Chief Executive Julian Winter addressed the media following the announcement of Ray Trew’s resignation as Chairman of Notts County Football Club...
Julian, who joined the club in October, commented on the commitment that the Chairman has made in his time at the club, “I’ve only been here four and a half months. I’m aware of the history here in terms of Ray’s tenure here, which is almost six years to the day. The financial contribution and the effort put in to making Notts County successful has been phenomenal. But, ultimately he makes his own decisions and he has decided that enough is enough.”
“I’m a little bit different to the people which have run the football club before. I think I was appointed on that basis, to try and create a different management culture. We’re in training for that and we’re actually in process with developing different ways of working and a different management structure and lots of things going on internally to reorganise the club, and allow the owners to spend less time worrying about the football club and worrying about decision making.
“That’s why I was appointed. In a sense that continues, I’d already agreed with Ray and Aileen a direction of travel, where we’re trying to get to and by when, so I continue on that process. We’re trying to navigate into a more executive lead organisation, but with approval from the owners.”
In his open letter to the fans, Chairman Ray Trew also announced that he is looking to sell the club, but whilst Julian will help with this process, he also expressed his intent to keep the club moving in the right direction.
“Ray is charged with looking for people who are interested in buying the club. At this stage, we’re in very early stages, I can help him with that. I’ve been involved with football investments and acquisitions before, so it’s nothing new in that sense. To tell you a timetable today, well, there isn’t one. We’ve just got to get on with running this football club, get the staff rallying round and get the fans onside. Because, football clubs run best when everyone is pointing in the right direction.”
“It’s been a really difficult few days for staff, for players, for everyone involved. And I’m sure it’s difficult for a lot of the fans. Ultimately, significant change can be problematic and the reaction of Ray and Aileen to the circumstances of the weekend has left us slightly disunited and we’ve got to concentrate on bringing people back together and focusing on what’s important, and that’s the football club.”
“We’re working hard developing a new plan for Notts County Football Club. The manager’s appointment was a key part of changing the way we operate in football in many ways. So we’re looking at what we do in recruitment, what we do in the academy, what we do in sports and science to support the manager and create a successful football team.”
Watch the full interview with Julian Winter on Magpie Player HD.