Crawley Town: Who are the main decision makers for Crawley Town? Who has passed the Owners and Directors Test? Who are the shareholders and ultimate beneficiaries? What is the current financial situation like at the club?- Supporters' Alliance get answers from owners WAGMI United

The Crawley Town Supporters’ Alliance (CTSA) has final got answers from owners WAGMI United.
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The CTSA board released statement this morning (Friday, March 31) to say despite their best efforts, they had not got the questions answered from meetings with director of football and interim CEO Chris Galley or co-chairman Eben Smith. But just as they released the statement, they received the answers in an email. In their initial statement they said: “Our meeting with the interim CEO Chris Galley did not yield the outcome desired by the CTSA so we approached the Co-Chairman Eben Smith in order to progress the discussion. A Zoom call took place on 10th March 2023 between Eben and three board members of CTSA to discuss matters in relation to the club.

“We drafted a summary of the discussion with the intention of releasing it to our members. However, we were unable to reach an agreement with Eben on the text of the summary. Following a CTSA board meeting it was subsequently decided that we would present a list of questions to Eben by email with the intention of sharing the answers to our membership. The questions were written by the CTSA board as well as some CTSA members and are pertinent to the current affairs and outlook of Crawley Town Football Club. These questions were presented to Eben and Co-Chairman Preston Johnson on 15th March 2023. The CTSA is yet to receive the answers to the questions and based on our most recent dialogue with Eben it is our understanding that such answers are likely to be forthcoming by latest 8th May 2023 to enable us all, together, to concentrate on the ongoing relegation battle. The CTSA shall continue to encourage the Chairmen to provide the answers as soon as possible.”

Aerial view of the Broadfield StadiumAerial view of the Broadfield Stadium
Aerial view of the Broadfield Stadium
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But they quickly posted the questions and answers once they were received. Here they are in full:

Who are the shareholders and ultimate beneficiaries of Crawley Town Football & Social Club Ltd? Can you provide an organisational chart showing the relationships between these Parties as well as their relevant shareholdings. Wagmi United LLC is the 100% owner and shareholder of Crawley Town Football & Social Club.

Who are the major decision makers for CTFC (e.g. for the termination and appointment of a Manager)? Chris Galley, Preston Johnson and Eben Smith.

Who from the club has passed the Owners & Directors Test? Have Chris, yourself and Preston done this? Yes, Chris, Eben and Preston have all passed the O&D Test.

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Please provide an update for the appointment of a permanent CEO? Is the process currently running to schedule? Right now, we are focused on avoiding relegation.

When will you and/or Preston be visiting the club? Hopefully sometime in the next month.

Would you both be willing to hold a meeting with the fans during these visits? Yes.

In the event of relegation this season would you be willing to bring forward the vote for the appointment of a new Chairman? Let’s not get relegated.

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Preston described the first year of ownership as the year to learn. As we near the end of the year what have you learned so far about running a football club? A lot. This has been a challenging learning experience. One thing I underestimated was the pace of the calendar. It’s difficult to institute long-term change when you’re putting out so many short-term fires.

Please provide a brief summary in relation to the current finances of the club. The club has lost too much money this year and we need to have a better budget next season.

Has the collapse of Silicon Valley and Signature Banks and the liquidation of Silvergate had any impact on WAGMI’s stability? No.

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