It's so tough!
By Adam Summers

Saturday 27th January 2007

WEYMOUTH chairman Martyn Harrison has lifted the lid on the departure of skipper Ben Smith to Hereford United.

The hotelier contacted Echosport to explain the reasons behind the move and admitted that other players could also be ready to exit the club.

Harrison said: “When we first started on this upheaval we had clubs interested in his (Smith’s) services and we had some offers including one from Hereford. Looking long term and at the rest of his career Ben decided it was best that he moved on.

“Hereford offered him a two-and-a-half year deal and a salary that we could never match. It would have been nice to keep him but there was no way that we could stand in his way.

“He had a contract with us until 2009 and at the end of the day we could not keep up with his salary for that length of time. We had to think in the best interests of the club and the player.”

When asked about the fee (believed to be £20,000) that the Terras have received for Smith, Harrison
added: “The fee is undisclosed because that is what all parties wanted. Lets just say it was far from free.”

Harrison first revealed that the Dorset club is experiencing a financial crisis two-and-a-half weeks ago and he openly admits that things are still hard.

He said: “Things are still very difficult at the moment. Some of the players are being tempted to go to other clubs and being offered long-term contracts that we cannot do. We are doing everything we can to stabilise the club but it is tough.

“If the players are determined to get away then we will have to listen to what they have got to say. We cannot stand in the way of their long-term careers.

“At the moment we are all working hard to improve the squad but we are looking for the right players at the right price and they are not easy to find.

“There has also not been a huge rush of people to take my position. If there is people out there it would have to be somebody who could afford to pay the wages.”

There have been rumours that a local developer is interested in buying the club, redeveloping the land where the current ground is situated and building a new stadium on Curtis Fields

When quizzed about that Harrison said: “Any possibility is worth listening to but that is just a rumour at the moment. If there is a local developer out there they know how to get hold of me.”