THE TIME IS RIGHT

FC Halifax Town chairman David Bosomworth is set to begin talks with two potential investors into the club.

The Shaymen released a statement last week inviting appropriate confidential discussions with anyone interested in investing.

And Bosomworth says the club is in the early stages of talks with two parties.

He said: “There’s never been any interest (prior to this). Apparently somebody offered to invest in the summer, but I don’t know who it was. That’s rumours for you!

“We’ve had a couple of enquiries, expressions of interest, which I will discuss and have a look at, and we’ll see how we go.

“They’re in the early stages. One of them is anonymous at the moment, and the other is not locallybased.

“But it’s still early days.”

Bosomworth wouldn’t be drawn on what kind of figure would be sought from any investor.

“I have an idea of what could help us,” he said. “We’re not talking about millions.

“But you’ve still got to bring the right characters in, that will fit into the team.”

And the chairman said no timeframe could be put on any deal.

“I don’t think you can put a time-frame on it. There’s due diligence to do, you’ve got evaluate whether the person is going to complement the club. You don’t want any hidden agendas.”

Bosomworth said Town’s terrific start to the season, which sees them sitting third in the National League, has played a part in the timing of last week’s statement.

“It’s quite an open league this season,” he said. “It’s surprising that Chesterfield, Fylde and Wrexham are all near the bottom at the moment.

“Solihull, who were strongly-fancied, haven’t quite clicked into gear.

“Notts County and Yeovil are teams that you would expect to be there, not only do they have good crowds for the National League but they have the parachute payment of circa £850,000.

“We’ve managed to get to the top of the table, and we’ve been able to sustain it. Despite some indifferent results, we’re still up there.

“I think the timing’s right to give it our very best shot, and the feeling is that we need to provide a little bit more revenue to give a bit more depth in the squad, to give ourselves the very best chance.

“If you do bring two or three players in, it doesn’t guarantee you success, but it was felt that if the correct opportunity presents itself, then it may well be a consideration.”

When asked if Halifax’s exit from the FA Cup had anything to do with the timing, Bosomworth said: “Not directly, but you can’t be blind to the fact that when you do a budget, you don’t allow for funds from the FA Cup, but there’s a wish to generate funds, and it’s probably circa £100,000-£125,000 that we’ve missed out on.

“We’d have had the Portsmouth game televised, plus the gate from that game, and the prize money, it’s certainly over £100,000, and the chance to play for the £36,000 by winning the game.”

The Town chairman said a number of factors will be taken into consideration when assessing potential investors.

“There isn’t a fixed criteria,” he said. “It’s a case of looking at what’s out there, who’s prepared to come forward.

“I think there’s a number of factors that come into it, and that will unfold as and when conversations take place.

“I’ve got to take a pragmatic view and say ‘what can help the club going forward to realise what we’ve all been striving to do’.

“We’ve worked hard, I think the club’s got a very good name in football circles, I think it’s got a good name with suppliers.

“We’ve always tried to run it to the best of our ability. We’ve made mistakes along the way, but there’s been successes along the way as well.

“I’ve always said if I was to leave, I would leave the club debt-free, and that’s hopefully what we can do as and when that arises.

“Everything’s possible. I think it’s very important we give the club every chance to get promotion, but it’s got to be the right opportunity on a