I’LL CLEAR £2M DEBT

Razzak’s vow to Dragons

BASINGSTOKE Town chairman and benefactor Rafi Razzak has promised to clear the club’s £2 million debt when he leaves the Southern League club in May after 25 years of funding it.

Razzak believes the time is right to hand over the mantle after his ambitious plans to build a new £10million stadium at Old Common were rejected earlier this year by Basingstoke & Deane Council following protests by residents.

He feels badly let down by the local authority but told BBC Radio Berkshire he will make sure the club is financially stable.

Razzak, inset top, said: “I am not going to leave the football club in debt. I will clear all the debt and allow enough money to be put in the football club before I leave.

“I cannot see what I can do for the club going forward. I worked with the council for 12 years to give the club a stadium and have income from it.

“It would have been, a community stadium, one that would sustain the club for many, many years. I had assurances this would happen.

“I wanted to do something, to leave a legacy. But I cannot keep putting money in a club with no aim, no result, with no future, no plan and target.

“So I see this as the time for someone else to come and have a vision.

My vision failed, someone else has to do it.

“The council has to be responsible for the failure of my vision. The council have let the borough, the town and everyone down.”

Basingstoke have already undergone one radical change already this summer when they became a full-time club with manager Terry Brown, pictured below, at the helm following relegation from National League South.

The appointment of a new chairman will be part of a strategic review called Plan B, which will determine the club’s long-term future.

Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council say they want to find a solution that suits the club and local people.

Cabinet member for communities and community safety, Cllr Simon Bound, said: “I’m keen to maintain the borough’s reputation for sport and we value the contribution that the club makes to the borough.

“We will work with the club to understand how the council could help in finding a solution that works for the club and local community.”