Rovers bosses in the spotlight

Also present were director of football Steve Daniels, Pat's brothers Simon, Paul and Andrew -- all staff at the club -- and David Greensill, from Mayfields Insolvency Practitioners in Halesowen. Greensill is the administrator appointed to review the financial position of the club.

l WHAT is the total of the current debts at Bromsgrove Rovers?

DG: At this moment in time, we're not quite sure as it will be evaluated over the next few days.

PB: Those details are only available to shareholders. The debts of the company are a lot less than when Stuart Arnold took over -- they have reduced considerably in our time at the club.

l WHAT were the motives of you (Pat Bannister) and Stuart Arnold in taking control of the club when you had no obvious connections with the town of Bromsgrove and the club was deeply in debt and had very few assets as the ground was owned by Bromsgrove District Council?

PB: I didn't take control of the club, Stuart Arnold did --I was invited in a fortnight later. I came in from a financial point of view to help Stuart. He approached me to help get the club back into the Conference and I felt it was an ideal opportunity to get involved with the football club. Rovers had had problems for five or six years before we came -- when we arrived they were third or fourth from bottom of the Dr Martens League Premier Division.

l DID you anticipate that your investment in the club would realise a profit if the ground was subsequently sold for development and the football club was relocated to a new stadium?

PB: I wouldn't have even known -- that came up 12 months later. I didn't know until a year later that there was a serious interest in the ground. If the football club was relocated to another ground, where would I make profit? It would be the council who would make a profit. If the ground was redeveloped the ground would still be owned by the council. Any profits belong to the club's shareholders.

l MONTHS ago at a supporters' forum you (Pat Bannister) said that there would be two full-time employees working within the department in the form of match ball sponsorship, advertising revenues etc. What are your comments on the apparent failure of this department to generate much needed income?

PB: I think it's been very, very successful. We get regular sponsorship for the club.

l WAS the money from last year's share issue put towards the last VAT bill? How is the bill worked out and was it fully paid off?

PB: Yes it was paid off. There was a shortfall and the balance was made up by directors. It's an estimated figure based on returns by customs and excise.

l IF the club stays up, what are the plans (ie budget etc) for next season?

PB: Come back and ask me that question when we're out of administration.

l STEVE Daniels was previously with Stourbridge FC and other clubs which encountered money problems. What were the reasons?

SD: During my time at Cradley Town the club received £275,000 in players signed. I put a sell-on clause of 25 per cent of any transfers. When I went to Stourbridge it had one first team and the reserves playing under another name. When I left, the club had a first team, reserves, youth team and sides at under-17s right through to under-9s. We finished 12th in the Western Division and went the furthest the club has ever gone in the history of the FA Cup, which we received £12,500 for. I sold Nicky Law for £5,000 and when I left the current directors sold the club for a profit.

l FANS who bought shares were given a slip of paper with a number on it as a receipt and were told they would receive a certificate later. They were told that the money would be held in trust by yourself (Pat Bannister) and if it wasn't used or if the club folded they would get their money back. One year on, fans have received no certificate and the shares were not registered by Companies House. The club has not had an AGM for shareholders as it should have done. Can fans have their money back?

PB: It has held an AGM, on March 31, 2000 at the club and all shareholders were invited -- the boardroom was full. The money didn't come to us, it went into a trust fund. That fund was utilised and was used to pay the debt so, no, fans can't have their money back. As far as I'm concerned everyone got certificates.

l WHAT is the present situation with the Bromsgrove Rovers Supporters Society as you see it? Can you see yourself and the society working together to raise funds for the club? Will they start holding functions at the Victoria Ground?

PB: My aim is to work with them but I'm not getting invited to their meetings. I'm happy to talk to them but I don't see how we can even recognise them if they don't come to the club for a meeting. They're using the club's name without the consent of the board and are distributing leaflets and tickets at grounds, home and away, with no authority. I've already had a complaint from the Rocester FC chairman about it. They need to start talking to the club about what they are doing -- fans are writing to me about the society and I haven't got a clue about it.

SD: Bromsgrove Rovers are a limited company and they are using the name of an already limited company -- Companies House should not let them do it. I don't want them distributing leaflets unless it's authorised by the administrators.

7 DAVID GREENSILL: "The trust should be implemented for those who bought shares in the club. All I would say to the society is to bring any money they raise into the club as soon as possible because the club is in dire straits."

l WHAT is the present situation with the Bromsgrove Rovers Supporters Society as you see it? Can you see yourself and the society working together to raise funds for the club? Will they start holding functions at the Victoria Ground?

PB: My aim is to work with them but I'm not getting invited to their meetings. I'm happy to talk to them but I don't see how we can even recognise them if they don't come to the club for a meeting. They're using the club's name without the consent of the board and are distributing leaflets and tickets at grounds, home and away, with no authority. I've already had a complaint from the Rocester FC chairman about it. They need to start talking to the club about what they are doing -- fans are writing to me about the society and I haven't got a clue about it.

SD: Bromsgrove Rovers are a limited company and they are using the name of an already limited company -- Companies House should not let them do it. I don't want them distributing leaflets unless it's authorised by the administrators.

DAVID GREENSILL: "The trust should be implemented for those who bought shares in the club. All I would say to the society is to bring any money they raise into the club as soon as possible because the club is in dire straits."

l THE Rovers first team, reserves and youth team are all doing badly in their respective divisions. How do you account for this?

PB: Our youth team is made up of 16 and 17 year olds and they are playing in an under-18 league against 18 year olds, so they're already at a disadvantage. They have no training facilities either. Having said that, they're already in the quarter-finals of the Midlands Floodlit Cup. The reserves fielded six of the youth team last weekend so we have a similr problem there.

Our youth policy has been very good. Joe Beard, Michael Wright, Matt Beard and Richard Cameron all progressed from either the youth team or reserves while Nore Gabbidon was playing in the youth team two seasons ago. Some players progress quicker than others but our main aim isn't to produce youth and reserve teams who win trophies, it's purpose to is provide a backbone for the first team. It's not significant that the reserves are sitting bottom of their league.

l HAVE Rovers suffered on the pitch simply due to events off it?

PB: No, that's a fact. When George Rooney left the club the players had wage reviews. The reason we're in our current position is down to some of the players George brought in.

l WHAT do you think of the current playing squad? Is their current plight down to the lack of quality in the team, team tactics or something else?

PB: The playing staff can always be improved but is has been very inconsistent.

SD: We know the players we want but simply can't afford them. We've got enough quality to keep us up, it's a case of mind over matter. I've already brought in Gary Hackett, Costas Xiourouppa and Mark Creighton from Halesowen Town to help us.

l LAST year four directors resigned from the board and released a statement highly critical of your running of the club, including allegations that financial statements were never submitted to board members. Why were the new directors brought on board in great publicity but they subsequently felt that they were ignored, powerless and kept in the dark?

PB: There was no big publicity about them joining the board. They were co-opted on by board members but they didn't have the finances to invest in the club. We required a minimum of £5,000 to be a director but they couldn't afford that so instead it was agreed that they would raise £5,000 per person. During that time they didn't raise a penny. Each of the four directors had as much power as me -- they asked more questions than anyone else but no, they were never kept in the dark. There were two or three times they were given specific answers about the club's finances.

l AT Christmas last year, secretary Ray Barrow and the reserve team management all resigned from the club. Why do you think Ray Barrow resigned?

PB: Ray resigned because he felt he could see no light at the end of the tunnel and he had to deal with an FA enquiry about the club's affairs. He never attended an FA hearing in London about the Lancaster City match which I was very disappointed with.

l TEMPORARY first team management duo Eric McManus and Paul Madders - who both worked voluntarily - recently agreed to leave the club. Don't Rovers need to hold on to these type of people who give up their time for the club?

PB: Firstly, Eric will be helping us set up the youth academy with Derby County later this year. Football is the only industry I know where there is a clean sweep when a manager leaves. Steve Daniels has brought in his own backroom team so it was just unfortunate that Paul was not part of that. That isn't to say he can't apply for the manager's job when it becomes available.

l WHAT are your plans to set up a youth academy at the club in a link-up with Premier League Derby County?

PB: Derby are doing the initial work to set up the academy with the local college and we're approaching NEW College this week with a view to starting a two-year BTEC Sports Science course which we're finalising for 16 to 19 year olds. It would start ready for the new season hopefully. Any students would be at college part-time and play football part-time, but it depends on how the college want to break it up as they would finance it. It would involve local people and would provide up to three teams. If we can offer them an education package then they can continue playing football.

SD: If it gets off the ground then we will be one of the biggest employers in Bromsgrove.

l HOW long do you see the club being in temporary administration for and when do you think the outstanding debts will be paid off?

PB How long is a piece of string? Our aim is as quickly as possible but some administrations last years.

SD: Northampton Town's lasted two and a half years and Exeter City's was three years.

l STEVE Daniels has come in as director of football and business consultant to the insolvency practitioners, Mayfields. He has overseen the club moving into temporary administration and has taken over first team playing affairs. What role do you see him having in the club's future?

PB: Steve's role at the club will stay the same. His first priority is to keep us up on the playing side of things and assist the administrator in turning the club around.

l WHEN will the club have a permanent new manager?

PB: That will be when we come out of administration. Who would come to a club while it's under administration? People don't appreciate just what Steve Daniels has done to save the club and help out with the first team -- he's taken on a lot.

l WHAT are your short-term and long-term aims for the club now that you are majority shareholder?

PB: In the short-term it's to make sure the club survives and we're working with the administrators to make sure the club survives. I know the fans want to see us in a higher division and in the long-term I want to try and reach the Conference.

l IF and when the club get a new seven-year lease from Bromsgrove District Council, does that mean the club will stay put or look to relocate?

PB: We'll be here as long as the landlords are here -- it can only be done with their approval. Ask the landlords what their plans are.

l WHAT is your message to the people of Bromsgrove disillusioned with events over the past year? Do you see better times ahead?

PB: From a business point of view, I'm really happy with the club -- it's going in the right direction and the debt has been reduced. It's important now that the fans get behind us for the last few home games. With their support they could keep us up. We genuinely appreciate the fans' support, however small -- they have been tremendous and have put up with a lot. I want them to know that we are all here for the sake of Bromsgrove Rovers. We haven't run away from the club like others have because we know it has the potential to be big.

DG: The fans are critical to the club and need to come through the turnstiles in force for the remaining home games this season.