Pitmen Chat - Independent HTFC Fans Forum

CLUB TAKEOVER ANNOUNCEMENT

Hednesford Town Football Club is thrilled to officially announce that the club's takeover by Craig and Amanda Gwilt has been successfully agreed upon and is now confirmed, subject to FA ratification. This significant development will see the departure of Chairman Hayden Dando, paving the way for the Gwilts to assume full control of the club once the FA ratifies the deal.
Departing chairman Hayden Dando shared his thoughts on this momentous occasion, stating, "I want to wish Craig and Amanda the very best in their ownership of this fine football club. They have been nothing short of superb to deal with throughout this process, and I am 100% certain they will be a real driving force for the Pitmen to get back to where the club belongs. I want to thank everyone for their support during my time with the club, and in particular, the supporters who have been amazing this season in their backing of the club to get us to a point where we were able to attract such fantastic owners. This will be my last communication as chairman of the club, and I want to wish the Pitmen all the success for their future."

Addressing the supporters for the first time, Craig and Amanda Gwilt said “We are delighted to announce that we have finalised the deal to purchase Hednesford Town Football Club. This is a fantastic club with a great history and a loyal fan base, and we are incredibly excited to take over the football club from Hayden Dando and Keys Park from Steve Price and lead it into a new era. We are eager to start our journey as the new owners and to work with everyone involved in the club to achieve our goals. We want to keep the fans included in our plans and to listen to their feedback and suggestions. We are committed to making Hednesford Town a successful and sustainable club that we can all be proud of. Thank you for your support and trust.”

Hednesford Town Football Club anticipates a swift approval from the FA, marking the commencement of this exciting chapter in the club's history. A warm welcome is extended to Craig and Amanda as they embark on their journey with the Pitmen. Together, we look forward to a promising future for Hednesford Town FC.

Great news

Great news that all is finally done. Hopefully Craig and Amanda will make a fuller statement soon on their plans and intentions for the club.
I thank you both for taking the decision of taking this sleeping giant on, it won't be easy but we're all behind you.

Welcome both and thanks to Ade for stepping in to ensure the club didn't die after Mr Jones did his best to kill us off.

Your are custodians of this fine institution now and hopefully you will put the necessary measures in place to protect the club for future generations. THere are plenty of cowboys out there and we've had our fair shares of near misses in recent times.

Here we go! EFL baby!

Welcome Craig and Amanda and all the best to Ade

We will be lucky to get out of this league

Get rid of the management team for a start off

Great to hear that the takeover has taken place, welcome Craig and Amanda and I wish you all the best for what lies ahead. It won't be an easy journey, but hopefully things can move in the right direction again now. Take time to assess everything inside and outside the club, don't make any quick rash decisions or promise anything too grand and you'll get on just fine.

For me this pretty much draws to a close what has been a dark four years in the history of our football club. Poor decision after poor decision, social media outburst after social media outburst, fans and volunteers ostracised and criticised in public forums, people leaving and being treated as returning heroes. The list really is endless and I can hardly believe what some on Facebook are writing about this recent history. Thankfully though that is all in the past now.

One person who seems to have gone under the radar in all of this is Steve (aside from a brief mention in the latest PR). Thank you for your backing of the club in the last 30 years. I know some will disagree, but the achievements during that time wouldn't have been possible without his support.

I now look forward to being able to return to Keys Park at some point in the near future.

Need to be patient during the transition from previous owners to enable the new owners to have time to make the right decisions on what will hopefully in time be a significant improvement from previous times. Scott we both called the Owna debacle as it proved to be and the intervening mainly self imposed omnishambles will take some unscrambling.

when can we expect a statement from the new owners

sheriff wrote: ↑Thu Feb 08 2024 2:33 pm when can we expect a statement from the new owners

I would think when the deal is officially ratified. I believe the club are still awaiting FA approval, which they will announce when received.

Just a quick update. The club are still awaiting final ratification from the FA for the takeover and as soon as this is received I expect statements from the club and new owners regarding the clubs future direction. Hopefully this will be sooner rather than later.

FA dragging their feet as normal

Is it just me who finds the FA ratification to allow the new owners to officially take over is being dragged out?
When you look how quickly Mr Dando (LAM) left and got things/himself sorted out at Telford, why on earth is it taking so long at HTFC .. is there an underlying problem or are the FA just playing silly bu**ers?

With so much at stake now regarding new players and other investements including the so desperately needed return of both the Commercial Department and Dan the Video man they are obviously confident all is in order and will go ahead ... but there is always that lingering doubt!

Finally, please don't anyone say relegation will be avoided at the expense of another Club. We are where we are due to our own terrible performances and to allow another Club, whoever they may be, to save us from this dire season is just not on.
The new owners may find us in a lower league than when they arrived - but they can still start afresh, sweep out the chaffe and rebuild - far more rewarding that relying on others.

Del wrote: ↑Sun Feb 18 2024 8:54 am Is it just me who finds the FA ratification to allow the new owners to officially take over is being dragged out?
When you look how quickly Mr Dando (LAM) left and got things/himself sorted out at Telford, why on earth is it taking so long at HTFC .. is there an underlying problem or are the FA just playing silly bu**ers?

With so much at stake now regarding new players and other investements including the so desperately needed return of both the Commercial Department and Dan the Video man they are obviously confident all is in order and will go ahead ... but there is always that lingering doubt!

Finally, please don't anyone say relegation will be avoided at the expense of another Club. We are where we are due to our own terrible performances and to allow another Club, whoever they may be, to save us from this dire season is just not on.
The new owners may find us in a lower league than when they arrived - but they can still start afresh, sweep out the chaffe and rebuild - far more rewarding that relying on others.

I understand your point and where you're coming from mate but the reality is these reprieves happen in football and its the rules of the FA Leagues Management Committees. It has come about by two clubs going bust, Marske Utd and Nuneaton Borough, due to not living within their means or mismanagement of said clubs.
Are you saying we should turn down the offer of a reprieve if it's available?
And anyway we still need to pick up a point a game in our remaining fixtures to be in with a real chance of qualifying for a reprieve.

PitmanKeith wrote: ↑Sun Feb 18 2024 9:03 am Are you saying we should turn down the offer of a reprieve if it's available?

Not at all, it's the way of the world these days - I'm just saying I don't like it!

Fair means or foul, we go again and if the remaining games are all six pointers we could win promotion still!!

The FA have finally approved Ratcliffe's partial takeover of MUFC.. maybe they can have a look at ours now..