Community trust's honesty shines again but uncertainty of pandemic will have left many worried - what we learned from Q&A with Chesterfield FC owners

Around 80 supporters got their first chance to ask questions of the club’s new board and chief executive John Croot following last month’s takeover.

Along with Mr Croot, chairman Mike Goodwin and directors Jane Cooper, Dave Simmonds, Martin Thacker and Terry Ward sat at the top table. Dr Paul Stankard’s absence was a shame, Mr Goodwin joked, given that they would “probably need a psychiatrist by the end of the night.”

Why did the community trust buy the club? Because the financial situation was “critical” and that they had been left in no doubt by former company secretary Ashley Carson that it would “go bust” if they didn’t, Mr Goodwin explained during a short presentation to kick the evening off.

He went on to say that they know they will not be in charge forever, adding: “If somebody comes along and they have the right vision we will stand aside but until that happens we will run the club efficiently as we can.”

Questions from those in attendance followed.

Worryingly, “a few weeks” was the response from Mr Goodwin when asked how long the club could survive if fans were not allowed back into the stadium for the start of the season. But the club is hopeful they will be able to have more than 3,000 people in the ground when the new campaign gets underway.

On taking over the club, the chairman said it had been an “interesting first week or two,” referring to a number of unpaid bills they had discovered, he claimed.

Apparently, the stadium’s safety certificates had lapsed and the pitch and training ground were in a “shocking” state and had “weeds” growing. But before they could rectify it, they had to settle previous bills with Premier Pitches otherwise they would not do the work. A bill with Puma also had to be sorted so they could get more kit into the club shop, the room was told.

While the event was ongoing news broke that John Sheridan had been named Wigan Athletic manager which uncovered another payment issue. Mr Goodwin said that the club still owed Sheridan “circa £100,000” but that his contract was now being “reviewed” following his appointment as Latics boss.

One fan asked if the trust had done enough due diligence, to which Mr Goodwin said “absolutely” and that they used experts who are used to dealing with takeovers and that they carried out their our own checks as well.

Surprisingly, there were no questions about previous owner Dave Allen.

And there was only one to Mr Croot about why he had not stepped down in the past. “Believe me the easiest thing would have been for me to have walked away,” he said, adding that it was “difficult” but that he would “never walk away from the football club” and wanted to try and “effect change from within.”

Overall, the trust’s honesty and transparency shone through once again, one fan said they had been a “breath of fresh air” to listen to.

But their openness will have left some a little worried about what the future holds for the club especially with the uncertainty of the pandemic.