimp
Wednesday, July 06 2011, 7:01PM
“Should the Echo Headline not be 'A small minority of Shareholders propose a vote of No Confidence in the Board' or am I missing something because all the shareholders i've spoken to are behind the Board 100 %”