PROTEST TO IGNITE ROW AT PROACT?
WHEN it rains, it pours for Chesterfield and no sooner had the sun come out last weekend, the storm was only just restarting.
A shock 2-0 win over title favourites Salford City ended a staggering 19-game winless run in the National League and offered a glimmer of hope that manager Martin Allen might just be about to turn the glugging Spireites oil tanker around.
It was a rare moment of joy for Chesterfield as the ProAct Stadium roared again, young loanee Alex Kiwomya sparkled with a brace and finally something came off for boss Allen with sub Jordan Hallam playing a key part in the second goal just five minutes into his cameo.
But the feel-good factor was only allowed to last until Monday morning before the release of the club’s accounts for last year showed a loss of over £1million, more than double the figure in 2017.
It added to the ammunition of an arguably overdue supporters’ protest at yesterday’s FA Trophy game at home to Basford, led by popular fan Paul Goodwin, who hoped the demonstration would show owner Dave Allen and the board that the Chesterfield faithful would no longer stand for the seemingly unending decline the club has been on since their League One play-off defeat in 2015.
Ramifications
Supporters find themselves wanting the good times back, but forcing a change of ownership by outing Allen from the club could well prove to be fatal.
The accounts showed Allen injected £1.3million in to the club which had already received £12 million of his investment since 2009, not to mention a new stadium, two League Two championships and an EFL Trophy success at Wembley.
Despite the rapid fall, the managerial failures and the infamous PR own-goals culmi- nating in another relegation scrap this time round, Allen has still backed the club financially. An eye-watering £1.3million is being spent on wages this season alone in a bid to return to the Football League.
Director Ashley Carson, who has overseen the running of the club since Allen fell out with directors at a club AGM in 2016, was embroiled in a text message exchange with Goodwin this week over the possible ramifications the demonstration might bring.
Goodwin had campaigned for a peaceful protest, but Carson was concerned that if things got out of hand then owner Allen could withdraw his funding and stated: “If Dave Allen walks away from the club, it’s gone.”
Perhaps fan pressure has already paid off with the appointment of new chief executive Graham Bean on Thursday.
The former FA compliance officer and advisor to Sir Alex Ferguson, who investigated exSpireites chairman Darren Brown in 2000, says he “can fully understand and resonate with the frustrations that supporters of the club are currently experiencing.”