Statement from the chairman

Didn’t realise you’d posted about itv digital just asked the same questions below. I think he would have took us back to the premier league if it didn’t collapse

 

Perhaps that will not sit well with the companies nearly bankrupted by his " over- reaching ", he left us in the lurch , no plan B in case the ITV deal fell through . he speculated on an income stream that was not there , he gambled and failed , not with his money, he left with a pretty packet , he fleeced the fans with the 25 year season ticket fiasco , taking hard earned money from the 2000 or so city stalwarts who lined his pocket not the clubs coffers .

 

He was misunderstood that's all....!!

 

Could I possibly get you to change your mind.....!!

 

££££££ s , maybe , i didn't trust Richmond , i fell out with him on our trip to Wembley v Notts County , drove past me on M1 like he was on a state visit the barsteward never even waved , . No i wasen't a fan

 

We're you thumbing a lift at the time...?

 

No , I'd just got to Leicester forest services before they closed because of the amount of City fans , god there was some buses on there that day i would'nt have walked near never mind rode on .

 

And also gave you the best moments on and off the pitch in the clubs modern history. The only time in our history we've actually resembled anything like a progressive club with an actual plan.

 

But you're presumably happy with Julian Rhodes running the show despite being equally as culpable?

 

It's a difficult question to answer but I do firmly believe we'd have been a lot closer to being a championship side right now without that extra nail in the coffin.

 

Ah, our first ever trip to Wembley. Absolutely great days.

Damn that Geoffrey Richmond.

 

Do you honestly think anybody but Richmond was in total control ?.

 

That did not enter anywhere in my point . It was post Wembley that annoyed me , the local companies paid 7p in the £ , the 2000 fans who bought into his 25 year plan , the fact he nearly broke the back of our club , the fact he walked away with money in is pocket , leaving the fans to once again pick up the pieces .

 

And that alone doesn't worry you that he's still here making decisions about our club and it's finances?

 

on the flip side he has been involved in all the success as well in that period

 

That's also true. He's certainly had plenty of successes and failures during his tenure.

 

Richmond will always split opinion, even in my own mind. We had great times under him which I’d not trade for anything, but he wasn’t a good chairman.
A good chairman leaves a legacy and leaves a club stronger than when he joined, had he stayed any longer the club would have gone out of business nobody can defend that regardless of the good times had before hand.

All he left was a stadium half built and to big for us, that we had to sell and rent back at prices that have hampered the club in going forward and contributed to it going back below a level which he took over us at.

His plan was to throw others money at it, like a successful and probably luckier version of Rahic and in the end it went tits up but he didn’t seem to do to badly out of it.

Look at what Jenkins left at Swansea, from the fourth tier getting them up the leagues with a new stadium and training facilities, by the time he sold them they were far above and settled from when he came in that’s a good chairman.

By Richmonds end we had no stadium to call our own and he didn’t ever bother to invest in a training ground or any other assets.

He was a good sales man though.

 

I am not denying the good times we enjoyed on the pitch. However, to say he was the best chairman we have ever had is very questionable, he wasnt even a good one, never mind the best.

 

Throw some names at me then and list their achievements.

None gave us premier football, none gave us the ground to enable the 20,000+ crowds, none gave us European football and none gave us international after international footballers gracing the Claret and Amber shirt.

I'd say I'll wait but there simply isn't any comparison if you're just going to throw out chairman who either helped us tread water or took us backwards.

 

I was present as a 25 year at all the meetings but cant honestly say Julian Rhodes was present at any, his dad certainly was but cant remember Juilan.