Its The Lease I’m After

The information that I have is that there is no money at all in the remaining lease of the Vetch Field for Swansea City Football Club nor Tony Petty. If I was renting you a house and moved you to a new house, am I really going to pay you for the privilege? I can’t see the council doing it either in the same circumstances. He has been misguided again, just as he claimed that he was with the ‘sacking’ of the players.

Petty was on Kevin Johns’ phone-in show this morning and answered questions from the fans, all united in the belief that there is no place at Swansea City for Tony Petty.

‘Black Wednesday’ has become known in Petty world as ‘Grey Wednesday’ and Petty admits that he was misguided in what he did and that things should have been done differently. He took advice from lawyers with regards the decisions he made with the players but as was pointed out to him by Peter Wakely you don’t need the advice of lawyers to know that the actions he took were not the actions that you can take.

Petty was adamant that he did not take the offer of £50,001 from the consortium seriously and claimed that no-one else had come forward with a serious offer. He stated that people needed to be able to demonstrate the ability to run the club after the takeover and the consortium were unable to show that to him. But in the same show, he stated that he had no money and was only ‘confident’ that he would be able to secure backing from Australia. This seems a bit hypocritical on the basis that he needs to see evidence from others but has not provided that evidence himself. On the same subjects, he claims that this is the only contact that he has had with the consortiums which we know here to be another fabrication of the truth (!) in that he has had conversations in the last two or three days with regards recent developments.

He also stated that the players contracts were not reduced by 70% as has been widely quoted but between 20 and 30%. Again, this is an incorrect figure and it is higher, you won’t be surprised than the figures he was prepared to discuss on radio.

Mark Ludlam accused Petty of backtracking over a previous conversation he had had with him outside County Hall where he claimed that Addison was aware of the decision to sack the players. He also stated that he was not involved in the sackings of Hollins and Curtis despite hinting in the Evening Post that he was involved.

Two or three statements were made with regards Mel Nurse, widely seen as a hero amongst the support for taking on the debt, and Petty was “disappointed with the way that it had happened” He stated that he had coversations with Alan Wix and was not given the option to take up the club’s lease on the club shop and Car Park. He also asked what 9th Floor were doing, referring to the current financial state of the club.

Costs have been made at the club of £350k. And when asked how, he said that it was the loss of a chairman (Lewis) and Secretary (Finance Director – Martin Burgess) and the sale of one player. Lewis was on £80k per annum, Burgess on around £50k we believe, which means that Robbo, Glan and Ron Walton were on around £220k between them on that basis. Seems unlikely. In my mind, Hollins and Curtis are lumped in with that figure as well which again leads us to the contradiction, that he takes the credit for cutting their salaries but “had nothing to do with it”

Very briefly he was asked about the supporters board and then said that he would be willing to publish the financial situation in the Evening Post so that all would be privvy to it. I urge Gareth Vincent and Phil Dillon to hold him to his word on this point and get the financial situation published for all to read.

Petty is in trouble at Swansea and I believe he knows that. Mel Nurse is holding the trump card now and the council need to step forward and make it clear to Petty that there is nothing in it for him with regards the unexpired lease on the Vetch Field. Maybe, after this has been done then we are another step closer to realising our dream.

Mel Nurse and Swansea City Council seem to be holding the trump cards at the moment and now it is time for them to show their hand.