Takeover bidsparks acivilwar forBinos
STIRLING ALBION are on the brink of civil war over a proposed £1million takeover of the League Two club.
A Lanarkshire-based consortium headed by wealthy businessmen including ex-Clyde star John Neill want to buy the Binos, who became the UK’s first fan-owned club in 2010.
Club directors are backing the move but the board of the Supporters Trust that owns Albion is against it while fans are believed to be split over whether to scrap their pioneering venture.
Neill has now been invited to make a formal bid with the Trust’s 250 members having the final say.
An Albion source said: “The directors have managed to get the club debt-free and bring in a popular boss [Dave Mackay].
“But there’s only so much they can do as the owners above them have no longterm strategy or ambition.
“Fan ownership could work somewhere but we have to be honest and say it’s failing here.
“This would bring muchneeded investment into the club but while the Trust is in charge it will always be a fourth-tier team at best.”
The consortium led by Neill, who has amassed a fortune as a house builder since hanging up his boots, is believed to include other rich Scotland-based figures.
They plan to pump £250,000 into the club, buy Forthbank Stadium from Stirling Council and lay an artificial pitch.