Luton Take-over Completed

It may be a runaway horse, but David Pinkney has officially taken over the reins as Chairman of Luton Town FC.

The much delayed announcement came at today's press conference when the new man outlined his plans for the future of the club.

Also at the Press Conference were Manager Kevin Blackwell, Ian Pritchard, and Development Director of Rosemound Developments Limited, the appointed developer of the M1 Junction 12 site.

Mr Pinkney was keen to allay the fears of the fans and outlined his plans for the short to medium term future of the club.

He said:

'The due diligence process in buying a business is time-consuming, and this acquisition has only taken three months.

'The important thing now is to get on with the job in hand and to re-assure fans who were concerned about the Club's future. I am very pleased with the overall outcome, which I know has exciting times ahead and urge them to get behind the Club. Whilst I am looking at the long term position of the business over the next 20 to 30 years, I appreciate that our supporters are more concerned about the next five and have set out below the key objectives that I aiming to achieve during this period:

i)Relocation to a new state of the art 25,000 seat stadium

ii)Premiership status with a playing squad able to compete at the highest level

iii)Financially strong business with multiple revenue streams - commercial and football

iv)Consistent and stable management

v)First class training ground with thriving academy

vi)Extensive national & local scouting structure

vii)Expansive youth structure and player development program

viii)Football business that embraces the whole community providing extensive community facilities for the benefit of all

ix)A business that is attractive to corporate Luton and the region

x)First class stadium experience (on-site linked hotel owned by the Club)

'These objectives can only be achieved through good management. We are fortunate to have one of the game's most highly respected young football managers Kevin Blackwell, and over the coming weeks I will be adding to the overall structure of the non-football management.

He then announced some new members of his management team.

David Antcliffe will be the Group Finance Director and Andrew Dean the Managing Director, both of whom Mr Pinkney said would be joined by other board appointments in the near future.

Mr Pinkney also announced some new structural changes to the boardroom process with the announcement:

'In addition, I intend to set up three advisory boards with specific responsibilities for (1) corporate and business affairs, (2) supporters and supporter groups and (3) youth development. The remit and specific details of each of these Boards will be released over the coming weeks.

'Each of these Boards will be mandated to engage with and recommend opportunities/concerns to the main Board for its consideration/action. I am delighted to announce my first appointment Marc Bignell, a senior figure in the UK media industry. Marc has been a fanatical Luton Town fan for many years and will head up the corporate and business affairs advisory board.

'I appreciate that last season was extremely frustrating for any Luton Town supporter and us. However, we have to move on, and I am totally confident that we can achieve the aforementioned business objectives.

'As part of this process, I am delighted that Rosemound Developments have today announced the Masterplan details and projected timescale, together with the latest stadium visuals from our architects, Miller Partnership. I am sure everyone will realise the importance of the Club relocating to the Junction 12 site, the benefits of which have been significantly enhanced by the addition of a state of the art training ground that will have five full size pitches and first class facilities.

'In the past, Luton Town fans have been promised much, only to be disappointed later down the line. The only promise I will give to you is that I will work tirelessly to ensure the Club is given every opportunity to move forward, and will back the business to achieve the stated aims.

'I can only ask for a little more patience and support, and together we can see Luton take its place again with the elite teams - having been a founder of the Premier League it would be nice to see us compete at this level.

'To achieve this we have to move on and make strategic decisions, otherwise other Clubs will continue to expand, leaving us further behind.'



Not so sure about the founder member bit, David, I think you'll find we were relegated out of the old Div 1 just as it became the Premier League.)

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