Supporters Club: no need to panic
The Port Vale Supporters club have issued a statement following the news in the Sentinel newspaper that the Football League have yet to receive documentation from Keith Ryder that was requested on the 30th May.
The statement reads as follows:
Port Vale Supporters’ Club has today spoken with preferred bidder Keith Ryder to clarify the situation regarding the takeover of our football club.
Mr Ryder has stressed that while he is as frustrated as everyone else connected with the club at the delay, there are no problems with the deal and that he is working hard to get approval from the Football League.
He told the Supporters’ Club that rumours that the deal was dead or in jeopardy were ‘nonsense’.
Mr Ryder said he had been in direct contact with the city council this week over finalising an important ‘Deed of Covenant’ which the authority requires to safeguard football at Vale Park for future generations.
He said: “The Football League are waiting for a copy of the contract which has been held up by detail of the covenant agreement and by the solicitors acting for various parties.”
Mr Ryder added that although he had been hopeful that a deal would go through by June 22 he was confident that it would be completed by the end of the month.
Supporters’ Club Chairman Pete Williams said: “Keith is as frustrated at the delays as the rest of us. We all want the deal to go through as soon as possible so that Micky Adams can get on with putting his squad together and the club can move towards functioning normally.
“From what we have been told there is no need to panic. Nothing has changed and the deal is going through. Fans simply have to remain patient and look forward to an exciting summer which will include the unveiling of the Roy Sproson statue.”
Mr Williams added: “It is important that we all remember that not so long ago the very existence of Port Vale was in doubt. We’ve waited this long for the new era a few more days won’t kill us.”
Membership of the Supporters’ Club, which now boasts 1,500 members, is completely free and you can join online through this link:
http://www.portvalesupportersclub.org
Up the Vale!