Friday, October 21, 2005
From BBC Sport: Wrexham boss eyes brighter future
Relieved manager Denis Smith says Wrexham can finally look forward to a prosperous future now they have seized control over their own ground.
Smith told BBC Wales Sport: "The club is in a stronger position now than it has been for years.
"It's never owned the ground apart from one day when it came in and then went straight out again.
"So I'm extremely happy with what has happened. It's massive step in the right direction."
Alex Hamilton, who is also the club's majority shareholder, was stripped of the ownership of the Racecourse after a High Court judge ruled the freehold should be transferred to the club.
The property developer had wanted to sell the Racecourse, Wrexham's home since 1872, to clear the club's debts and then relocate to another site.
But the club's future at one of Wales' most famous football grounds has now been secured, although Hamilton can still appeal against the ruling to the Court of Appeal.
Smith said: "I think it will be very difficult for Hamilton to win an appeal.
"The judge said he didn't want him to appeal, but there is a certain course he can go through.
"Nobody has heard from Mr Hamilton so we'll have to wait and see. He's now a major creditor so he's still got a lot of input.
"Hopefully he'll accept the situation and we can move on quickly."
Administrators have been running Wrexham since it went into administration with debts of around £4m in December last year.
But with the ground now under its control, the administrators are in a much stronger position to find a new owner.
Smith hopes the eventual new owners will match his ambition for the club by providing funds to buy the type of players that will get Wrexham back in League One.
But he warned there can be no repeat of the kind of financial mismanagement that has brought the club to its knees.
"If we can get the deal done before Christmas that would be great," Smith added.
"We don't want to put the club in a situation where it's going to be in debt in the future.
"We've got to make sure we're not silly about things."
Smith now hopes the players can give the fans even more to cheer by following the court victory with victory on the field.
"I was a bit worried about the players after Tuesday night's defeat in Blackpool, but they were in fabulous mood Thursday morning and they'll be even high now," Smith said.
"They now know the club has got a very good future."
Smith told BBC Wales Sport: "The club is in a stronger position now than it has been for years.
"It's never owned the ground apart from one day when it came in and then went straight out again.
"So I'm extremely happy with what has happened. It's massive step in the right direction."
Alex Hamilton, who is also the club's majority shareholder, was stripped of the ownership of the Racecourse after a High Court judge ruled the freehold should be transferred to the club.
The property developer had wanted to sell the Racecourse, Wrexham's home since 1872, to clear the club's debts and then relocate to another site.
But the club's future at one of Wales' most famous football grounds has now been secured, although Hamilton can still appeal against the ruling to the Court of Appeal.
Smith said: "I think it will be very difficult for Hamilton to win an appeal.
"The judge said he didn't want him to appeal, but there is a certain course he can go through.
"Nobody has heard from Mr Hamilton so we'll have to wait and see. He's now a major creditor so he's still got a lot of input.
"Hopefully he'll accept the situation and we can move on quickly."
Administrators have been running Wrexham since it went into administration with debts of around £4m in December last year.
But with the ground now under its control, the administrators are in a much stronger position to find a new owner.
Smith hopes the eventual new owners will match his ambition for the club by providing funds to buy the type of players that will get Wrexham back in League One.
But he warned there can be no repeat of the kind of financial mismanagement that has brought the club to its knees.
"If we can get the deal done before Christmas that would be great," Smith added.
"We don't want to put the club in a situation where it's going to be in debt in the future.
"We've got to make sure we're not silly about things."
Smith now hopes the players can give the fans even more to cheer by following the court victory with victory on the field.
"I was a bit worried about the players after Tuesday night's defeat in Blackpool, but they were in fabulous mood Thursday morning and they'll be even high now," Smith said.
"They now know the club has got a very good future."
