Ryan's rescue?

Chris Ryan, who has a financial planning business in the town, has teamed up with current director Shaun Hennessy to lead a bid for the beleaguered club.

No formal offer can be made until proposed administrators Benedict Mackenzie LLP have completed their investigations at the Wessex Stadium, but Ryan’s offer is ready to be made to buy the Terras out of administration – which they are expected to go into on Wednesday.

“I have experience in managing business financial planning and lots of different aspects of financial control, in particular for things like tax planning,” said Ryan, who would be the club’s new chairman should his consortium’s offer be accepted.

“My main interest in the club is what it does for Weymouth as a town. I watched the match a couple of weeks ago and enjoyed it.

“This is not going to make us rich – it’s not about that – it’s about making it successful for the town.

He added: “Our plans are waiting.”

Ryan, who lives in Poole and has been in business in Weymouth for over five years, runs Apex CB Financial Planning Ltd, based in Lupins Business Centre, Greenhill.

He has teamed up with Hennessy and with the advice of consultant Steve Beasant – who has experience in property and development – plans to give the club an even financial footing to help move it forward.

With an impending 10-point penalty about to be slapped on the Terras, relegation seems a highly likely possibility – whether the Conference enforces its automatic relegation rule or not.

But Blue Square South football is the aim for the 2011/2012 season, the first major on-the-pitch target of a five-year plan that has manager Ian Hutchinson firmly in it.

“We have sat down with Ian Hutchinson and discussed the possibilities of where the club will be,” said Beasant. “We have a five-year plan in place, taking into consideration where we will be at the end of the season.

“If Ian gets them on a real roll and keeps us in the Blue Square League then we will be a year ahead of our plan. We are looking to build something for the future.”

That building for the future means Ryan and Hennessy plan to give the club a stable financial footing for it to stand on.

“I run a business, Chris runs a business and we fully understand the situation,” said Hennessy. “We can’t have a situation where the club is running at a loss.

“There is no reason why it should not run at break even – it doesn’t have to make a profit.

“The current directors have worked so hard but they were beaten by this tidal wave coming over the back from previous debt. We won’t have that so there is no reason why it won’t be running as a compatible business.

“We are football fans but we are not embedded in football so we do have a slight distance so we can say a commercial no, or a commercial yes.

“The club doesn’t need to be run with people in claret and blue glasses.”

Part of the Ryan and Hennessy blueprint for success is to make the town part of the community once again and provide a match day experience that will make fans want to support the Terras from the terraces.

“It’s an island stuck out on it’s own and needs to be part of the community,” said Hennessy. “It’s time for Weymouth Football Club to give something back to the community.

“People think of Weymouth as 11 players who run out on Saturday, but 527 players are playing every weekend for Weymouth, whether it be ladies, girls, boys or men.

“There are coaches, parents that are driving the players around and parents that come to support them.”

Once the club goes into administration, the current directors will cease to be on the board and contracts involving Weymouth Foot-ball Club will be cancelled – whe-ther they be playing or catering deals.

Hennessy is part of the two-man consortium that wishes to buy the club, but other directors Paul Cocks and Ian Winsor will not be part of the club moving forward.

Cocks is stepping back to focus on his business while Winsor does not feature in Ryan and Hennessy’s plans.

“There’s no shadow of doubt that this club is going into administration, it’s just a case of when and what form of administration,” said Cocks. “Ian Winsor has been the subject of a lot of criticism but has done a hell of a lot to keep this club alive.”

Consultant Beasant added: “It’s not a reflection on Ian, he just doesn’t fit into the proposed structure.”

With regards to the Terras Trust’s position on the board, Ryan added: “We haven’t had a chance to talk to them yet.”

Ryan and Hennessy are the only consortium to have made a serious approach to proposed administrators Benedict Mackenzie LLP or the current directors of the club about taking it over.