Chaytow makes a statement

Last updated : 29 July 2003 By Dave Moore
Brian Chaytow has spoken about his new involvement with the club. It appears that he will be a more ‘low key’ Chairman than his predesessor, who’s brash style has been well documented and does not need repeating.

Mr. Chaytow, who took over without so much as a press conference said, “I won’t work from a distance or over the telephone, I will be at the club almost every day. That’s certainly true for the first few weeks or months because there’s a lot of work to do if we are going to move forward. I’m investing some money myself – I’d rather not say how much – and will be investing more at a later stage. But I will also work closely with Neil Joy on the financial side. We very much need people to come forward and offer their help. Though I’m sure the club will survive, there’s a long road ahead to put us back into a healthy position. Local companies are more than welcome to approach us and the Supporters’ Trust also have a big role in this. Fans’ involvement is a good thing and I was gobsmacked by the number of people who turned out (for the All-Star match) a couple of weeks ago. They have been so loyal, especially when most people didn’t really know what was happening – they just came to show their support. This is a great club with a great tradition and hopefully everyone will get behind us, just as the players got behind Iain Dowie when they weren’t being paid. I’m very pleased to be Chairman, but I’ll gladly step aside if someone wants to give us £10 million!”


Future plans include the club buying back the 20 acre Boundary Park site with some of the land earmarked for development on Sheepfoot Lane but Mr. Chaytow explained, “I’ve heard it said that I only got involved because of the land, but nothing could be further from the truth. The club would benefit by over £1 million if it went through, but I knew nothing about the land when I first rang up offering to help. It just cropped up in conversation.”


Mr. Chaytow will be guiding Sean Jarvis and Neil Joy through their first involvement at board level and shares will be divided between various parties after meetings have taken place. It is expected that about £1.5million will be needed just to get through next season.