I have written three other blogs in the last week about the Mercury 13 proposal, they can be clicked on at the end of this blog. Happy reading!
Within the Lewes FC Owner Consultation / Investment Opportunity pdf sent to owners on the 24th August 2023, 6 days ago, is the following sentence. ‘One of the key objectives in our Club Rules is to help our teams to achieve ‘the highest level possible’. This is the objective the board have chosen to use as a pretext for smashing the quiet community existence of fan ownership at Lewes FC.
I consider this extremely ill conceived and disingenuous.
Lewes FC are supposed to operate within the guide of a constitution. The key values and objectives within the constitution are self-sustainability, democracy, financial prudence and accountability. Within that framework we must aim to play at the highest level possible, not junk it. This is completely and utterly clear in the written and spirit of the constitution.
For Lewes FC to say our priority now is that we need to essentially flog off part of the club to investors so our players can play at ‘the highest level possible’ and dump on our core values is simply for the fairies.
It says nowhere in the constitution we should be doing this if it involves breaching the core aims of the constitution, which it clearly does.
The above sentence is the opening gambit by the board, and it is simply misleading. The board have cherry picked a sentence to justify turning the club into mockery of a community club.
It says at the heart of our constitution, and the board have always said, our priority is to be self-sustained. Yet for the last few years they have deliberately set out to do the opposite and ignore this principle with huge investments by directors. A board who habitually slated the previous owner for over-spending and the reason for their existence are relying on private money even more than him, you couldn’t write it.
They have decided to mobilise this lesser part of the constitution ‘rules’ whilst ignoring the major critical others and ethos of the club because it suits their agenda. Completely going against the key recommendations of the brilliant Crouch Report in the process.
The fact that to date the Board have not said the club will put this huge change to the club to the owners’ smacks of an out of touch and arrogant board contemptuous of their own owners’ views and pursuing essentially a private expansion initiative of the club so our fan owned club is no longer in full control by the fans anymore.
Here are the 4 blogs so far about the Mercury 13 takeover.
Hoe the Crouch Report is blatantly ignored by the Lewes FC board and its recommendation on improving club governance.
How the Lewes FC board have ignored the core values and aims and values and picked a minor aside of the constitution to suit their agenda.
The futile procrastination of the board and it’s dismissive attitude to fans, owners and members when it comes to democracy and accountability.
The sad demise of the excellent Equality FC by a board who sanctioned it.
The Rights of Fans. 