Where to now for Bray Wanderers

**starryknight** · 20/12/2012, 9:18 AM

Originally Posted by Albatross

Some documentation has come my way and the supporters of Bray Wanderers may or may not be interested it's contents but here goes anyway.

Below is extract from the Minutes of an EGM held at Carlisle Grounds on 8^th December 2011.

Present: Eddie Slevin; Frank Slevin; John Deering; Pat Devlin; Eddie Cox; Richard Holfeld; Philip Hannigan

Richard Holfeld requested that we move to Item 6 on the Agenda – this was agreed by all.

Agenda Item 6:
To Appoint or Remove Directors:
Eddie Cox informed the meeting that he cannot work with John Deering anymore. John Deering continues to send e-mails including one to Bray Town Council when he was asked not too. Eddie Cox said he had received over 30 e-mails from John Deering despite asking him to stop.
John Deering said he was only interested in helping the club and had organised to get the phones switched back on and had been in touch with the ESB.
John Deering said his heart was in the club.
John Deering said he felt like the accused and his only concern was the football club.
At this stage Richard Holfeld invited John Deering to resign as a Director – this was seconded by Eddie Cox.
Following some discussion, John Deering asked could he speak with Eddie Slevin outside of the meeting and this was granted. On his return John Deering resigned as a Director and left the meeting.

Maybe Mr. Cox and Mr. Holfeld or the board would like to explain their actions.

I hear Deering was removed because he called on his fellow directors to act on the investigation into shares held by the very shareholder who arranged for Deering to be removed.
If this is the case then it looks like a very serious matter of conspiracy to silence a fellow director trying to do the right thing. Any documentation available to back up that allegation?

**Dove** · 20/12/2012, 10:59 AM

Starryknight : �I hear Deering was removed because he called on his fellow directors to act on the investigation into shares held by the very shareholder who arranged for Deering to be removed.
If this is the case then it looks like a very serious matter of conspiracy to silence a fellow director trying to do the right thing. Any documentation available to back up that allegation? �

I have heard from a good close friend of Mr. Deering, that the posting by Albatross is not 100% correct, as the minutes are only �draft� and have not been put to shareholders for approval. Serious discrepancies have not been addressed

Despite a request to the Company Secretary to reflect this note it in the
minutes of the meeting for the 8th Dec 2011 it obviously has not happened.

"Mr. Deering refused to resign; Mr. Holfeld then told Mr. Deering that he had
the numbers and would call a vote and fire him."

Mr Deering also tried to get this note read into the minutes of an EGM on
2nd April 2012 but was verbally abused by the Chairman, which was so
offensive that the then Company Secretary felt it necessary to write to all
shareholders requesting support to request the Chairman's resignation.

Could it be to do with a letter Mr. Deering wrote to Mr. Holfeld on 17th Nov.
2011 containing the following extract:

The Board is aware that some issues surround the transfer of shares from
Mercer to H.R Holfeld Limited, and they are still outstanding.

It seems the transfer was made by a company that was dissolved.
The Auditor has raised a concern, but feels we need to get legal
clarification."

For whatever reason that Mr. Deering was deemed unsuitable to hold office it
was obviously not performance related.

So now we have issues that are becoming clear, and already mentioned in previous postings of the Auditor �leaving�, the Company Secretary �leaving� and now Mr. Deering �resigning�

What is REALLY going on at Bray Wanderers?

I leave you to draw your own conclusions.

**starryknight** · 20/12/2012, 4:30 PM

Thank you Mr Dove for your contributions.

Looks like a conspiracy, smells like a conspiracy, then it is a conspiracy.
Looks like a coverup, smells like a coverup, then it is a coverup.

But this is dear old Ireland and that is how we do things, behind closed doors.
Will anything be done about this, who knows?
Will the Board be issuing a statement, not on our nellie!
Will the Fans give a damn, will the Sponsers even care, will the FAI even look at the governance issues?
We will see, in January, it be an interesting month for all contributors.

**Captain2007** · 22/12/2012, 6:47 PM

I know most of the fans on this site have probably seen this article from the Irish Times on Fri 21 Dec.....not good reading...
Latest accounts for League of Ireland minnows Bray Wanderers have just been dropped into the Companies Registration Office and they indicate that the club made a loss in 2011 of €170,000.
It had accumulated losses of €1.5 million at the end of November 2011. With the 2012 season having since closed, and with Bray finishing 10th in the premier division, long-serving director Eddie Cox told me Bray hoped to break even when the final accounts for this year had been signed off. "We reduced our budget considerably and we had a number of amateur players playing for us during the season," Cox explained. Thoughts are turning to next season, with the club once again hoping to secure its licence to participate in the league from the FAI. German carmaker Volkswagen is on board as team sponsor for 2013. "We're a small club with a small support base but we'll keep doing our best with what we have," said Cox.

**Dove** · 24/12/2012, 12:29 PM

Peadar1987 ‘’Absolutely no excuse for managing the club so badly. I genuinely believe heads should roll over this, but they won't’’

The above was posted on the Football Finance Thread, and the response below is posted. It is very much connected to this Thread, Where to Now for Bray Wanderers so I am posting it.

What the club will probably do is write back loans that Mr. Cox said had been written off into the P&L account and therefore able to show a profit.

A deal which I now believe to be null and void, where loans that directors gave to the club in good faith and were FORCED to write off by an individual who acquired 300,000 for €30 which is a transaction which is contrary to the clubs own Memorandum & Articles of Association which prevents shares being sold at below their face value. The same individual also indemnified the club from any legal costs in relation to that transaction.

It appears that it is in the best interests of the club for one individual to acquire his shares in this way but then decide that it is not in the best interests of the club for others to try and buy shares at face value.

It says so much about the club and the goings on behind the scenes.

**starryknight** · 09/01/2013, 12:13 PM

Information flow is toxic sewage for authoritarian states. It's why Iran blocks Facebook and China hobbles Google. Some lefties would toss the American effort to muzzle WikiLeaks in the mix. T. McCarthy in The Guardian.
Bray Wanderers would also like to block information getting out and want to stifle any debate on the club.
We will see what happens with the new shareholders and their applications to join. Basically they will be politely told to forget it.

**Albatross** · 22/01/2013, 8:58 PM

URGENT! URGENT! URGENT!

If Bray Wanderers supporters want a club to support next season it's now time to act now, the board have turned down Financial plan to save the club and get a License because they wont stand up to ONE particular shareholder. It would appear that shareholder would rather the club died. If you care start your protest now if you don't care then so be it and there will be the demise of your club.

**peadar1987** · 22/01/2013, 9:01 PM

Originally Posted by Albatross

URGENT! URGENT! URGENT!

If Bray Wanderers supporters want a club to support next season it's now time to act now, the board have turned down Financial plan to save the club and get a License because they wont stand up to ONE particular shareholder. It would appear that shareholder would rather the club died. If you care start your protest now if you don't care then so be it and there will be the demise of your club.

If the worse comes to the worst, what is the situation if the club wished to reform and start again from the bottom? The Carlisle is officially owned by the council, is it not?

**Albatross** · 22/01/2013, 9:06 PM

Originally Posted by peadar1987

If the worse comes to the worst, what is the situation if the club wished to reform and start again from the bottom? The Carlisle is officially owned by the council, is it not?

The lease on the ground dies with the end of the club, what makes anyone think the council would hand a lease to a new football club. The council have so many other options.

**Mr A** · 23/01/2013, 2:00 PM

Are you saying there is a real chance that Bray could fail to start the season?

**Roo69** · 23/01/2013, 3:09 PM

Originally Posted by Mr A

Are you saying there is a real chance that Bray could fail to start the season?

There isn't even the slightest chance Bray will miss the start of the season.

**Albatross** · 23/01/2013, 4:19 PM

Originally Posted by Roo69

There isn't even the slightest chance Bray will miss the start of the season.

Then the club have obviously been playing "silly buggers" with the bank and creditors which is a despicable way to run a business. They were obviously going to resolve these issues all along but decided to go to the wire, those running the club have lost all credability

**lowflyingseagul** · 24/01/2013, 7:23 AM

Originally Posted by Albatross

Then the club have obviously been playing "silly buggers" with the bank and creditors which is a despicable way to run a business. They were obviously going to resolve these issues all along but decided to go to the wire, those running the club have lost all credability

is that not every club in the league ?

**Albatross** · 24/01/2013, 9:54 AM

Originally Posted by lowflyingseagul

is that not every club in the league ?

Maybe so but that doesn't make it right, Bray Wanderers have been portrayed as how a club should be run, IMO they fall far short of proper ethical standards. Some would say who cares about ethics as long as the club survives, it's not a school of thought I'm comfortable with.

**benbulben** · 24/01/2013, 11:37 AM

Looks like a great deal for the club to get loans written off.

**benbulben** · 24/01/2013, 11:40 AM

You seem to have a lot of information on the club.You posted minutes of a meeting which starrynight says are wrong.Who is right ? Where did you get the minutes -has Mr Deering resigned or not?

**Albatross** · 25/01/2013, 4:26 PM

Originally Posted by benbulben

You seem to have a lot of information on the club.You posted minutes of a meeting which starrynight says are wrong.Who is right ? Where did you get the minutes -has Mr Deering resigned or not?

It's amazing what end up in the public domain one should always act in an ethical manner.

**Albatross** · 25/01/2013, 5:29 PM

Originally Posted by benbulben

You seem to have a lot of information on the club.You posted minutes of a meeting which starrynight says are wrong.Who is right ? Where did you get the minutes -has Mr Deering resigned or not?

If you wish to find out if Mr Deering resigned or not log into the following website, search for Bray Wanderers, Look for B10 forms and pay the fee to download them as I had to do. You can then satisfy your curiosity.

http://www.cro.ie/search/CompanySearch.aspx

**benbulben** · 27/01/2013, 9:11 PM

Thanks for the link.So Mr Deering resigned-I don't know what all the stuff earlier in this thread is about.It seems a pity that all the people who feel so passionately about the club do not channel their energy into making it a success.Are there enough people in Bray /Wicklow/South Dublin who would get togetrher to get the club into good financial shape?

**starryknight** · 28/01/2013, 8:50 AM

Originally Posted by benbulben

You seem to have a lot of information on the club.You posted minutes of a meeting which starrynight says are wrong.Who is right ? Where did you get the minutes -has Mr Deering resigned or not?

Hi Benbulben and welcome to the discussion, great place for a free exchange of ideas. Question is why has Bray Wanderers seen nothing but a stream of losses from the Board in recent years? All answers appreciated.