The Texas-based bid to take a controlling interest in Dundee Football Club has cleared one of its final hurdles after fans agreed to back the proposed investment.
At a special meeting,members of the Dundee FC Supporters’ Society (DFCSS) voted overwhelmingly in favour of the US-led consortium Football Partners Scotland’s (FPS) plans to pump an initial £650,000 into the Dens Park club effectively paving the way for the deal to be done in the next 24 to 48 hours.
Now the onus will shift on to the club’s shareholders, who will conveneto rubber-stamp the FPS blueprint themselves.
The consortium is made up of Dundee FC shareholders Bill Colvin and Steve Martin, US entrepreneur Tim Keyes and fellow countryman John Nelms.
If formally approved by shareholders, the new regime plans to get to work straight away, with the money set to be in the bank as early as Wednesday morning.
A spokesman for FPS said the initial investment will ensure an increased player budget to support manager John Brown, the creation of an enhanced youth system and improvements to Dens Park.
“This investment is designed to be the first part of an initial three-year plan which has been budgeted for and detailed, moving towards a five to seven-year strategy which will be exciting and attractive for fans,players and businesses alike,” FPS added.
Colvin will become chairman and Nelms who is moving to Scotland with hisfamily and will represent Keyes on the new-look board will head up Dundee’s youth academy.
Present chief executive Scot Gardiner will remain in post, Martin and finance director Ian Crighton will join the board, and DFCSS will also have two representatives in the boardroom.
Despite assurances in recent weeks from key figures involved in the investmentproposal, there was an air of uncertainty at the DFCSS meeting at the city’s Gardyne Theatre.
Some fans have questioned FPS’s motives and feel that acceptance of the package put forward would be a step back for the Dark Blues.
The picture had also been clouded by a counter-offer by the Dark Blues Business Trust (DBBT) to invest but only if the US bid was rejected.
That was subsequently withdrawn, but highlighted some dissent that still existed.
However, the outcome of the vote authorised the DFCSS board to allow the club to issue sufficient new shares to grant FPS a controlling stake in Dundee FC.
Around 300 supporters attended the meeting and all but nine people were in favour. Director Fraser MacDonald was one of those who voted against and was roundly jeered by the crowd.
It is understood that more than 500 DFCSS members voted in total and there were 58 votes against.