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Grimsby Town Chairman resigns suddenly
The chairman of Grimsby Town Football Club John Fenty has resigned after a seven year tenure (in which time the club found itself relegated from the Football League) in a move provoked by the takeover panel investigation.
On September 17, Mr Fenty was questioned by the takeover panel, who were interested to know if Mr (Mike) Parker remained in concert either with the club or Mr Fenty, at the time when Mr Parker increased his shareholding in the club, to just short of 54 per cent.
The takeover panel are trying to ascertain if an obligation has been triggered under rule nine of the takeover code, whereby if it had, Mr Parker could be obligated to make an offer to purchase any issued shares in the Grimsby Town Football Club PLC.
Following Mr Parker leaving the board of directors on March 1, he publicly pledged continued financial support for the club and then in a further interview, this pledge of funding was to be in the form of a share purchase, effectively giving him overall control.
Mr Fenty felt it was best that he resigned his current position, while the investigation is conducted.
Furthermore, he also recognises that Mr Parker is now the controlling shareholder of the Grimsby Town Football Club and felt that his position as chairman had become untenable, with effective control of the club now resting outside of the board of directors.
Mr Fenty explained that the club continues to lose money and whilst he had held a controlling interest in the club, he felt obliged to ensure the club remained a going concern by providing the funds himself.
Mr Fenty further explained he had made considerable effort in trying to encourage Mr Parker, to rejoin the board of directors which had not succeeded.
He went on; there are some very important decisions to be made in the near future.The club will not be rudderless and until a chairman is appointed, as the chief executive, Ian Fleming will speak on behalf of the club and directors.
As always, the directors will continue to work in the best interests of Grimsby Town Football Club PLC.
Mr Fenty said he leaves the role of chairman with a very heavy heart and would like to pay special thanks to the board of directors, staff, sponsors and fans that have all been terrific during his spell as chairman.
JB