Weymouth director Mark Palmer gives update on Terras

After relegation from the Vanarama National League, the club’s board hope to restructure the club and strengthen the club’s finances – which have been tested in the latter half of last season.

Chairman Ian White has signalled his intention to leave, although he has now delayed an expected exit to steer the club through its preparations for 2022/23.

We sat down with newest director, Mark Palmer, to discuss Weymouth’s future, possible investment into the club, the chairman situation, season tickets, manager David Oldfield and much more.

READ MORE: Weymouth publish release and retained list ahead of 2022/23 season

Here is a full transcript of his interview with Echosport’s Neil Walton.

NW: “It’s well known that there have been a few cashflow problems at the club late last season. Is there an immediate investment needed?”

MP: “We have to grow sustainably, we can only live within our means going forward and we have this season. This season has been really difficult with trying to compete with budgets that are five or six-fold over what Weymouth can put together. Part of our restructuring is to make us more flexible to spend within our means. That will be encouraging and engaging with the fan base more, trying to increase crowds and the way the club is looked at within the community, not just the supporter base but the business community. I’d like to encourage businesses and local people to look at involvement into the club. We want to be more welcoming on that side, so we’ll be addressing that in the off-season.

“In terms of the other element of financing the club, we need to attract investment into the club. We need to have the right model in place to be able to attract that investment. I’m not saying that we invite anybody that has money to come in. We need to make sure that the people investing into the club have the right motives and the right desire that we have – it has to be aligned. The shareholders and the board can work together so we can successfully attract that investment model. That’s another area I’ll be looking in to.”

NW: “Sustainability is a hot topic on the fans’ lips. Will you be looking at radical changes such as new match shirt sponsors, a main sponsor or maybe even a stadium sponsor to bring extra money in?”

MP: “We’re having discussions with our sponsors currently and they’re ongoing. I’d like to thank all of our sponsors for last season, actually. They’ve done a fantastic job with the club. All of them have been happy with the way the club has worked with them. We’ve had some really good partnerships. Dormeo and Plumbstop, they’re national brands and I want to encourage that level of brand into the club – whatever level we’re playing at. It gives the right image and actually helps having that structure put in place. I’d like to think we can keep those sponsors in the club going forward and we’re having those discussions. 

Plumbstop sponsored the Terras' away and third kits plus numerous home games last season Picture: NEIL WALTON

“In terms of things like stadium sponsorship, we’re very aware that the club needs to keep the Bob Lucas connection in the name. But we’re looking at things like maybe having some stadium sponsorship pushed out there and more aggressive sponsorship ideas. That’s on the radar but it’s got to be hand-in-hand. If we’re looking for investment for the club, the club has to match that with additional revenue that it’s providing for itself. It goes together and that’s what keeps the club sustainable in my view.”

NW: “You mentioned your desire to work with the shareholders to achieve some common ground in order to attract investment. What’s the latest on those talks?”

MP: “We’re open for talks with the board and trustees. It’s an area we’re still in discussion with so I can’t go into finite detail. From my point of view, the bottom line is that we’ve got to look at the structure of the shareholdings within the club. At the moment there’s a 7.5% maximum shareholding. I think we need to look at that area because it’s a major hurdle in terms of investment into the club. If there’s a party that wants to invest, 7.5% might limit their capability to do that. That’s got to be an area we need to have an open discussion about, a shareholder meeting in terms of where does the club want to go? We’re at a point now as a club where we have two clear directions.

“One, is that we continue to develop the club and make it successfully grow for the future in terms of being able to compete in the National League South and then National League level on that sustainability model. The other direction is, if we don’t address these issues, then the club might struggle at whatever level it’s competing at.”

NW: “How receptive are the trust to what you’re proposing?”

MP: “We have had some initial off-the-record discussions. We have to have the whole board in on this, it’s just me talking as an individual so I can’t speak on behalf of the board. There is a case where we sit down with the trust about some of the shareholding valuations, for example. It’s well documented that the club had land in its ownership previously. It has acquired some of that land back – but not all of it. There is a discussion to have.

“I come from a footballing background and have been very active in terms of helping to put together club values. You can only value a club on the assets it owns and I’m aware the club does not own all of the land. Therefore, when we’re looking to value the shares, that has to be valued accordingly. There are those types of discussions that we have to have sooner rather than later.”

NW: “On the board situation, Ian White has been publicly vocal about his intention to step down. He has continued longer than he wanted. What’s the latest on his position?”

MP: “Ian is a fantastic asset for the club – look what he’s done for the club in the past. Under his tenureship the club’s gained back-to-back promotions from the Southern League through to the National League. Let’s not forget that for part of that tenureship we’ve had a pandemic. We’ve taken some great strides under Ian. I personally, as a board member and shareholder, back Ian 100% in terms of staying on as chairman. I realise that he had thoughts about stepping down. There have been recent events where it’s better for the club that Ian stays in place at this moment to give a steady hand on the club. There has been lots of rumours about Ian stepping down and who’s taking over.

Weymouth chairman Ian White Picture: MARK PROBIN

“I’ve been mentioned and I’d like to take this opportunity to say that I’m not interested at this moment in time in being chairman of Weymouth Football Club. It still needs Ian there. I personally – and I’m sure the other directors – want to back Ian up 100%. I’d like to make it a situation where Ian is supported more by the board so he’s not taking all the responsibility he had done in the past, which may have been part of his initial thoughts in stepping down. When I’ve spoken to him, he’s solid on staying on and making sure the club is in a good place.”

NW: “Does that go back to Paul Maitland’s departure? There was no replacement and Ian had no plans to appoint a vice-chairman, do you feel that would take the weight off his shoulders a little bit?”

MP: “Potentially. We haven’t discussed that. Paul was a loss for the club, he was very capable and I got on personally very well with Paul. If Paul wanted to come back at any stage, we’d welcome him with open arms. Weymouth Football Club would only benefit from Paul Maitland being involved. However, we haven’t appointed a vice-chairman. If you’ve got a board working together and supporting a chairman, then the vice-chairman role probably isn’t that vital at this moment in time. But going forward we might look at that area.

NW: “You mentioned your experience in football. You’ve come in for some flak this season, perhaps you could explain the depth of your background in football?”

MP: “I’ve been involved in the game for a number of years. I’m not aware of all the stuff that’s said. I don’t read social media, just to make that clear. We’ve all got to work together as a club. That’s from the supporters through to the board. I’m aware of certain parties that go on social media and criticise, spread rumours and sometimes misinformation about the club. I’m being quite straight here – these people are easy to spot.

“They criticise everything about the club in certain areas. Constructive criticism we all take on board and we listen to people. But some of the things I’ve heard, it just isn’t the truth on things from cashflow through to other bits of information. These people criticise but don’t come up with their own thoughts on ways forward for the club. If they did, I’d listen to them, so I just wanted to address that issue.

“My background in football started with AFC Bournemouth. This goes back to the time where they were minus 17 points and in administration. I got alongside and helped Jeff Mostyn, who was the owner at the time, and helped advise him on various bits and pieces as a fan of the club then. I helped them find a buyer, which was two owners before Maxim Demin took over, the current owner. They helped stabilise the club and helped take them up the league. That was also the time when we appointed Eddie Howe, so that was quite a definitive time. From there, I got involved in various bits of work as a consultant for various clubs including Burnley, I’ve done some work with Grimsby. Dare I say it, Yeovil, as part of the American ownership that tried to go in. I took over with the Americans at Wycombe Wanderers and we had a very successful time there where we took the club from League One into the Championship. I ran the club as a CEO, very hands on, worked very closely with Gareth Ainsworth (manager) on the football side and helped structure that. 

“It’s good to see that Wycombe now have an opportunity to get back into the Championship again. That would be two promotions in three years if that happens. I’d like to think that I helped lay those foundations for that club. I had a personal choice to leave Wycombe, it was my decision, and I approached Weymouth in terms of being born and bred in Dorset. The Weymouth situation I felt needed some help in the National League and helping to steer that. That was my initial discussion with Ian and the board. I helped in the background and then decided to come on, once invited as a board member, back in January. I’m happy to be involved but realise that the club has a choice in direction. 

“I’m happy to lend my experience to help restructure. But if the club or the shareholders choose to go in another direction, I may have to revisit that.”

NW: “I gather you had a nice personal message after Wycombe reached the League One play-off final (tomorrow 3pm).”

MP: “They basically thanked me for everything I did at the club, that was on public record and I still keep in contact with them. I’m local, I live in Buckinghamshire. I’m proud of what I achieved at Wycombe during that time. If I’m still involved with Weymouth I’d like to try and emulate that to degree. There’s no reason why Weymouth Football Club can’t achieve, relatively, something similar, for the level we’re at where the supporters feel that something’s been achieved. I’d like to be a part of that, if the club have that within its desire and direction of travel. If I put it in respect of what we did at Wycombe, the club’s never achieved a promotion out of League One to the Championship in its 135-year history. That was something that can be done. I started my journey at Bournemouth in League Two and now they’re in the Premier League. I wouldn’t have even dreamt that Bournemouth could get into the Premier League when I supported them back in the old Division Four in the seventies. I’m not saying that Weymouth can, but if we do the right sustainable model then anything is possible. 

“Going forward, I can’t see why Weymouth Football Club if it’s structured correctly and has the right finances in place. The fanbase has been fantastic. That’s been my overriding experience at Weymouth – the commitment, support and desire that the fans have. With that passion, support and the population and conurbation, I think Weymouth can support a League Two club. That’s some way off. We’re starting next season in the National League South but the journey has to start somewhere.”

NW: “You have a great background in football but don’t want the chairman’s job at Weymouth. Who would make a good chairman when Ian 100% steps down?”

MP: “I’m not going to name names, but if you’re looking for a profile of an ideal candidate, having been around Weymouth for a while there are some people that have been connected with the club, that have played for the club and are well-respected by the fanbase and all demographics. That remit should be going to that type of person. That’s probably the best at the moment. I can’t see anybody else coming in and being likely to do the role. It would be within that remit, someone who’s close to the club and has played for the club would be ideal.

“We’re not there yet. Ian, supported by the board, under his guidance and chairmanship I think we can successfully restructure the club and do what we need to.”

NW: “I guess the first part of that is the season tickets, because you’ve announced those this week with some decent reductions. It’s gone down fairly well with the fanbase.”

MP: “Again, I don’t do social media but I’ve been told by the guys at the club that it has gone down well. What we wanted to do – and I did have a deciding hand on it – was to structure it. I’m very well aware of the cost of living at the moment and if there is a silver lining to us going down, it’s not so much travel next season and makes it more affordable to follow the Terras away. I wanted to make it more affordable to follow us at home as well. So, we’ve reduced the prices across all the groups.

“We’ve also put in an ‘early bird’ as well, which makes it a lot more affordable for a period of time. It expires at midnight on June 10th. If you want to get a season ticket at an early bird rate, there are considerable savings to be made. My thinking on the other groups was that we wanted to reflect savings for over-60s and those in full-time education. I view very much the under-16s as our future fan base. I wanted to make that a lot more affordable for them. One of the most exciting is under-sevens go free with an accompanying paying adult. My dad took me to football when I was five or six and the love affair starts there, you get hooked at an early age. If we can get young Terras, boys and girls, at that age they’ll be hooked in and will be a Terras fan for life. I hope it’s been really well received. There’s always going to be people that criticise but we do have a football club to run at the same time.”

NW: “What you’re hoping for is a greater attendance at home games. That would help boost the playing budget for David to rebuild the squad.”

MP: “Absolutely. We want to get the place rocking and buzzing next season. Hopefully we’ll be more competitive in the National League South. Winning does do a lot for the crowd but I want to start the journey from now, attracting the youngsters and families. We’ve got plans for pre-season – I can’t go into any details at the moment – but there will be a number of activities that will be in and around the pre-season environment that would attract people who would not necessarily come to a football match. We want to get those types of fans and the club’s got to do a lot more in terms of engaging with the community and putting Weymouth Football Club on the map with the town and getting it almost second nature to making the club the sporting hub of the town. That’s what we want to try and achieve. We’ll be announcing some exciting news on what we’re developing in the next few weeks.”

Weymouth boss David Oldfield, left, and assistant Tom Donati Picture: MARK PROBIN

NW: “David has an exit clause after six months (of a 30-month deal) but it sounds as if he’s very much planning for next season?”

MP: “He is, yes. When we appointed David, the important thing was to build continuity. We had David in mind as a longer-term appointment. We wanted to support him on that and we know you can’t do that overnight. If you’re uncertain on your status as a manager then in terms of building something for the future that makes it very difficult. David and Tom (Donati, assistant) are longer-term appointments that we’ve made to rebuild the club so we can be in a better place on and off the pitch. They’ve been involved in the National League campaign, so they’re both fairly new. But the work starts now in terms of what they build and how. I’m excited for them because they’ve got an opportunity to build a squad they actually want to develop themselves and put their own things in place, which is not easy part way through a campaign. We’ll see a lot of positive things going forward with those two and we’ll support them 100%”

NW: “Of course, you wanted to stay in the National League but was David’s experience in the National League South with Oxford City an attractive fallback?”

MP: “What David did at Oxford City, under a certain-sized budget and club, was absolutely tremendous. He’s got a good reputation. I know a lot of owners of clubs and managers from Premier League to National League. I got so many messages when we appointed David on, first of all how we managed to get him and secondly you’ve got a great manager there. I’m not exaggerating, I’ve got a manager and owner saying that in each of the divisions. That’s how well thought of David is. 

“If there was a fallback in place, we had an eye on that. We’d have loved to have stayed in the National League but unfortunately it wasn’t possible but we’ve given ourselves the best chance as a club to restructure and get out of this division in a better place.”