TRUST OWNERSHIP OF WWFC
POTTED HISTORY
(first published October 2019 - reseached and edited by  Paul Lewis - Chairboys on the Net - @GasManCOTN)
Part 3
May 2014 - June 2015
Roller-coaster season - heart-ache at Wembley
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NEW FACE ON BOARD
(Monday 2nd June 2014)
Wanderers have announced that Andrew Howard has joined the Football Club Board in an effort to 'develop the Club's commericial offerings'. Howard, 50, is the owner of local ice cream company Beechdean Dairy Farmhouse and founder of Beechdean Motorsport. He won the British GT3 title last year in an Aston Martin V12 Vantage. Beechdean have been a long-time sponsor of the Club and Howard commented, "I am very excited about joining the board of Wycombe Wanderers Football Club. There has been a tremendous amount of hard work done over the last couple of years and I am looking forward to being part of the development and growth going forward.” |
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TRUST MEETING TUESDAY
(Monday 9th June 2014)
A reminder that a General Meeting of Wycombe Wanderers Trust will take place on Tuesday 10th June. The main topic of the evening will be the Share Scheme, which the Trust say, in the absence of a sale of a majority stake in the Club, is vital to the Club’s future financing.  Read more |
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TRUST MEETING INFO
(Thursday 12th June 2014)
The Trust have provided information from the General Meeting held on Tuesday 10th June. The proposed change to the Trust from a Company Limited by Guarantee to a Community Benefit Society was voted through and paves the way for the previous proposed 'Community Share Scheme' to be formally activated in July. At the date of the meeting £470,000 had been pledged by 177 members, although a significant amount of this had been pledged by two individuals (as yet unnamed). The share scheme has become important since the takeover bids fell through. Trust Chairman, Trevor Stroud, commenting at the meeting said, "We got to a stage with three bidders where we asked them to put a deposit down. As soon as we asked for that, they started getting less interested. One told us they transferred it to our bank account - we never saw it. The more we dug in, the more we realised they were out to make money for themselves."
See Trust website for slide presentation from meeting |
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CHAIRMAN STEPS DOWN
(Thursday 17th July 2014)
An official statement on Thursday morning (17th July 2014) confirmed that Club Chairman Don Woodward was to stand down from his position as from 1st August 2014 and would be replaced by recently appointed Director Andrew Howard. The statement cited "increasing personal work commitments" as the reason behind Woodward's decision, although he will remain as a Trust Director. Woodward became joint Club Chairman at the time of the Trust takeover in June 2012. He went on to become Chairman in his own right when Ivor Beeks retired from the Board in August 2013. In a further statement, Trust Chairman Trevor Stroud commented, "His efforts during the takeover two years ago and since have been an integral part of ensuring Wycombe Wanderers future as a professional football club.”
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ROVERS CLAIMS DISMISSED
(Friday 3rd October 2014)
News came in on Friday that the Football League had concluded its investigation into the complaint made by Bristol Rovers relating to an alleged infringement by Wycombe Wanderers of League regulations prohibiting third-party interests in players. The statement reads, "Having fully investigated the matter, it is our view that the financial transaction in question did not amount to third party investment or influence over players. Instead, it was a re-organisation of Wycombe’s corporate structure that saw the Club reduce its debt to its previous owner. Nonetheless, League regulations require such agreements to be disclosed and approved by The Football League Board before they are concluded. It is clear that this did not happen, although it is equally clear that the Board would have approved this particular arrangement had it been given the opportunity to consider it. Having co-operated fully with the investigation throughout, Wycombe Wanderers have admitted this breach of League regulations. The Club has been issued with a reprimand that will remain on file for two years, as well as a warning as to its future conduct." Read full statement and comment from the Club
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WASPS OFF TO COVENTRY
(Tuesday 7th October 2014)
Wasps Rugby Club are set to leave as tenants at Adams Park after Coventry City councillors unanimously agreed just after 5pm on Tuesday to sell Ricoh Arena operating company ACL to Wasps RFC. They have been given a 250-year lease to operate the venue but the council will retain the freehold of the site. The decision has sparked controversy with both Wasps and Coventry City Football Club followers. For Wanderers it will end a 12 year association with the previously London based rugby club. The deal with the Wanderers has been fraught with problems and financial mystery. Wasps held a press conference on Wednesday (8th October) to explain the deal in more detail.
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WASPS OFF IN DECEMBER
(Wednesday 15th October 2014)
Wasps will play their final game at Adams Park as early as December 2014 after they confirmed their first game in Coventry will take place on 21st December 2014. Their final game in High Wycombe will be a European tie against Castres Olympique now confirmed for Sunday 14th December 2014. The Rugby club are contracted to play at Adams Park until the end of the 2014/15 season but it's not been made public whether Wanderers will receive compensation for their early departure. In addition to a cut in match day income, Wycombe receive around £20,000 per match that Wasps play at Adams Park but have to factor in staff and running costs for the stadium. |
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CLUB CONFIRM BOSS DEAL
(Tuesday 20th January 2015)
The Club have confirmed that the new deal signed by Gareth Ainsworth is for five and a half years - running until June 2020. Club Chairman Andrew Howard was forced to make the statement following press speculation the previous day, having originally refused to reveal the length of the deal. He said: "Gareth is the perfect fit for Wycombe Wanderers. That’s never been in doubt since the day I walked into the Club and he will play a huge part in what we see as being a bright future." Howard claimed that the new deal would give security both to the Club and the Manager, concluding, "There may be ups and downs along the way but we now have a five-year plan – survival, security and then success." Read full article at wycombewanderers.co.uk |
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TRUST AGM PREVIEW
(Thursday 26th February 2015)
A hectic 12 months for the 'Wycombe Wanderers Trust' will culminate in its Annual General Meeting to be held on Thursday 26th February 2015 at Adams Park. As previously reported there are four places available for election to the Trust Board and seven nominations have been received to replace four retiring Board members. chairboys.co.uk has taken a look back at the past 12 months and what can be expected at the AGM.
Trust AGM - preview from chairboys.co.uk
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TRUST AGM REPORT
(Friday 27th February 2015)
Trust Chairman Trevor Stroud quashed fears of a takeover bid from within during his report to Members at the 'Wycombe Wanderers Trust' Annual General Meeting held on Thursday 26th February 2015 at Adams Park. Club Chairman Andrew Howard also said that he didn't want to own the Football Club and would love the Trust to keep up their ownership of what he described as 'something quite special'. The business end of the meeting also saw four new Trust Board members elected.
Trust AGM report from chairboys.co.uk
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1000 UP AT LUTON
(Tuesday 24th March 2015)
As previously featured on chairboys.co.uk, Wanderers will play their 1000th Football League game when they take on Luton Town at Kenilworth Road on Tuesday evening. See our updated feature with extensive stats and the background leading up to this historic landmark for the Club.
chairboys.co.uk - special feature and stats |
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NORTHAMPTON 2 WYCOMBE 3
(Saturday 2nd May 2015)
Wanderers missed out on automatic promotion despite a stoppage winner from Alfie Mawson in a 3-2 victory
in the final day clash at Northampton Town. Gareth Ainsworth's side will now meet with Plymouth Argyle in the two legged play-off semi-final for the right to play in the final at Wembley Stadium on Saturday 23rd May. The 1st Leg v Plymouth will take place at Home Park on Saturday 9th May with a 7.45pm KO. The 2nd Leg at Adams Park will take place on Thursday 14th May - KO 7.45pm.
Northampton 2 Wycombe 3 - report, stats and reaction |
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DON WOODWARD RESIGNS
(Tuesday 5th May 2015)
The Trust announced on Tuesday (5th May) that former Football Club Chairman Don Woodward had resigned from the Trust Board following five years of service. Woodward became Football Club Chairman following the Trust takeover in May 2012. He stepped down to allow Andrew Howard to take that role in August 2014 but remained on the Trust Board. A statement on the Trust website said that 'Woodward cited that he felt it was time for others to take responsibility for the next stage of Wycombe’s revival and upward journey, as the reason behind his resignation.' Commenting on the announcement, Trust Chairman Trevor Stroud said: "I would like to thank Don for his pivotal contribution in establishing Wycombe Wanderers as a Trust owned football club, as well as his contribution as Club Chairman. During this time he was instrumental in reducing the significant losses the Club were incurring, and putting the Club on the path to financial stability. It is not an understatement to say that without Don’s involvement, the Club would not be in the position it currently is." |
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WYCOMBE WEMBLEY BOUND
(Thursday 14th May 2015)
There were joyous scenes at Adams Park on Thursday evening as Wanderers reached the 'League Two' play-off final at Wembley following a 2-1 victory over Plymouth Argyle - giving Gareth Ainsworth's side a 5-3 aggregate win over the West Country side. Paul Hayes and Alfie Mawson scored for Wycombe before the break to set up the victory. Wanderers will now go to Wembley on Saturday 23rd May to face Southend United for the right to play in League One for season 2015/16.
Wycombe 2 Plymouth 1 - report, stats and reaction |
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THE CRUELEST OF DEFEATS
(Saturday 23rd May 2015)
Wanderers' missed out on promotion to 'League One' in the cruelest manner - losing in a penalty shoot having lead Southend until the very final minute of stoppage time in extra-time. Shrimpers 'keeper Daniel Bentley had deflected a Joe Jacobson 25 yard free-kick into his own net in the 5th minute of extra-time and the score stayed the same until the 122nd minute of the match when Joe Pigott slotted home through a crowd of players from the left to send the game to penalties. Southend went first first and Wanderers were briefly ahead when Alex Lynch saved Ben Coker's kick. However, Matt Bloomfield had Wanderers' 4th penalty saved and in the sudden death shoot-out it was United 'keeper Bentley who tipped Sam Wood's penalty onto the post to break the hearts of the 17,000 plus Wanderers fans in the 38,000 crowd and send the Wycombe players to their knees.
Wanderers at Wembley - report, reaction, stats and pics |
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AWARD FOR AINSWORTH
(Wednesday 27th May 2015)
Gareth Ainsworth picked up the League Managers' Association 'League Two' Manager of the Season award for 2014/15 in a ceremony held on Tuesday evening. It was the only divisional award not to go to a manager of a title-winning side with the League One award going to Bristol City's Steve Cotterill and The Championship and the overall award going to Bournemouth's Eddie Howe. Ainsworth's award was presented by ex-Wanderers Manager Martin O'Neill. See Sky Sports Video report |
Read more
Part 4
June 2015 - May 2016
The one where Wycombe played Aston Villa in the FA Cup
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