THE VIC MORGAN COLUMN: Time to find the right owner, and quickly (From The Wiltshire Gazette and Herald)

THE VIC MORGAN COLUMN: Time to find the right owner, and quickly

6:00am Thursday 24th January 2013 in Sport

THE VIC MORGAN COLUMN

OUR club is up for sale. Headlines have spread like wildfire and have varied from the responsible to the ridiculous.

What we know now is that principal owner Andrew Black wants out. That of course is his right, and I think every Town fan will be forever grateful to him for his willingness to stump up the cash and keep STFC alive.

A few weeks ago I wrote that we needed a statement of intent from Mr Black and now we have it.

So where to now?

Clearly the sooner the ownership issue is settled the better.

Over the past few days we’ve seen and heard what mis-information can do.

It leads to people rushing to express their views both rational and at times downright malicious.

I can only speak as a fan with no inside knowledge of the club and its current workings. What I do see is a vibrant and growing concern.

Thanks to Mr Black and his millions, something which is now once again such a part of the community that it persuades dozens of people to leave their fireside on a freezing Friday to make sure a football match goes ahead.

The effort of those volunteers to clear the snow from the pitch cover was sensational.

A local pizza company also profited of course and PDC writes another chapter in Di Canio folklore with his willingness to get his hands dirty for Swindon Town. Terrific.

What we dearly want as supporters is for the going concern to continue to flourish.

We want new owners in place who genuinely want the club to succeed. In the past we've had our fair share of false dawns.

This doesn't appear to be one of them. There appears to be light at the end of what’s been, at times, a very dark tunnel.

What we also desperately crave is stability. To not have to wake to the headlines of last Thursday. Most of us have no chance of buying a football club.

I know though, that we would if we could. All we can ask is that whoever takes over thinks STFC first, last and in the middle.

It’s a great, proud club. Just ask those making the trip to Tranmere why they do it and they'll give you that reason.

We wouldn’t, couldn't follow any other team. Nothing is certain in life or football. If you buy our club do it because you want it to succeed.

Do that and you'll have our total support.