'Terras were heading for bankruptcy'
by Paul Baker

Tuesday 14th December 2004

MARTYN Harrison declares himself a confused man.

After ploughing more than £1 million into Weymouth Football Club's coffers, the wealthy businessman can't understand why he has not been hoisted upon supporters' shoulders and carried around the town.

Instead, the Terras saviour, sugar daddy and chairman claims he's being subjected to unfounded and unwelcome criticism from predecessor lan Ridley and his followers.

This has come in the form of messages posted on the Terras unofficial website message board and follows the release of the club's 2003-2004 accounts which show a trading loss of more than £250,000 under Ridley's stewardship.

"It's beginning to wear me down," he said.

"Well to be more precise, lan Ridley is beginning to wear me down.

I can't understand the man's agenda and the last few weeks really haven't been pleasurable at all for me.

"When somebody resigns from a job they should walk away and let that be an end to it.

Unfortunately Ridley won't do that and always appears to want to have the last word.

If he wanted a say he shouldn't have resigned, and quite frankly I'm sick to the back teeth of it all.

"Ridley claims the accounts that have just been released for the period April 2003 to April 2004 and show a loss of more than £250,000 are wrong and that the club didn't lose that amount under his chairmanship.

"Well it did, as Sunday's AGM at the Riviera Hotel will show, and so I don't see what the problem is.

"He keeps saying he's got something to say but won't actually say it.

He had his time and now it's over, and he should stop spreading nasty things about the new board.

If he loves Weymouth Football Club as much as he says he does, why is he trying to damage it?

"I got Ridley out of a hole by taking over the Terras when I did, and you'd think he'd be grateful for that.

Those figures have nothing to do with me because they were before my time, so what's the man's problem?

"If I'd put that sort of money into any other football club I'd be carried around the town like a hero by the
supporters.

But all I'm getting from some quarters is criticism, and it's coming from people who are not prepared to come to me and ask the reasons for some of the things we're trying to do.

"Under Ridley and manager Steve Claridge the club was heading for bankruptcy.

Last season the team was good for six months and then rubbish for the rest of the time, and that was because we got to the top off the league and couldn't invest in players to allow for injuries and such things because all the money had gone.

"Claridge put that right in the summer when it was too late, and that just wasn't good business to me.

The bubble had already burst and it's just frightening the amounts of money that some players were and still are earning at the club.

"The AGM should be a night when we talk about the future of the football club and the plans to make it
successful.

But all that's going to happen is the past will be dragged up, and that's really not healthy"

He added: "The criticism isn't easy to handle at times and it does make me think have I done the right thing?

On occasions recently I've wondered whether it is all worth it, and would it be better and easier for me to walk away"

IF HARRISON were to suddenly walk away and take his wallet with him, many assume the club's survival chances would be slim.

Not so, according to the hotelier and leisure industry tycoon, although he says he has no plans to prove the point.

"If I were to go, the club would be in a good position for the next person to pick up," he said. "Whether someone would want to take over is another matter.

"What would happen if I were to walk away? It's an interesting question and the scenarios are endless.

It could drift along and go bust or it could prosper.

Who knows?

"It's not going to happen though.

I've got no intention of walking away because I love it - and apart from the hassle I've had with the previous chairman, I've really enjoyed my time at the club."

Sinking more than £1 million into Weymouth has prompted some people to question Harrisons motives, and he says he doesnt blame them for doing so.

After all, he owns 81 per cent of the shares which means the club is unable to breathe without his say

Some would say it's not a healthy position for the Terras to be owned by just one man, and again that train of thought the chairman says he appreciates.

"I can understand why people question me," he said.

"It's only natural.

But even I don't know exactly why I got involved, so people shouldn't worry too much about my motives because even I don't know what they are.

"I suppose the reason was because I could.

I had the money to bail the club out, and so I just thought what the hell.

"Once involved on a day-to-day basis I quickly grew to dislike Ridley and the way he ran the club and so I decided to do something about it.

"Also a bit of it was an ego trip. I'm happy to admit that. I want to be liked and make friends in the town, and if things go well at the club it's very good for my ego.

"There were other reasons.

The town of Weymouth has been good to me and I wanted to give something back, and also I look upon it as a business deal and something I want to make work and make better."

HARRISON was first invited to take a seat on the board last spring.

He explained: "At the time there was a deal on the table for directors to approve which involved ex-director Charlie Lesser becoming the major shareholder.

I stepped in and made a better offer and Charlie, who has always acted like a true gentleman, said he couldn't match it and wished me all the best.

"That was at the end of last season.

I should have got rid of Steve Claridge there and then, but I bottled it.

The guy's contract was crippling the club, and I'm annoyed I left it until November to do something about it.

"As far as I am concerned it was never going to work with Ridley as chairman and me as the owner, and so it proved.

We met once and he told me he was thinking of resigning.

That's not something you get away with saying twice to me without doing it.

"At the end of the day I don't like the man very much, and I wish he'd now shut up, go away and let us get on with the business of running the football club.

"He's the one who approved massive contracts and wages for the manager and players, and I've come in and had to pick up the pieces.

It's cost me a lot of money, especially now that I'm having to pay players' contracts up as manager Steve Johnson sets about trimming the wage bill.

And there's a matter of the £200,000 settlement for Claridge.

"On top of that I had to pay the losses on the pop concert which failed during the summer, and in the last week I, through my company Hollybush, have written out cheques to help the club out because we went a couple of weeks without a home game.

One of them was for £60,000 and another for £35,000."

He added: "Getting involved has not come cheap for me and I could really do without the hassle I'm getting from Ridley and his small band of followers.

I think it's unfair and uncalled for."

HARRISON is convinced that had he not stepped in when he did, the Terras might not now be in existence.

"The club was haemorrhaging money at an alarming rate," he explained. "As I've said, the contracts that players were given were amazing, with some earning £600 a week without even playing.

As for Claridge, the money he was earning was unacceptable for a club of Weymouth's size.

"He had a clause which said he'd pick up a £500 win bonus, and £450 if the team won and he didn't play

At his age he wasn't going to play forever, but that meant for the whole of his five-year contract he was guaranteed £450 every time Weymouth won a football match.

"Those sort of figures just were not acceptable, and he was even due a loyalty bonus of £40,000 at the end of this season for being with the club two years!

"The Terras were only heading one way under Ridley and it wasn't up.

"Other things like the pop concert and the fly-on-the-wall documentary, Football Diaries, on BBC2 were both very damaging for the club and the town, and I find it hard to believe anyone can claim otherwise."


DESPITE all this, Harrison is convinced Weymouth have a bright future.

His realistic aim, he says, is to see them into the Conference within the next few years.

He said: "Once I can get rid of these unwanted distractions, I can set about putting things right.

We have a good team of people at the club now with the likes of Tristan Murless, Matthew McGowan and Chris Pugsley and a manager who I feel can take us places.

"The Conference is the aim for now, but with a new stadium to come in the future, we have to believe we can make it into the league.

"What we need is for people who have been disillusioned by what has gone on over the past year to come back and support us. People like Park Engineering's Dave Higson, who has ploughed thousands into the Terras over the years, have stopped coming because of what's been going on, and that's not right.

We must now work hard on getting guys like Dave and many others back on our side."

But Harrison insists it's first things first, starting with Sunday's AGM.

"I can't wait to get that out of the way," he said.

"They an calling it 'The Rumble at the Riviera', with people expecting ; big showdown between Ridley and me but I don't think it will be ttoo bad.

"Ridley will be there and will no doubt have his say, but if he goes or too much I've got a plan.

I'll just ask for a vote as to who wants to listen to him and who doesn't.

If people don't want to listen then we'll ask him to stop.

"I'll be chairing the meeting and will be sticking to the agenda.

Nothing personal will be allowed to be expanded on, and there's not really a lot for me to say because the
figures being discussed have noth ing to do with me or my time at the club."

He added: "I'm looking forward to the fans' forum afterwards and hearing what the supporters have to say.

I'll answer their questions honestly because at the end of the day it's their club and they're the people who matter.

"All they and I want is to watch the Terras on a Saturday, preferably winning football matches, and have a good chat in the bar afterwards about how good or bad the manager's tactics were.

"What they and I don't want is all this other rubbish we're hearing and reading on the website and the sooner it's put to bed, the better."