Well Society drawing up plans to help drive future plans at Fir Park
THE Well Society is pressing ahead with plans for a new supporter- driven era at Motherwell despite uncertainty over the ownership model.
American TV executive Erik Barmack outlined his vision for the Steelmen on Thursday after arriving in Scotland to hold further talks with the club board over proposed investment.
Barmack, a former Netflix vice president who runs his own film production company, is aiming to take a majority shareholding over time, despite saying he does not want to “disempower” the Well Society.
The fan group has only had a majority of representatives on the club board for the past few weeks despite assuming its 71- per- cent stake in 2016.
The club are at a major crossroads, with chief executive Brian Caldwell in his second week in the job and chairman Jim McMahon set to retire at the end of the season following 23 years on the board.
Motherwell’s three- man board needs to grow to six to eight members following a recent change to the club’s articles and the recently revamped Well Society board is finalising its approach to supporting Caldwell and other staff at the club, whether that is with or without Barmack.
An update on social media read: “We continued working on The Well Society’s new business plan at our latest board meeting. Our members are shaping the proposal – we have identified eight core values based on a survey completed by over 200 Motherwell fans.
“With our expanded board and additional experienced contributors across our workstream groups we are finalising strategies to engage more with members and to play a more assertive role in supporting the club build a comprehensive long- term plan for success on and off the park.
“Aims include improving the match- day experience, encouraging lapsed supporters back and attracting new fans to Motherwell.
“Whatever happens elsewhere in the coming days and weeks, we are preparing for a bright new future with supporters at the heart of a renewed sense of purpose around our club. We are excited to be able to share the plans in the coming weeks.”
Barmack is set to attend Motherwell’s cinch Premiership clash with
Hibernian today. The Los Angelesbased former journalist declined to give any details of the financial package on offer when interviewed by the BBC this week.
The club recently signed a deal which allowed both parties to explore the proposal further but the Well Society board has not been involved in the negotiations as a collective.
Members have been promised the final say on any concrete proposal which emerges in the coming weeks but a recent vote opened up the possibility of the supporters’ group dropping below a 50- per- cent stake.
Motherwell are looking to take their status of comeback specialists to a new level by sneaking into the cinch Premiership top six at the perfect moment.
Kettlewell’s side have earned 21 of their 36 points from losing positions and their late surge for a top- half finish has come after three wins in five matches – the same total they achieved in the previous 23 league games.
After a bright start to the campaign which had them in second place in mid- September, Kettlewell’s side slipped out of the top half on November 1 and have never returned.
They are currently eighth and will edge into sixth if they beat Hibs and Dundee lose at Aberdeen. Even then, Motherwell waiting on Dundee’s game with Rangers until on Wednesday.
Defender Dan Casey said: “We don’t stop playing until the final whistle and we have shown that this year. We have got a lot of late goals.
“I think we are quite a fit team so that’s probably helped us as well to keep going to the end. But it is a problem where we need to start quicker. We have done quite well when we have been in the lead, it’s just getting that lead. Hopefully we can start fast at the weekend and see how it goes.”