Hello Clarets fans, just popping by to thank you for taking an interest in the plight of our club, to say we are in a mess would be an understatement.
Just to update you Francesco Becchetti a very wealthy Italian businessman bought the club a few days after we lost the play off final on penalties to Rotherham nearly three years ago now, It took fans about 45 minutes research on the internet to turn optimism into worry with tales of failed involvement in Roma volleyball club, which he abandoned with large debts. also major involvement in Albania which left the Albanian goverment seeking his extradition - So much for the EFL fit and proper owner test eh? Now while Barry Hearn wasn't the most popular chairman we have ever had, he gave the club stability and we edged forward both on and off the pitch but it was at least travel in the right direction, however he botched up the costings on our two of our new stands and bought the ground off us to cover the debt but when he left we had nearly 2 million in the bank a very decent team at this level and a good manager.
Becchetti came in promising to respect the fans and the tradition of the club but has done neither bringing in an expensive Italian Director of Football (who he later sued) a CEO on £8k a week staying in a million pound mansion being rented by the club and bizarrely an Italian goalkeeping coach, now head of recruitment from the depths of the Ryman League who is completely despised for his arrogance.
We have had a procession of Managers all of which have been hampered by Mr Becchetti's insistence on picking the team, he has sacked 7 out of 10 of them and the other 3 left of their own accord. He spent money on wages like confetti. £12k a week on a former Italian international left back who was well past it and god knows how much a week of a completely useless 6 foot Italian striker that no one had heard of but turned out to be a friend of Mr B. All of which piled up as loans to the football and have left us in millions of debt. He hasn't been at the club since well before Christmas and his CEO is on sick leave, the club is being run by loyal office staff but the funding has long since stopped leading to our winding up petition next week. He has said he will sell and two offers have been made for the club but he fails to respond.
Our Fans trust have launched a fighting fund
https://www.gofundme.com/epxjz-leyton-o ... ation-fund" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; trying to put together funds to wrestle the club away from the owner by administration if needed or a last resort if HMRC wind us up and we fold on Monday there are plans to start a phoenix club as AFC Wimbledon did all those years ago. There's loads more but I don't want to bore you with details of him going onto the pitch and kicking our assistant manager at the end of a game or the bizarre press releases, the intimidating meet the chairman evening and even more sinister video message to the fans.
If any one can spare some loose change to help us it would be very welcome but if not thanks at least for taking notice.
Quick PS: Hearn was dead set on the Olympic Stadium move but the fans hated the idea. Also Frank Clarke never said that game at Turf Moor that kept you in the FL was fixed but he said exactly what was said to us by the police that day as we came off the motorway, that If Orient won they would "not guarantee our safety" we were given the option of turning back but of course we didn't and while we were sad to see our season end that day it would have been far worse to see your famous old club fall out of the Football League. Best of Luck for the futre.
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