U-turn: York City chairman withdraws offer to sell his stake in the club

York City’s rollercoaster ride has taken another dramatic turn.

New chairman Glen Henderson has withdrawn his offer to sell his stake in the club to the York City Supporters’ Trust.

However, the Trust has hit back saying the sale agreement is “legally binding” and they plan to proceed.

The chairman owns 51% of the club after a deal in July which saw the Trust take 49% of the shares.

But his decision to sack team manager John Askey, who had brought City promotion to the National League, infuriated fans.

In response, earlier this month Mr Henderson wrote to the supporters’ trust, offering to sell them his shares in the club at the price he bought them.

But now he has rescinded that offer.

He revealed the U-turn in an interview with Sharon Shortle on BBC Radio York.

The chairman said he came down sick at the same time as new manager David Webb, who was taken to hospital with Covid-19.

And it was an “ill moment” that led him to send an email to the trust. “Operationally, we don’t really see eye-to-eye,” he said.

“I had an ill moment. I just wrote an email saying, ‘just give me my money back’. I just I couldn’t deal with it.

“I had a little weak glimpse of a moment and my family found out about it. Absolutely killed me because they were like, ‘What are you doing? You shouldn’t have done’.”

He said “we’re all in it together, the family, my family”.

“Before I knew it there was an article sent out that I didn’t agree to – went out in the trust, went out in the papers, making me look like I was going to sell the shares. So I’m not.”

The trust have that offer in writing, but he said: “I have rescinded the offer.”

Never walked away

He said: “I’ve never walked away from a challenge and I have the vision. We have the mission, and we’re going to make it work.”

Earlier in the interview he told Sharon that he didn’t see “eye-to-eye” with the supporters’ trust, even though they shared the same vision.

“I came to the conclusion that one of the things that needed to happen was we have to literally break away – not the trust from the club, but we just have to understand the roles of each of each individual or each company.”

His conclusion was that the board had to sit above things, “not being involved in every day to day aspect of the business”.

Asked if the trust knew about this plan, Mr Henderson told BBC Radio York: “No, they don’t know this yet.

“They do know that I have rescinded the offer for the shares. And the vision moving forward obviously lies at my feet.

“I’m funding obviously the business and I have just funded the business two days ago with with a large sum of money again to show people that I am here, I am supporting it.

“I do believe in it. Everybody is backing it. And I have the support everyone around me which is great.”

He asked fans – many of whom reacted with delight at his offer to sell up and move on – to give him time to deliver on his vision. A vision which includes to “achieve success on and off the pitch playing some really good football” and building the academy.

Trust hits back

The York City Supporters’ Trust has issued a robust statement in rebuttal to Mr Henderson today.

They say he offered his shares to the trust in communication with its directors on five separate occasions, including verbally on 29 November and 2 December and by email on 10 December and 11 December.

The trust board voted unanimously that it was in the best interests of the club to part company with Mr Henderson and seek fresh investment. 

“Under our legally binding Shareholders’ Agreement, the Trust have a 28-day period in which to consider the offer of the sale of his shares,” the statement says.

They plan to reply to him in advance of that deadline. The statement says:

“Should the Trust board decide to accept the offer, it has a further two calendar months in which to complete the share purchase. There is no provision for Glen to withdraw his offer during the 28-day period.

“After careful consideration of his performance and behaviour over recent months, Glen Henderson has lost the confidence of the Trust board and we believe that his latest u-turn only goes to undermine his position even further.

“The Trust will vigorously defend our legal rights and uphold our constitutional and moral obligations on behalf of our members and all York City fans.

“We are pleased to report that the Trust has already received a number of credible expressions of interests from prospective investors.

“We are now in the initial stages of a 7-stage scrutiny and due diligence process that will ultimately lead to a vote of our members at a Special General Meeting. We are due to issue further details of the process shortly after Christmas.

“We thank all prospective investors who have been in touch and can reassure them that the process will continue unabated.”