Chesterfield brothers 'in it for the long haul' as they increase stake in Spireites

The life-long Spireites fans loaned the club £1m last year and they are set to put the same amount in again.

On Monday night shareholders gave the green light at the club’s AGM to the brothers taking their stake in the Spireites to 25 per cent, which will be rubber-stamped in the coming weeks.

Ashley is already on the board and Phil will join shortly.

The club’s latest accounts showed they made a loss of £2.3m.

Phil, who reiterated that he has no intention of having majority control, revealed that the plan is to stabilise the club before potentially bringing in more investment.

Asked by a supporter if they are in it for the long-haul, Phil said: “I am not going to change the team I support. I am here for the long haul. What I would like to do is get the club into a position where we understand the books, how we make money, how we don’t make money, what needs to change, and then potentially bring in more money, not just my own, but other peoples.”

The 25 per cent will not give the brothers a majority control but it does mean they will have a significant say in the decision-making.

On bringing more investment into the club, Phil said that he already has a couple of people in mind.

He explained: “I would always intend that the trust was the majority owner of the club. I am pretty certain that I can sort the commercial side out, sort the club out, but can I raise money with people who want to invest in a 51 per cent plus-owned community football club? That is going to be tough, but I think I can. I know a couple already. But I would not bring them in until I know exactly where we stand with everything.”

He added: “That would be the idea, to bring in some more money in. I don’t go onto boards of companies lightly. I don’t have to work again. I am doing this because it is the right thing to do. I did not intend to put another million in but we are doing it because it is the right thing to do for the club. Between me and Ash we will see it through. We will put a hell of a lot of effort in. So the plan would be a couple of years, hopefully get us back to where we belong, or at least into League Two, and then we will bring some more money in to set ourselves up for the long-term.”