The Chesterfield chairman Dave Allen appears to have taken aim at his Sheffield Wednesday counterpart Dejphon Chansiri.
Allen spent more than four years at the Hillsborough helm, but is far from fondly remembered by the Wednesday fans – of whom he claimed to be one.
But around 18 months after his 2007 departure, the 77-year-old resurfaced down the road at Chesterfield, where despite some early success he has overseen back-to-back relegations which have led the Spireites out of the Football League.
He was recently named as English football’s ‘worst owner’ in a poll by fans.
But in response to his unwanted accolade, Allen has come out fighting.
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I am aware of the survey and I am aware of the dissatisfaction currently shown by the fans,”Allen said, as quoted by The Derbyshire Times.
“I have continuously put money into the club and never stripped assets out or sold the stadium to myself like some other owners have done.
“When I took over as majority shareholder, I invested in the club and made the new stadium happen. Without my funding, this would have ended up as a totally mismanaged project by the then board of directors.
“It pains me to see where the club is currently sitting and yes, I have made mistakes.
“I also think that as a club we all have to shoulder some of the blame, including Ashley Carson (company secretary) and the fans.
“Some of the ex-managers will tell you that Chesterfield fans are the worst and once they turn on you that is your lot. This is one of the reasons we have had to sack managers but yes, eight managers in 10 years is a failure, but I did not appoint all of these and most of which were well received at the time by the fans.
“I have ensured that I have backed every single manager appointed with a playing budget every season falling within the top three, but it is extremely difficult to run a football club and stadium of the Proact’s size and balance the books with the current footfall on a match day.
“We have an amazing conference and banqueting suite serving some of the best food in north Derbyshire and we still can’t fill that week on week, but another massive overhead to feed.
“Making the numbers stack up now in order to attract a buyer is also proving very difficult, ask the (community) trust.
“But all I can do is work hard to try and leave the club with a new owner and this is my sole mission before the end of the season.
“I have tried for the last three years to try to sell the club, no one in Chesterfield is showing either the funds or the desire to take it on, I still hope the community trust can get it over the line this month.
“One thing remains a priority and that is that I will not be here next season.
Chansiri is one of those known to have sold his club’s stadium to a separate company, registered to himself, in an attempt to circumvent the league’s Profit & Sustainability rules.
Though the act itself is permitted, the timing of Wednesday’s transaction has led to a misconduct charge being filed against the Owls and three of their past and present staff, including the Thai.
According to reports, Wednesday could be hit with a deduction of up to 21 points if found guilty.
