Wealthy donor Stuart Murphy’s ‘entrepreneurial spirit’ and ‘vitality’ will be welcome at Chester FC with the deal to bring funds into the club expected to be completed later this month, according to Blues non-executive director Richard Lynes.
Murphy was revealed at a press conference yesterday at Chester’s Grosvenor Hotel as the businessman prepared to become involved with the club and offer it financial assistance.
The 64-year-old founder of Chester-based Exacta Plc said he decided he needed to ‘put some back into the city’ and that the Blues were an ‘obvious challenge’.
Making it clear that he ‘will never see this money again’ through the donation, Murphy said the club’s situation requires ‘serious cash, some knowledge and some enthusiasm’, which he believes he can offer and help the Blues become sustainable as they aim to gain promotion from the National League North at the first attempt.
“It should never need to look for cash again if we build it right and build it fast and get out of this league next season, that’s the first priority,” he said.
And the investment has been welcomed by Blues non-executive director Lynes who is full of praise for the benefactor.
“The money is very important of course. Stuart is a hugely experienced businessman,” he said.
“He’s been there and done it in many ways in terms of forming businesses and making them successful.
“He’s got an entrepreneurial spirit about him and a vitality that will be very welcome at Chester Football Club.
“We found ourselves in very difficult circumstances, as you know, and this type of involvement will be very welcome to us.”
Lynes believes there are no ‘major obstacles’ in the way of completing the deal with Murphy by the end of this month.
The Blues were relegated from the National League last season following a dismal campaign both on and off the pitch.
The club’s finances were laid bare at a City Fans United meeting in January which revealed the Blues needed £50,000 in the short-term to stay in business .
The £100,000 fundraising barrier was broken through a few months later following tremendous efforts from Blues fans the football community.
But after having the biggest budget in the club’s history since its reformation in 2010 last season, funds for players this campaign will be much lower and around the £250,000 mark.
And with Murphy pledging to inject money into the club, Lynes pointed to the importance of using the money wisely to create a structure which can take the Blues forward.
“It’s hugely important and I’m sure that Stuart will oversee that type of decision making,” he said.
“One of the things that we need to do and in fact we’ve recently completed a strategy for the business which will take us forward for the next three to four years.
“That’s massively important for us because every decision we make, we have to reference that strategy, otherwise you just make tactical decisions.”
With how last season panned out and the state of the club’s past finances being well publicised, Lynes knows the importance of identifying where things went wrong and how to put processes in place to ensure they are not repeated and earn Blues fans’ trust as the club looks to the future.
“It (fans’ trust) is waning and I’ve got this good gig at the moment which is to do the review of the failures,” he said.
“As I said earlier, I’m kind of looking to putting processes or recommending processes to the business which will stop us from making poor decisions that have been made before.
“I’m not going to blame anyone, but I’m actually looking to just make some improvements.
“It’s about positivity now. We want to make the difference to the business which is about driving us forward rather than looking backwards.”
