[expatriate]

Good afternoon everyone. And a very very happy new year to you all.

I have received a few emails privately and therefore, as usual, when the volume of enquiry is this heavy, and the subject is so open, I decided to come onto the forum and allow the largest audience of interested people to get a chance to see my view, and also to ask any other questions they might have.

firstly, on the article itself. I do sometimes wonder what journalists and newspapers think when they craft their sentences. Flanagan has, in the past, been both accurate and relevant. On top of that he has written well. There are a couple of occasions however when he destorys all his good work, and when he has put his name to something that is to the detriment of both his employer and himself. This latest article about whalley is another of those occassions. The article is badly written, open to interpretation, without attribution, and could add fuel to the long standing view that the LET is more interested in controversy than news. I was called by Flanagan last night, and (as always) i entertained the call and explained that I had not heard about the rumour from Chester. I do not know why he and his editors thought they had a story, but we can now expect this thread to continue.

As far as the question of Whalley and his "return" is concerned, I will let you all know whether and when anything happens at the club to suggest this might be true. As you are aware, as non exec chairman, I am not involved in the day to day running of the club, and over the christmas period, with all the games being cancelled, I have not been able to attend the meetings with Rob Heys and Dave ONeil that would have normally constituted the debrief. I am looking forward to a meeting this weekend, and nothing has occured to suggest that my counterparts at that meeting will be anyone other than David and Rob and Peter Marsden. I cannot be more categoric than that, and i hope that my words are not ambiuous. If you feel that you need further clarity or if you misunderstand or dont quite know what i mean by what i have said, then by all means ask again.

Finally, on the shares. The equity has been for some time and will continue to be for some time to come, almost irrelevant in terms of control. Our club has large costs and requires massive further investment, and unless and until an equity shareholder has the wherewithal and committment to stump up that cash, he or she has no practical say. This is as true of stanley as any other club. If Whalley were to come back at any time in any position of authority - and lets just assume for a second that is possible, then I cannot honestly see how I would still be involved. It simply cannot happen. Indeed, as I have been at the club and more involved over a period of time from the Salisbury game, I have become more aware and educated about the consequences of Whalley's period of ownership, the most significant of which was hundreds and hundreds of thousands of pounds of debt that were effectively concealed until he walked away.

this much is factually clear and accurate, and known to people on this bulletin board as well as more widely. I cant add to those facts, but I would say that in my view, the set up that was agreed at the salisbury game, where David and Rob take care of the club, and I financed the shortfall as well as some further expenditure, has gone reasonably well. I have stood by my comiitment and fully expect to have to fund various shortfalls going forward in the near term. On top of that, I have committed to put more money into the club on a serious basis once I am satisfied that all the relevant facts are audited and documented. I think this will take a while, probably till the end of the season. The real time for reflection and decision on larger capital would, therefore,in my view, have always taken place over summer. By then, with the season under our belt, and the playing squad having really given it their best, we could look at things such as the ground, the pitch, the faciities and also the broader squad with a view to taking the bite sized steps that would prudent and necessary to help our beloved club remain solvent and healthy.

In closing for now I would also like to say how much I have appreciated and enjoyed being involved stanley, and how gratified I am (as are all of you) at the "winning" formula that seems to be emerging. I dont have the words to adequately reflect my admiration of Coley, Bell and Proccy and the rest of the guys. I hope that my continued presence in the clayton end at home games will go some way to demonstrating that what we have in place is for the good of the club, the town and the fans.

Accy Stanley are a community club in all respects. The club belongs to the people of the town, not to any one individual or company. My philosophy remains unchanged.

I hope this might help, but if you have other questions, please address them on this bulletin board.