Dover Chairman resigns form board

[Oldstripy]

Dover Chairman, Jim Parmenter has today resigned as a Director of the National League.

In a letter sent to National League Chairman, Brian Barwick and members of the board, Mr Parmenter said “I can no longer support the direction of travel that the board is taking and I’m afraid I can no longer be seen to be party to actions which I absolutely disagree with.

I accept that the board is a collective and whilst as a member it is a prerequisite that, in public, the board and it’s Chairman are supported. I have therefore chosen to resign, in order to say what I really believe publicly.

The lack of grant funding should have been properly addressed in late December or at least very early January. As it stands it is likely to be two months with no funds for clubs before any sort of resolution is forthcoming.

I am in particular disagreement that the executive appear to be encouraging clubs to take large loans to complete the season, as I have said twice at board meetings I believe that the competition rules are being broken by allowing the proposed loans, let alone encouraging them. (Page 155 Appendices 08 of the rule book).

The league has for ten years insisted that clubs manage their financial affairs prudently and has had great success and received much praise for the results, now that is all to be thrown to the dogs and for what?

I understand why the bigger, richer clubs with chances of promotion are pushing hard to continue, but in a sense they are asking smaller clubs with no crowds or income who are playing for no reason to take large loans and probably over stretch themselves with dire consequences, to subsidise the larger clubs ambitions. I do not agree with that position.

The board has very little credibility as an organisation within our clubs and I believe the decision to send letters to clubs who find it difficult to play, threatening sanctions was ill conceived and will do nothing to unite the competition in what continues to be a very divisive time. Even if the vote is to continue I do not believe that the league will be able to continue in any credible form or with integrity for another five months.

There are some very good people on the board and I do not seek to criticise individuals, but as a body I do not believe we have shown strong, relevant leadership. Our governance has descended into chaos and some decisions made by the board seem to change when interpreted by the executive.”

https://twitter.com/Ollie_Bayliss/status/1358435452123029506

[countygump]

Dover Chairman, Jim Parmenter has today resigned as a Director of the National League.

In a letter sent to National League Chairman, Brian Barwick and members of the board, Mr Parmenter said “I can no longer support the direction of travel that the board is taking and I’m afraid I can no longer be seen to be party to actions which I absolutely disagree with.

I accept that the board is a collective and whilst as a member it is a prerequisite that, in public, the board and it’s Chairman are supported. I have therefore chosen to resign, in order to say what I really believe publicly.

The lack of grant funding should have been properly addressed in late December or at least very early January. As it stands it is likely to be two months with no funds for clubs before any sort of resolution is forthcoming.

I am in particular disagreement that the executive appear to be encouraging clubs to take large loans to complete the season, as I have said twice at board meetings I believe that the competition rules are being broken by allowing the proposed loans, let alone encouraging them. (Page 155 Appendices 08 of the rule book).

The league has for ten years insisted that clubs manage their financial affairs prudently and has had great success and received much praise for the results, now that is all to be thrown to the dogs and for what?

I understand why the bigger, richer clubs with chances of promotion are pushing hard to continue, but in a sense they are asking smaller clubs with no crowds or income who are playing for no reason to take large loans and probably over stretch themselves with dire consequences, to subsidise the larger clubs ambitions. I do not agree with that position.

The board has very little credibility as an organisation within our clubs and I believe the decision to send letters to clubs who find it difficult to play, threatening sanctions was ill conceived and will do nothing to unite the competition in what continues to be a very divisive time. Even if the vote is to continue I do not believe that the league will be able to continue in any credible form or with integrity for another five months.

There are some very good people on the board and I do not seek to criticise individuals, but as a body I do not believe we have shown strong, relevant leadership. Our governance has descended into chaos and some decisions made by the board seem to change when interpreted by the executive.”

https://twitter.com/Ollie_Bayliss/status/1358435452123029506


This is the bit that jump out at you.


''Even if the vote is to continue I do not believe that the league will be able to continue in any credible form or with integrity for another five months''.


Or has he resigned because he's in favour of abandoning the season?

[CheltenhamPie]

This is a very worrying read. I fear for the future of this playing season, and even more for the future of the National League structure.
What a time for Notts to be languishing in this dreadful league.

[Oldstripy]

I understand why the bigger, richer clubs with chances of promotion are pushing hard to continue, but in a sense they are asking smaller clubs with no crowds or income who are playing for no reason to take large loans and probably over stretch themselves with dire consequences, to subsidise the larger clubs ambitions. I do not agree with that position.

I disagree with the above, I didn't hear them complaining the had been given too much when the first grants were handed out.

Dover are next to bottom in the league, it's no surprise he wants the season to finish now.

[Biker9999]

I think he may be starting to worry about legal liabilities if the club runs into financial problems, A director can be prosecuted and made personably liable if the company continues to trade whist insolvent and no reasonable hope of covering the shortfall. I agree with most of what he has said.

[Elite_Pie]

Dover are next to bottom in the league, it's no surprise he wants the season to finish now.

Yep, if they were in Torquay's position you can guarantee his moral stance would be the exact opposite! No problem with that, all those in his position have to do what they think is best for their club. With no sort of unity though, you just wonder how it will all end.

[Oldstripy]

There is nothing in his statement about his club receiving more money than it was entitled to.

[optipez]

He's done the right thing in resigning. He is and has been at odds with the majority view of the NL and NL South if not the north.
Dover ( he's the owner ) asked all the players to take a pay cut, put them all up for transfer and started the season with a scratch squad, Effiong left in May as a result. He may be right about the funding but the alternative view is that the loan scheme is generous, at low interest rates (2%) and over twenty years with the option of taking a payment holiday in extremis.
Compare Parmemters view of things to the Altrincham chairman and he sees the integrity of the league being paramount. By that he states that if the NL fail to complete the Football League will be obliged to scrap relegation and non league will remain just that, we'll all be marooned down here potentially forever. Altrincham won the league twice when there was no guaranteed promotion and believe that the National League must act like a fifth division, not revert to a part time tin pot league.

[legs77]

There has to be promotion from the 5th tier otherwise there is zero point to anyone playing.

Who is going to sponsor a league with nothing riding on it plus fans of clubs like Us, Chesterfield, Wrexham for example who have sampled league football aren’t going to bother carrying on going as you could win the league 5 years running but it means or counts for nothing.