Kirk family buy another £5m of shares in Chesterfield as they confirm their commitment to club
The Kirk family has no immediate plans to sell Chesterfield Football Club, they confirmed at the club’s AGM as a proposal for them to buy up to another £5m of shares was given the green light by shareholders.
The resolution was put to shareholders at the club’s AGM on Thursday morning and it was passed.
The Kirk family’s involvement in the club has been a topic of interest for supporters following the sad passing of owner Phil Kirk last year.
Responding to a fan question, Phil’s brother, chairman Ashley, said: “We would love to be around for a long time. If the club and the football landscape allows us to operate at a level that we are comfortable with funding then we will be around forever. But there is also a point where we might feel it is better for the club that its ambitions are served by someone else who wants to take it above and beyond what we can comfortably fund. If that ever happens then it is up to us make sure that things are protected. We would love to be around for that length of time, however if all of a sudden we find ourselves in League One and everyone wants us to chase the Championship then that is a different game.”
And Phil’s wife. Sharon, who is effectively now the owner and who was speaking publicly to fans for the first time, added: “It is a balance in terms of protecting Phil’s legacy. If we get things right in terms of if we put the club into a much more stable financial position then we are looking at a very different landscape. So hopefully in two to three years’ time we are much stronger financially, less risk, because I am the risk, and that puts a completely different spin on it. Emotionally, our commitment is there.”
Replying to another question about the possibility of outside investment, the family said that was not in their thoughts at the moment.
Ash added: “We are not actively looking at the moment. If we go up, it will form part of the conversation. But, at the minute, we are hoping we can do it ourselves.”
Throughout the meeting there was a lot of appreciation and applause for the Kirk family, not just for their financial commitment, but for the professional way they have acted and looked after the club generally with care and attention.
The Kirk family’s latest financial commitment to the club comes after the latest accounts showed Chesterfield lost £2.3m in their first season back in the Football League, £1m less than the year before when they were in the National League.
The aim is to rely less on funding from the Kirk family in the future as the club strives to become more sustainable. The club has set itself some other targets including promotion and consolidation in League One, to modernise facilities, improve commercial growth and have strong governance and supporter engagement.
Ashley told the room that they are ‘capable’ of achieving these aims but that they won’t ‘sell their soul’ trying to do so.
The Kirk family first became involved in Chesterfield in March 2022 when they invested £1m into the club before they gradually increased their stake to become the majority owners in 2024. Following the sad passing of Phil last year, Sharon has effectively become the owner.