Brent is sure Hallett will safeguard Argyle’s future
Former chairman is confident that his successor can enhance Pilgrims’ progress
PLYMOUTH Argyle are in safe hands under the control of Simon Hallett, his predecessor James Brent has declared.
Brent believes that, financially, the United States-based businessman will be able to take the football club further forward than he could have done. Hallett became Argyle’s majority shareholder last August, after he provided the additional funding to ensure that the redevelopment of Home Park’s Mayflower Grandstand went ahead as planned.
Hallett then took on the role of chairman from Brent, who had rescued the Pilgrims out of administration in 2011, in November. Now Brent has sold his remaining 30 per cent stake in the League Two club to Hallett and has stepped down from the board of directors. It means that
Hallett holds 94 per cent of the shares in Argyle, with the rest split almost equally between directors Richard Holliday and Tony Wrathall.
Brent always stated he wanted to hand the club over to a good successor when the time was right, and he feels he has done that. He told the Plymouth Herald: “There are a number of owners in football who wouldn’t be right for the club.
“There are a huge number of people that approached us that would have been totally wrong for the club, but I think Simon is going to provide a lot of excitement for supporters – me included – and he will do so in a way that doesn’t risk the club at all, which is really important.”
Brent remained an advocate of financial sustainability throughout his eight-year tenure at Argyle. For his part, 63-year-old Hallett has already shown that he is willing to come up with extra cash at times.
That has included paying contract settlements to the club’s former managerial duo, Derek Adams and Paul Wotton, plus a reported £150,000 compensation to Bury for Adams’ successor, Ryan Lowe.
Brent said: “Simon is wealthier than I am, so, in part because of that and in part because we are different people, I’m probably more zealous on the sustainability point.
“I look at it that, if you want to spend more money, you had better earn more money. I think Simon is more moderate on that. That probably provides for a more exciting football experience going forward, and one that I look forward to enjoying.”
Brent feels the former Plymouth College pupil and long-time Argyle fan is ideally suited to being the majority owner and chairman.
“I think that local connection wasn’t essential but is important – that it’s his football club,” added the 53-year-old. “It’s not critical. I think you can be a good owner and chairman without having that local connection, but it’s really helpful when you have got it.
“I think his own vision for the club is absolutely right. He wants to make a positive mark on the city through the football club. He’s very focused on community, very focused on the bits that are outside the first team, but he totally recognises that, for the club as a whole to be successful, the first team needs to be successful.
“I think he just ticks so many boxes. His motivation is right, his intellect is right, his values are right, and he does have capital to support all of those,” Brent concluded.
Hallett became an Argyle director in 2016, when he purchased a 30 per cent shareholding. That was the start of a gradual transition of power from Brent to Hallett, which was always on the agenda from the offset.