Directors complete takeover at Clarence Park

DIRECTORS Lawrence Levy and John McGowan have taken control of St Albans City Football Club.

The pair have completed a deal that will see the club transfer from former chairman John Gibson to them with Gibson also resigning from the board.

Levy, whose background is in recruitment, and McGowan, whose expertise is in the entertainment sector and investment, want to appoint a chairman who has a football background and who will deal with that side of the operation.

“As a football club, it has been under capitalised and it’s been hand to mouth from day one so it’s been reliant on the next result, or the next cup run, to get the income in to pay for the next month’s bills but there’s always been a shortfall since we’ve known which was the beginning of last season,” Levy told the Herts Advertiser.

“It’s been a club that’s been under-capitalised so it hasn’t had a good start since we’ve been here so you’re always playing catch up so me and John sat down and said why don’t we, if we’re able to capitalise it, pay off the debts and give it a fresh start, put some marketing and PR together because there’s a huge opportunity within this town.”

Talking about the appointment of a chairman Levy said: “That chairman will bring in the necessary people to structure this club properly and I think that is where we differ from John Gibson because John Gibson did it because he wanted to run a football club. We’re doing it for different reasons. We have a view that if Stevenage can be a Football League club so can St Albans.”

Levy also confirmed that manager Steve Castle will remain in place for the time being.

For more details about Levy and McGowan’s takeover see this Thursday’s Herts Advertiser.