Blackpool's Chairman Resigns - Update

And the Independent By Neil Johnston

Chairman walks out on Blackpool amid trouble with big-league agents

Businessman who oversaw Premier League newcomers' amazing rise cited problems with 'unacceptable' attitudes

Karl Oyston, the businessman who oversaw Blackpool's ascent from League One to the Premier League, plunged the newly promoted club into crisis last night after resigning as chairman.

No reason was given by the Lancashire club for the 43-year-old's shock decision to quit, although Oyston had recently offered to step down after hitting out at agents as attempts to bring players to Bloomfield Road left him and Ian Holloway, the manager, frustrated.

Only last week Oyston, who has endured a difficult relationship with supporters during his 11 years at the club, was forced to deny claims that Holloway had walked out as a result of a lack of signings, while there were reports that players were unhappy at the late payment of promotion bonuses owed to them. That dispute, however, did not stop them from going to Wigan and recording a stunning 4-0 win on the opening day of the season last Saturday.

It is Oyston's dealings with agents that are thought to have triggered last night's announcement, one game into Blackpool's return to the top tier for the first time since 1971. Described as shrewd but stubborn by those who have dealt with him, Oyston went three months without a breakthrough in the transfer market before Holloway was finally able to sign six players. But the manager largely removed himself from the process, leaving Oyston to haggle. That often meant facing serious competition from League One clubs for potential recruits and walking away from deals for Championship players.

"I expected the landscape to be a lot different and the way that people behaved to be a lot different," Oyston recently said. "I've been very disappointed in the way that some agents have conducted themselves. It's a shame the way agents get in the way of football sometimes. They stymie their players' careers rather than enhance them, and I think that needs to be resolved.

"The offer to step down is still there. I'm not sure that I've got the right approach for this division, and the more I talk to people at other clubs, the more I realise that I'm a lone voice. Everyone else seems to subscribe to the way that business is conducted and things that I find unacceptable."

Blackpool's rise to the Premier League is something of a fairy tale. They were still a League One club three years ago and their rapid climb has surprised many, even those at the club.

Blackpool asked the Premier League for permission to switch the opening game with Wigan, which was due to have taken place at Bloomfield Road, to the DW Stadium to allow more time to bring facilities, including the completion of a new stand, up to scratch.

Oyston's resignation is unlikely to hit the club's finances. Valeri Belokon, Blackpool's president, is worth an estimated £200m through his interests in finance, food and media, and set up the Baltic International Bank in 1993.

Owen Oyston, the millionaire businessman and Karl's father, also remains a director at Blackpool and majority owner, while the club's promotion under Holloway, who is set to give his response to Oyston's resignation today, has secured something in the region of £100m over the next two years. Belokon will now spearhead the hunt for a new chairman, although Oyston Jnr will remain at the club as acting chief executive until the end of the season.

Blackpool have attempted to calm supporters' fears that Oyston's resignation will disrupt the attempts of Holloway, who is keen on Everton's James Vaughan, to make further signings before the transfer window closes. "The club would like to emphasise that there will be no interruption in the recruitment of players or the workon the stadium," said a club statement.

Despite Oyston's volatile relationship with fans, Glenn Bowley, chairman of the Blackpool Supporters Association, believes his departure will hurt the club. "When he took over the ground was falling apart, the club was haemorrhaging money and we were about to get relegated to the bottom tier," Bowley said. "But he has done an exceptional job and the club is now in the Premier League. Sometimes it's better the devil you know.

"Karl had a good relationship with Ian Holloway. Yes, they probably fell out and argued but every chairman and manager argue at every club. Ian has always spoken out in defence of Karl Oyston over the last 12 months."

www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/premier-league/chairman-walks-out-on-blackpool-amid-trouble-with-bigleague-agents-2056389.html

Telegraph


Former Blackpool chairman Karl Oyston in bankruptcy hearing

Former Blackpool chairman Karl Oyston, who suddenly resigned from his post on Wednesday, is involved in a bankruptcy hearing.

Rory Smith

By Rory Smith
Published: 11:01PM BST 19 Aug 2010

Rory's Twitter

When the 43 old-year stood down as chairman and director of the newly promoted club, it was believed it was in protest at a lack of support from his Premier League peers over his hard-line attitude to agents. He will at Bloomfield Road as acting chief executive until the end of the season or a replacement is identified.

But Lancaster County Court confirmed yesterday that a judge was considering bankruptcy papers involving Oyston. The club last night declined to comment, but under league regulations he would not be able to continue as chairman or as a director if he were to be declared bankrupt.

Both positions are subject to the revamped fit-and-proper-person’s test – now known as the Owners and Directors Test – which applies to directors or anyone wishing to take a 30 per cent stake in any club, though chief executives are exempt.

Oyston, son of the club’s majority shareholder Owen, remains in charge of the day-to-day running of the club; he spent yesterday discussing terms with Bournemouth striker Brett Pitman over a proposed £500,000 move, and he has been granted the unequivocal support of manager Ian Holloway.

“For this club not to have him involved in it is ridiculous and he will be here, doing the same job,” he said. “It might be a different title, but he is yet to talk to me about it and I do not really care, because I would not have signed with this club if he was not going to be doing the things that he does. I am sure he will do them, whatever title he has got or is given. This place won’t change and neither will I.”

Oyston made it clear upon promotion that he would resign rather than compromise the parsimony that has marked his time at the club. He has remained true to the £10,000-a-week wage ceiling he imposed in the Championship.

Though he and Holloway are thought to have clashed last week over the policy, the former QPR and Plymouth manager yesterday defended Oyston’s refusal to risk Blackpool’s long-term financial health in the battle to survive.

“He is just not prepared to play these games,” he said. “He is just concerned about the players and doing a far deal for the club and for the player. I’m not trying to make another monster and these lads get too much too early.

“They behave wrongly and they do not have the profile a professional footballer should.”

www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/teams/blackpool/7955236/Former-Blackpool-chairman-Karl-Oyston-in-bankruptcy-hearing.html