Ashford United’s new owners will run the club sustainably once their takeover is finalised
05:00, 09 May 2024
Ashford’s new owners won’t throw silly money around when their takeover is complete.
A deal to buy the club from Don Crosbie remains on course to go through by May 31, with the due diligence process at an advanced stage.
These are exciting times for the Isthmian South East club but there’s no magic money tree.
The plan is to grow the club sustainably.
Alan Walker, who’ll be working with the new owners, says chucking money about isn’t the answer.
Walker, providing an update on the takeover said: “The facts are the new owners are all in place and everything is looking very positive.
“Due diligence is almost complete - nothing major has jumped out of the woodwork - and both sides are very much wanting it to go ahead.
“Everyone we speak to is excited because they know we’re football people and we’ve very much got the football club at heart.
“It’s not about making money or anything like that, it’s about having a successful football club that is also sustainable.
“The new owners have put their money where their mouth is in terms of buying the club, because they’re very confident they can take it forward.
“Don’s been more or less on his own all this time and it’s a tough job but he’s done brilliantly.
“Derek (Pestridge, co-chairman) has been a massive help but most of the time it’s been Don doing the day-to-day running of the club.
“We feel by bringing our expertise to it that we can make the club more successful.
“There’s no limit to the potential here.
“It depends on how successful we are.
“We don’t want to be a yoyo club or anything like that.
“We want to be a club that’s sustainable and can achieve success without being stupid and throwing silly money at it. That’s never going to happen.
“The club has to be sustainable because there’s no sugar-daddy who’s going to chuck money at it, no Roman Abramovich or anything like that.
“The club is going to have to find its own way but we’ve got so many different ideas about how we can raise money and make the club more successful.
“The more successful you are, the bigger the gates become and the club gets better and better.”