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Folkestone Invicta respond to former chairman Mark Jenner's comments after he quit the Fullicks Stadium

08:00, 20 August 2014

updated: 08:10, 20 August 2014

Folkestone Invicta have responded to the controversial comments made by their former chairman Mark Jenner last week.

Mr Jenner, who quit the Fullicks Stadium last Wednesday, alleged that key decisions had been taken without his agreement, making his position "untenable."

Mark Jenner
Mark Jenner

He claimed the club’s future was being put at risk because money he felt should be used for ground improvements was instead being spent on players.

Mr Jenner also said: "A recent decision taken without reference to me as chairman was to agree a 3pm kick-off time in Guernsey which would mean players and supporters having to stay over Saturday night instead of a simple day trip."

He even made allegations relating to staffing at the club and the payment of player wages.

But a club statement said: "Mark Jenner, for his own reasons, was never a director of Folkestone Invicta FC Ltd and it is the directors that are accountable for the activities and financial reporting for the club/limited company and therefore have to make any decisions on financial or other commitments.

"In 2010, then board chairman Lynn Woods, and director Jim Pellatt, set in train a complete overhaul of the club’s administration, and most importantly, accounting and payroll. Mark Jenner became club chairman about two years ago, by which time all accounting systems and reporting were up-to-date and fully functioning.

Folkestone Invicta chief executive Jim Pellatt
Folkestone Invicta chief executive Jim Pellatt

"Having proper monthly management accounts meant we could continue to eat away at debt in the full knowledge of where we stood. That has been refined and improved over that nearly five years and has led us to the present day, when we have no debts but current ones, a positive bank account and are up-to-date with statutory reporting and payments and our CVA payments which finish in March 2015.

"Eighty per cent of CVAs fail but ours will not – and that is in addition to having to steadily eat into old debts, while keeping up with current ones."

Mr Jenner, who said that "differences of opinion at board level" had become "irreconcilable," had one particular gripe.

He said: "Since the main stand was destroyed in the storms last winter, I have gained the support – with the help of Damian Collins of the FA Stadia Improvement Fund – in respect of grant aid to build a new stand. I had also identified local sources of financial assistance, including my own money, which would have provided the balance of funding required.

"My view was to improve the infrastructure of the ground as a priority, as the FA funding for storm damage would not be available for long and the club would benefit from better facilities combined with a longer lease subject to the approval of the landlord. This would have secured the future of the club for many years to come.

Darren Smith celebrates with Paul Booth after scoring against Tooting & Mitcham Picture: Gary Browne
Darren Smith celebrates with Paul Booth after scoring against Tooting & Mitcham Picture: Gary Browne

"Other members of the board would prefer to spend all available resources on strengthening the team which I believe, in the long run, will be fatal without significant additional funding."

The club statement directly addressed Mr Jenner’s point.

It said: "Having just spent £15,000 on the ground, the board has decided that we do not wish to commit to any further additional expenditure at all but to concentrate on raising additional funds to give Neil (Cugley) the support and encouragement he richly deserves to finally achieve promotion and be ready for it, whether it is this season, the next or the one after.

"We owe to our loyal and patient supporters that our transformed club can now show some ambition on the field. After all, we are a football club."

Read the full story in the Folkestone & Hythe Express.

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