Amongst all the hysterical of late it’s apt that everyone has a read of this post from board member Richard Ulrich via the Wrexham AFC fans chat on Facebook. 11 miles over the border it’s a board member merry go round due to scaremongering from within and look where it has landed them. Whilst we’re made from sterner stuff, the past week has turned into a witch hunt against the board fuelled by false rumours of ill ambition. Let’s stick by the trust and the board members who serve us so well, they don’t deserve the grief they’re getting.
Anyway, here’s the post:-
I have been watching Wrexham on and off since the age of six when my Dad first took me to The Racecourse. As I got older, I then started to attend matches with mates from school where we would stand at the back of The Kop and join in singing along with Jacko and the rest of the fans.
I was elected to the board of the Wrexham Supporters Trust back in June 2014 and I currently head up the Fans Ownership Subgroup. I am a season ticket holder and I sit in the left hand side of the Mold Road Stand on a matchday. My all time favourite player is Gary Bennett and I have been lucky enough to meet the legend himself.
I want to dispel the fake news that I have been reading and hearing for the past month around the club and on social media.
"WE ALLOWED KEATES TO WALK AWAY"
Keates' contract was based on the League Managers Association standard contract which is an industry standard contract but we are able to negotiate around the edges of that. This contract was checked by our legal advisers before being presented, agreed and signed by Keates. When Walsall first approached us, we refused them permission to talk to Dean, the club is a decent and fair employer so we spoke to Dean as we were obliged to do so and informed him that Walsall had asked for permission to speak to him about the managers job. Dean said "They'll never pay the compensation in my contract, but if they are willing to then I'll speak to them". We shared the compensation amount with Walsall and they told us that they would meet it and we still refused them permission to speak to Keates.
Dean then told us that he would stay here and that he would tell Walsall himself why he wouldn't leave. Dean then spoke to his father and others who changed his mind and he then told us that he wanted to leave and as Walsall had met his payout clause, we were unable to legally not let him go to Walsall as per the terms of his contract.
"THE CLUB HAS TURNED DOWN INVESTMENT"
We have had two enquiries about investing in the club since we took over in 2011, one was from an Italian group and another was from an investor in Thailand. We spoke to both of these groups and offered to set up meetings to explore these offers further but we never heard anything back from them. The board cannot turn down any offer of investment as we are legally obliged to put this to the membership (owners) and it would be for them to decide and vote on the matter, not us.
"WE'RE NOT BOTHERED ABOUT GOING UP AS LONG AS WE MAKE A PROFIT"
This one really hurts me personally, I spend around two to three hours after work each night and sometimes longer doing football club work, responding to emails and social media etc. My girlfriend will always shout me from downstairs to tell me that my tea is on the table and most times she will still be shouting me 10 minutes later, when I finish my tea I go back upstairs to finish my football club work and sometimes I won't sit down on the sofa with her until 10pm. My number one goal in life is to see Wrexham AFC promoted back in to the football league, it's all I dream of. Every penny that we make as a football club gets reinvested in to the team or is spent on the ground, Directors do not take a penny from the club and we pay for our own season tickets, hospitality and transport to matches etc.
"WE HAVE £500,000 SAT IN THE BANK ACCOUNT"
There is no truth to this whatsoever, in fact we only have approximately 20% of this in the bank at present. Every penny we make is reinvested in to the club in one way or another.
"WE HAVE SPENT £200,000 ON WIFI FOR THE STEREOPHONICS GIG"
Again, there is no truth to this whatsoever. We spent approximately £12,000 on WiFi in July 2017 to make sure that the turnstiles would be working correctly for the new season and to have WiFi available to anyone who hired out our facilities for business meetings etc.
I hope that I have answered some of the questions and mistruths that are doing the rounds at present. I am happy to answer any questions that fans have about the club and if I don't know then I will get an answer for you. You can message me on here, on Twitter (@r77ulr), by email (richard.ulrich@wst.org.uk), in The Turf before and after a match or in the ground, I'm usually sat in line with the 18 yard box nearest to the Tech End in the Mold Road Stand.
All monthly board meeting minutes of the Wrexham Supporters Trust are published and can be read here:
WST Board Minutes
Contact details of all board members are available here:
Meet the Board
I love this club as much as all of you do, Wrexham AFC is literally my life.
UP THE SHAGGING TOWN!
25th April 2018, 11.46:47
Re: A reminder
