Sheffield Wednesday News 24/7Writer: Nick 
Date:Tuesday May 18 2010
Time: 10:07AM
UK time is: 19:51:50
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Strafford 'Gutted' At Owls Departure
Lee Strafford, who resigned from his post as Wednesday chairman yesterday, has revealed that he was gutted to have to take the decision to leave Hillsborough.
The lifelong Wednesdayite, who revealed to the Owls board on Friday that he was set to resign, officially stepped down from his position yesterday.
It left Wednesdayites concerned about the future of the club and wanting more answers as to why Strafford took the decision to leave his post.
But, in an interview with the Sheffield Star, he said he was 'gutted' to have ended up in his current position but that he had 'been strapped to two horses pulling in opposite directions.'
Strafford also revealed that the investment proposal from American-based Club 9 Sports, which was turned down at the time, wasn't the reason for his departure from S6.
The 37-year-old also hinted at potential happenings at the club in the near future, saying that the 'focus is on the board to do the right things in the next week or so.'
But he refused to give any more in-depth details as to why he took the decision to leave when he did.
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Your Comments
Anyone interested in seeing the details of the investment offer from Club 9 should read the following link which answers questions in the form a question and answer session from Owls fans. They do still seem quite keen to do a deal and it seems to me that despite LS's assertions to the contrary, it is the terms of the proposed investment deal that has caused tensions between the board some are for it and some are against - this has led to LS resignation. Somehow I don't think the deal is dead just yet and whilst I don't think it is a particularly good deal for the club it might be the only one around. I'd be interested to hear what other fans think. http://www.club9sports.com/C9S___SWFC_Q_A.html
CLIFFANDJ
I'd be concerned about accepting any such deal if it's not in the best interests of the club just because it's the only one around. I think the initial offer however ridiculous it was has been made to test the waters, we're not that desperate so hopefully a more realistic offer will now be made, if not from Club 9 Sports, then from one of the 'other' interested parties. I think even one of the dragons would have been embarrassed to table such an offer for 40% equity!!
sussexowl
I would like to thank Lee for his efforts, and hope he is welcomed back to Hillsborough by all fans, as a fan. On the takeover, I don't care who owns the club, as long as they are willing to invest something and build. In this current economic climate not too many clubs are being invested in, so we have a major advantage in that we are currently on a list to potentially host the 2018 world cup, where we may get certain grants etc.. for stadium development (similar to '96). I hope that the board sits down and considers its options, but doesn't waste time. No one is going to invest unless they are serious about making funds available to get SWFC back to the championship next season - that should be our immediate priority, so if an offer comes in to make money available to build on the squad I would take it, otherwise we could be in league 1 for a while on no league 1 club will be hosting the world cup.
owl1
having read through the info on the club 9 website it doesn't sound like a bad deal. the fact they are only initially putting in a relatively small amount of money is understandable. The club in its present predicament will lose whatever money is invested but if the £400K+ admin fee is to be spent promoting the club so that its own revenue streams increase then this can only be a good thing. The club needs to become stronger and generate its own money and this is what the proposed investors want. Don't think for one minute that someone is just going to give us money to spend on players! Investment works two ways, the investors want a return and unless they can do something that makes the club more profitable then they will lose their money. Ultimately the aim must be to make the club stand on its own two feet and make enough money to keep improving and give the investors a return. a bit like any business really!
Hirsty's Shinpads
Having watched the developments at a number of other clubs I am appalled at the thought of our club seeking investment from the sorts of group that are being considered. I dont find it difficult to understand that people require success. I dont regard it as success to hand the ownership of the club to a group of people who may at some future point happily 'develop the club' by loading it with even greater debt than it had when they took ownership. Lee Strafford and the staff team seems to have moved the club to become a more stable financial operation. Slow and steady development of the financial side will lead to greater success on pitch as player budgets steadily rise and the club can begin to use the funds from the crowd and TV revenue to really move on. Boring sounding but that is numbers for you and in the long term I think it will be shown to be the right way to go.
OddOwl
i assume you are talking about manchester united who are an entirely different proposition. they basically got remortgaged because they are a high value asset, we aren't so other than them doing this to sell our ground there is very little to take!
Hirsty's Shinpads
Yes I was thinking of MUFC and I agree that they are presently a different case but it seems to me that the investment concept is still relevant. At least 20% of a of the price of any given share is vested in the businesses reputation. Develop a clubs reputation and there seems to be a potential asset against which to raise funds through mortgaging. Couldn't this be exactly the sort of investment strategy that could happen at Wednesday?
OddOwl
i guess it could but first they would have to turn us round! it doesn't look like its happening tho, Parker seems like a professional so I'll have to go with what he says for now
Hirsty's Shinpads
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