Frustrated fans make their point
By Doreen McChristie, Chester Chronicle

4/11/04

Wrexham fan Tony Burgess and daughterTHE future of Wrexham Football Club is still as uncertain as ever after another sensational week saw Alex Hamilton resigning as chairman and fans protesting on the pitch.

On top of all that, the Wrexham Supporters' Trust held a meeting with Mr Hamilton on Monday with a view to buying him out and developing the Racecourse ground.

Rob Griffiths, vice-chairman of the trust, said: 'We had a very constructive meeting with Mr Hamilton on Monday. We met for almost two hours and presented him with our offer which would involve us working with partners to acquire the football club and the Racecourse ground.

'We believe that our proposal, if accepted, would safeguard the future of the football club. Mr Hamilton has agreed to give our proposals his full consideration and we will talk again in a few days' time.

'We agreed the current situation at the club is very serious but the trust remains optimistic that we can reach an agreement to safeguard the future of the club and the ground.'

The trust, originally formed to counter Mr Hamilton's first plans to sell the Racecourse for development, believes it would be feasible to develop a small part of the land and build a new stand.

Mr Hamilton, who holds 78% of the club's shares and owns the freehold of the club, resigned as chairman on Friday when fellow directors David Bennett and David Griffiths voted against the appointment of club secretary Gail Stubbs to the board.

It is thought Mr Hamilton may call an extraordinary general meeting in an attempt to remove the directors and regain control of the club.

Despite all the club's problems, the attendance at the home match against Hull City on Saturday was 5,600, but after the 2-2 result a group of Wrexham fans made their feelings known by flooding onto the pitch at the end of the game.

A few hundred supporters waved placards and called for Mr Hamilton to leave the club, but there was no trouble and the police did not intervene.

The club's debts are rumoured to be in the region of £4m, with an unpaid tax bill of around £800,000. With its bank account frozen, the club has not been able to pay its players all the wages due to them.

A spokesman said: 'The players' wages were due to be paid on Friday but we weren't able to do that because of the situation. But over the weekend we made them part payments in cash using the money from the gate receipts on Saturday.'