Press Statement - 25/09/05

From the Working Group for the Inception of a Boston United Supporters’ Trust

The recent announcement by Boston United Chairman Jon Sotnick that a current Boston United board member, the team manager and the general manager at the club are facing legal proceedings for conspiring to defraud the public revenue has been received with great concern and sadness by the Working Group. The Group hopes and trusts that all parties concerned will be exonerated of the charges in due course.

Although these charges relate to times prior to the current owners, Lavaflow, Steve Evans was, and still is to the best of our knowledge, a director of Bespoke Peoples’ Solutions, which is owned by Jon Sotnick. The usual course of events would be for those implicated to be suspended on full pay. It is a measure of the current chairman’s loyalty for and trust in Steve Evans that he has not sought to take such action. The Working Group believes that Jon Sotnick’s recent press statement, in which he sought to distance the club from the charges against its employees, only managed to underline the seriousness of the situation and to publicly undermine the position of the club as a responsible and ethical employer.

It has been brought to the attention of the Working Group that Jon Sotnick was aware of the court proceedings on the day of the Fans’ Forum on 14th September. It is disappointing that the chairman did not share this information with those fans present on the evening. Of more concern is that fact that he kept this news from some of his working board directors until very recently. The lack of an open and honest culture within the club is highly damaging to the public image of Boston United FC.

The Working Group also believes that the highly publicised closure of the very popular unofficial Boston United discussion forum, Pilgrims Patter (wwwdotbufcdotdrfoxdotorgdotuk) was an attempt to stifle discussion of the charges made against the employees, again undermining Jon Sotnick’s position as a responsible employer by underlining how serious the charges are.

The arguments presented by the Chairman for the closure of “Patter” on BBC Radio Lincolnshire were at best unconvincing, and at worst vacuous, but if he had wanted to limit the transmission of further bad publicity and remove their basic democratic right to express an opinion, then the closure of “Patter” was a logical, albeit ill-judged, move.

Meanwhile, work continues on the inception of a Supporters’ Trust. The Working Group and BUSA met on Friday 16th September and were joined by Jacqui Forster of Supporters’ Direct who explained the steps to be taken leading up formation, and the likely running costs of a Trust. Discussions were constructive and opened the way for future meetings. In light of recent and forthcoming events, The Working Group is determined to continue constructive meetings to secure the long-term role of the supporters in assisting or running Boston United

25/09/05