Syngenta revamp will be ‘fantastic’ Huddersfield Town chairman tells meeting

Nov 17 2010 Huddersfield Daily Examiner

DEAN HOYLE has given a personal pledge over the future of Huddersfield Rec Club and promised members: “We want to create something fantastic for you.”

The Huddersfield Town chairman is spearheading a £5m proposal to build a training ground and improve community facilities at the Syngenta Sports and Fitness site off Leeds Road.

Members of the Rec Club – which has struggled for membership and income in recent years – must vote by November 29 whether to accept Town’s plan, which includes 15 years of security for them.

Asked his vision for the site, which would be run by a new joint company called Huddersfield Canalside Ltd with Mr Hoyle as landowner, the former Card Factory magnate said: “We need everyone working in harmony – football club, members and the whole community.

“We are in negotiations as a football club to try and get back our share in the stadium and it would be good for us to have something we feel ownership of in the shape of a single-centre training ground.

“At the same time, the football club can’t make that site survive on its own. The players are there only a few hours each day and, while the site doesn’t have to run around the clock, it has got to provide income.

“My wife says I can spend only so much because this is costing her enough, so the site has got to be commercially viable.

“It would be nice to bring the facilities up to scratch, to keep the members happy and to give them something they can look back on and say ‘this is fantastic.’

“Hopefully we can give the Rec Club a new lease of life and get it buzzing again. We know the members don’t want to be swamped, but it would be nice to give back to the community.

“I am not in this for a quick buck – that’s not what I am about. It’s not what Huddersfield Town is about either.

“With Huddersfield Town and while ever I own the lease, we will always be there for the right reasons – you have my personal pledge on that.

“We want a community facility, we need to make it viable and we need to embrace all sections of the Rec Club, bringing everything together in a win, win, win situation.”

A total of 56 members attended a private question and answer session with Mr Hoyle, Town chief executive Nigel Clibbens, Syngenta business managers Alan Hardy and Peter Evans and Rec Club legal advisor Nick Metcalfe, secretary Stuart Leach and chairman Carl Sykes.

It lasted an hour and 27 minutes and more background to the proposal was revealed.

Mr Sykes said membership had dropped 20% since 2007 and losses had been made for the past three years, despite subsidies of around £50,000 a year from current landowners Syngenta on rent, rates, water, TV, postage and insurance.

Club assets amount to £35,000 and they have £180,000 in the bank. They carried out a refurbishment in 2006 costing £160,000.

Members were told their management committee had looked at possibly buying the site themselves – they have a 12-year lease but a notice period of only six months – but it would cost around £100,000 a year in mortgage and additional expertise and that couldn’t be achieved.

Under the proposal, Canalside will run the premises, with Town having 99 shares and the Rec Club one. The Rec Club lease would be surrendered and assets transferred to Canalside where they would have a 15-year lease.

The Rec Club would loan £50,000 to the new company in return for £75,000 worth of preference shares in Canalside – more than doubling their current assets.

Members would also have rights of veto to protect the club against certain changes during the lease period, providing membership and viability are maintained, and the Rec Club would have no operating expenses.

“There are risks, which have been pointed out to members, but this proposal is a fantastic opportunity to be part of something positive in the town and the management committee believe it’s the best way for us to move forward,” added Mr Sykes.

HUDDERSFIELD Town won’t jeopardise its popularity in the community by not doing the right thing at Canalside.

Club chief executive Nigel Clibbens gave assurances on that, saying 18 months of hard work had gone into reaching a deal with Syngenta Sports and Fitness Ltd – the Rec Club – which everyone felt could be supported to the hilt.

While Town would have control, members would have a voice going forward as the Canalside board would feature three directors from the football club and three from the Rec Club management committee.

So what questions did members have about the multi-million pound plan for their club and the site? Here are a selection:

QUESTION: Will the gym remain?