Machin and Wakefield Asked to Resign
According to reports on BBC Radio Stoke, ten of the club’s largest shareholders have sent letters to Vice Chairman Charles Machin and director Geoff Wakefield asking them to resign their positions on the board.
An alleged board split took place several weeks ago with five directors of the Vale board backing a minority stake in the club by lifelong fan Peter Jackson, and keeping the club in the ‘hands of supporters.’ Machin and Wakefield voted for handing a majority, controlling shareholding to Gianni Paladini.
Vale fans will be well aware of the controversy caused by Machin and Wakefield’s support of the Gianni Paladin bid and in particular Mr Machin’s controversial use of local media and a supporters’ meeting to put forward his case for the Italian football agent’s bid.
According to Radio Stoke, shareholders holding 58% of the shares in the club have agreed to send the letters asking for the duo to resign.
According to Valiant 2001’s constitution, if a sufficiently large percentage of shareholders wish to table a proposal then an EGM has to be called for shareholders to vote on the issue.
It is therefore expected that if Machin and Wakefield do not resign voluntarily then an EGM of shareholders will take place in the next 28 days to decide the duo’s fate on the board.
If 51% of shareholders vote the duo off the board, then the motion will be carried.