Sean Lewis official statement

Last updated : 26 July 2003 By Mad Tyke

Sean Lewis phoned the club this afternoon to touch base with recent events at Oakwell.

We grabbed a word with Sean who told us: “I have just had a 26 hour journey and arrived in California yesterday after a nine hour delay. The team is still working hard at Oakwell and we are moving ahead with the Football League, Football Association and PFA.

“I apologise if people think that I should be totally consumed by work at Oakwell but I have family matters to wrap up in California and need to pack up the house before coming back to England.

“When we took over the club we had no idea how intricate the situation was. However, we know now and we are working through it. There is still talk that one other potential buyer is the only one who can make a deal with the FA and, although this keeps cropping up, the FA confirmed at a meeting this week that it is untrue. This is not a biased situation and we must prove our case to them on merit.

“The League and FA are studying everything we send them in great detail to make sure that we can build a brighter, positive future for the club. They are doing that to satisfy themselves and that our takeover is in the best interests of supporters. We have no problems with that.

“We have a meeting coming up early next week with the Administrators to settle arrangements for the payment of the creditors voluntary arrangement. We will sit down with Matthew Dunham to look forward and conclude any outstanding issues. We will show that funds are there, where they are coming from and make sure that they are happy.

“We then have a meeting later in the week with the Football League. We will have Kenny Moyes, Chris Patzelt and our consultant Tony Scholes present at the meeting with all the relevant information. After the meeting we will know what the League still wish us to do in very precise terms.

“Various people from the League and FA have been away on holiday in the last couple of weeks but there has been continued contact throughout. I believe that shows the determination and commitment of both bodies to work with the club on these matters.

“We are staying calm and are totally focussed on finishing the task. The only thing we do not have control over is time. The League and FA do not want Barnsley Football Club to close but they want to be fully aware of our strengths going forward and cannot be seen to bend their own rules to suit a club.

“They can be as thorough as they want and we are working closely with them to bring the situation to its conclusion. If it goes to the wire then it goes to the wire but we are working closely together to sort it out.

“We have to ignore gossip and the pious behaviour that has surrounded the club. It is negative and we are totally focussed on the positive strides we are making. Negativity sells newspapers – it does not gain a football share”.

He added: “I am bitterly disappointed that we had to cancel our pre-season games this week, not only for the supporters, but for Gudjon (Thordarson), Ronnie (Glavin) and the players. I have had to suffer the wrath of Gudjon this week as he is upset because it has affected his preparations for the new season.

“However, he fully understands the situation and is working very hard with us and his positive work on the training field will take this club forward. We are looking towards a positive and productive future here at Barnsley playing football.

“I am concerned that the uncertainty is affecting supporters but we cannot allow ourselves, or the team, to be distracted from achieving our aim. We realise the patience of supporters has been severely stretched in recent times and that many must be suffering from emotional strain. Please hang in there – good news will follow”.