WellSoc

Money comes from John Walker's donation, which he made to club and Community Trust after getting in touch with the Well Society to put something back into the Motherwell community. John works in education sector and wanted his gift to be education-based. original story is here http://www.thewellsociety.co.uk/2015/06/26/major-cash-pledge-made/

There's some general details here on new structure with further links to a Q&A and list of benefits that are unlocked at several milestones including the original steel, claret, amber levels http://www.thewellsociety.co.uk/2015/05/21/new-membership-structure-launched/

On the subject of the Well Society email, Gavin Maclure is the part-time admin person for the Well Society and he needs to email anyone who signs up via direct debit to get their details. The online payment is a deliberately quick and simple process via GoCardless, who provide the Well Society with the email address of anyone who sets up a one-off payment or direct debit, but no other details are taken online. So if someone sets up a direct debit, then they should get an email from Gavin asking for some details, otherwise we might not know who you are. And if existing members sign up for a direct debit or one-off payment, then that needs to be added to their account rather than setting up a new membership, hence the reason you'd be asked for your membership number. I've never seen the email so can't confirm 100% but it seems genuine given the background. But Gavin is usually in on Tuesdays and Thursdays so it's best to phone tomorrow to check. Can understand why the club tweeted otherwise given the question put to them on Twitter, and given the situation with Rangers fans this week, but that's because you can't fit the full story in a tweet. So I would imagine superward will not need to do a Paddy Ashdown. The wording of the email would have been devised by Gavin this week and clearly needs to be corrected/improved. To be fair to him, he has a lot of work to get through in the space of two days and mistakes can happen when you're in a rush. Interviews were held last week for a full-time member of staff - which will be partly funded by Les Hutchison - to work on improving the service.

For the benefit of Ianc - here's a link to join by direct debit online, only works from UK-based bank accounts but only takes a minute http://www.thewellsociety.co.uk/join-the-society/

I will see if someone is available to film it. I'm not sure it will be possible to show it live as the MFC media guys will not be working and not sure there is a strong enough internet connection in the centenary. our admin guy is looking in to paypal as a means to allow overseas members to pay online as Andy suggested. on the subject of targets, basically 2,000 adult members is our goal, while trying to persuade everyone to keep contributing feel like a broken record because thought it would be done by now but the new simplified membership structure is still being finalised - it's proving quite tricky given the need to recognise everyone's previous contributions. but we're basically trying to incentivise people to upgrade and make the whole experience of being a well society member more attractive and engaging. hopefully sorted very soon here is the latest email to members from Friday in case anyone on here missed it. The Well Society Dear Well Society member, We are appealing to all Well Society members to go out and recruit an additional member. Together we can achieve our goals if we use our strength in numbers. If every member persuades one person to join, then we are well on the road to success. We need everyone helping the cause - the Well Society is a far stronger organisation if everyone combines to help. Please persuade a friend or member of your family, share this email with someone, highlight the Well Society's aims any way you can. Please read the link for why this help is so important. A fans' focus group is being formed so Well Society members can help influence decision-making on fans' experiences at the club. Click on the link below to discover how to get involved. A question-and-answer session is to be held at Fir Park on Sunday, March 29 featuring Motherwell and Well Society chairman Brian McCafferty and Motherwell general manager Alan Burrows, among others. The event will kick off at 3.30pm in the Centenary Suite and is open to all Motherwell supporters. Fans can watch the Scotland v Gibraltar match in the bar afterwards. There is also an event in the Centenary from 12.30pm where fans can view the Tunnel Tiles and opt to have their message inscribed in the tunnel. A number of events are being put on for children including a FIFA tournament and free soft drinks for kids. More details coming very shortly. If you missed it earlier in the week, please listen to the BytheMin Motherwell FC podcast as Les Hutchison talks to three Well fans, Andy, Jay and Busta, about plans for the club. Please consider upgrading your Well Society membership - you can do so from £10 a month by clicking on the below link. Huge thanks for your ongoing support.

Problem is you need to pay renewal fee to qualify for benefits. So if you instantly got your claret benefits when going from £300 steel membership via £10 monthly contributions then you could end up getting benefits that someone who has put in more than £1,000 is not getting because they haven't renewed. which isn't fair. it's not quite the same as buying a car in advance - it's more like a gym membership and you need to pay that over the course of a year because you get all the benefits within that year. but some Well Society upgrades take longer than a year, hence the difficulty with the current model We are working on making it much simpler and also fair, and also to work within the original structure. hopefully we can announce it soon but it's been a difficult process because the original model didn't factor in gradual upgrades. There needs to be more milestones than 300, 1k, 5k, 25k, and some (free to deliver but valuable) benefits for those who are starting from scratch. hopefully have it in place soon

I'm afraid the GoCardless online system still doesn't accept money from overseas bank accounts. Gavin Maclure, who is the Well Society admin worker, can set up direct debit payments over the phone from the Fir Park office. He is usually in on Tuesdays and Thursdays. You can also contact him with your phone number and a suggested time, on wellsociety@motherwellfc.co.uk or gavin.maclure@motherwellfc.co.uk, to arrange for him to phone you. It's obviously not ideal. GoCardless say they will soon be able to accept payments from EU and then further afield, but not sure how long "soon" is.

You can pay annual fee at any stage - can do it online in the space of a minute by clicking on the below link renewal payment link There was an administrative void for a few months amid the uncertainty over club ownership, new admin worker has been trying to catch up with the backlog so not sure how close he is getting to be able to ask people to pay annual fee. Anyone who can do it off their own back or upgrade their membership is helping add to the funds and saving time too, so thank you. This was the new agreement that was ironed out with the club last summer. In short, members now have three choices: (1) Pay renewal fees and take as many benefits as you like – the club will receive money equal to the value of each benefit taken. (2) Pay renewal fees but don’t take any benefits – all the money will go into the Well Society’s coffers to help towards the goal of fan ownership. (3) Don’t pay any renewal fee and receive no benefits but continue to be a voting member of the Well Society.

To answer the questions - the initial loan was 650k but the final total has not been determined, clearly there are some variables in the coming few months. All WS payments to club will be in form of interest-free loans. If fans don't step up in enough numbers to back the WS then Les will ultimately have to sell the shares to recoup his full money and give the WS back what remains. Again there are plenty of factors that could affect the way things unfold, we are all just trying to focus on raising money and also helping the club raise money. The 6% shareholding is the Well Society's, it is totally separate from Les's shareholding. That cost the WS £150k. There was a £230k loan last year that was repaid by the club. Then loans totalling 190k were made from the Well Society to the club in the last few months. I will make sure any other news updates are communicated on here. The chairman's message part 4 was flagged up by Fir Park Corner, we flagged it up on the Well Society twitter and facebook accounts, and there was an email sent out to Well Society members on Feb 24, the day the message was published, if you didn't get it then best thing to do is check spam or email wellsociety@motherwellfc.co.uk to ensure you are on the mailing list. Here's the email below. from Feb 24: DearWell Society members, Here is a round-upof the latest news from the Well Society and Motherwell Football Club. Today we have published the fourth and final part of the chairman's message onthe recent change in club ownership and the deal we struck with Les Hutchison.There are details on the deal itself, the reasons for striking the deal andbenefits of the deal. It is also imperative to stress that Well Society membersand Motherwell fans in general need to engage with the project to ensure weachieve our long-term goal of building a self-sufficient, financially stableclub which helps drive the Lanarkshire community forward. Please click on the link below to read the full message. http://www.thewellsociety.co.uk/2015/02/24/chairmans-message-part-4/ Each Well Society member can do their bit by upgrading their membership - youcan do so from £10 a month by clicking on the below link. http://www.thewellsociety.co.uk/payments/upgrades/ A massive thanks is due to every member who responded to our below plea toboost the attendance for Saturday's game. We know that many people encouragedfriends and family to come along and the crowd was 800 higher than the previoushome game, and also higher than the previous home match against Dundee.Clearly, it was a hugely disappointing afternoon but if there was a positive totake, then it was the proof that we as fans can make a big difference togetherif we each play a small role. http://www.motherwellfc.co.uk/2015/02/20/society-sound-the-rallying-call/ We have appointed a new admin support worker on a part-time basis to fill avaccum caused by the departure of two club-employed staff last year. Gavin Maclurebegins his second stint working for the Well Society having played a key rolein setting up our direct debit payment system. For more information, clickbelow. http://www.thewellsociety.co.uk/2015/02/22/administrator-appointed/ You may have already read the below chairman's blog on recent changes andimprovements at Motherwell FC. Everyone is working hard to help the club moveforward on and off the park. The focus of the manager and players is obviouslyto retain our long-held top-flight status but behind the scenes we are makingimprovements that can help the team in the long term. http://www.motherwellfc.co.uk/2015/02/18/blog-update-from-the-chairman/ There will be further updates in the very near future. The club's AGM is beingheld on Thursday night, we are finalising plans for a modified membershipstructure, and we will announce a Q&A meeting for all Well Society memberssoon. Regular updates are also available through our social media accounts. Thank you for your ongoing support.

Re the questions about the deal and what happens in the event of failure, here's a link to an explanation on the Well Society website that you might have missed three weeks ago chairman's message part 4 The £1.5m target is no more - there is no specific target other than helping the club repay the loan as we go along conditions are the Well Society must meet any shortfall in loan repayments from the club - miss three consecutive payments and we lose the right to the shares. also that we get 2,000 members. And failure means the club is back in the position it was heading until Les came forward - it will need to be sold to whoever wants it. The only other option to Les Hutchison was the Argentinian consortium

reliably informed that you can get a replacement membership card - the card printing machine has just been fixed, its breakdown delayed membership packs being posted to recently-joined members, but all fixed now. if you want a replacement just email wellsociety@motherwellfc.co.uk with your details and explain what happened as regards whether you will need it for anything, I don't think so, all Well Society members will be on the club database, so if ever you are going to a meeting or using benefits then they will use that. But clearly it's useful for turning lights on so feel free to order another

Hi, fair point, there is actually a lengthy statement pretty much written about recent developments at the club, it should hopefully be out tomorrow. another will follow on the Well Society administration, and another to follow quickly on the deal with Les, that one is admittedly overdue, but all will be out this week there is a newly simplified membership structure set to be announced will also work on something that lists what members and other fans can do to help the WS and the club a meeting of members is also overdue, think the WS board are meeting next week so hopefully a date is set for that then and something can be held in the following few weeks as for expectations/targets, that is still to be finalised but again hopefully something concrete to communicate not long after next week's WS board meeting club AGM is also next week, will be communication about that too everything has been in a state of flux for a few weeks given the changes but ready to move forward with a bit more clarity now, hopefully statement tomorrow is a good start

yes, tomorrow, barring unforseen hitches

Plenty of movement, not long at all to go now.

The latest part of the chairman's message is now up on the Well Society website - sorry for the delay. Part 2 focuses on the background to the deal, which will hopefully give some more understanding of how and why we got to this point. Part 3 will focus more on internal issues with the Well Society and where we go from here. To answer some of the specific points raised above: The idea of raising a £1.5m reserve fund has been undermined by the recent financial losses of the club - which total close to £1m in three seasons 2011-14. The club also owes John Boyle about 350k from a loan that, I think, without having time to check, was given in 2009 when Setanta went bust. So everything that's been done recently is to help save the club from a seriously difficult financial situation while trying to keep ownership in the community given the interest from elsewhere. People are assuming Les's loan is £1m but all we have said is that the combined input of funds is more than £1m-plus. I can't give details away but what was said in the first part of Brian's message is that we need to raise about the same funds as we have already raised again (ie 500k-plus) in order to make sure that we would inherit the shares. But we obviously want to raise more. The reasons the loan is to the club is that it gives Les more security about getting it back, and the fact he would be taking control of the club would give him more ability to influence the financial affairs and help us put it on the road to financial sustainability. Also, it allows us to raise money for a contingency fund, which was the ethos of the original model. It also gives the Well Society and Motherwell fans in general time to prepare for the transition to a fan-owned club, how it would work and to convince people that it is the best (only?) way forward. But given Les is putting up a major sum of money as an interest-free loan that is giving us this chance, then we have made a commitment to helping the club pay him back if it cannot afford any particular repayment. We would have some time to raise money before this scenario unfolded. The goal of having a £1.5m reserve fund was based on the business model the club employed in recent years, it was said to be three years of the worst-case scenario losses. A new business plan is needed given the consistent recent losses and one that carries less risk, so we would not necessarily be needing a £1.5m reserve fund. The hope is that there is as big a reserve fund as possible though. Going forward any windfall such as a large transfer fee or cup final/win could potentially supplement the reserve fund. But that's getting a bit far ahead. Hopefully that addresses some of the points and i will check back again when I've more time. merry xmas to everyone too

I'll come back on tomorrow or Thursday to answer all these questions (or as many as I can) but spending tonight typing up the rest of the Les Hutchison interview and also helping finish off the first part of a very lengthy message from Brian McCafferty, who has been working on that today. Both should be on the Well Society website tomorrow and we'll flag them up on twitter/facebook when they go up. There will be other parts of the message to come, this one focuses on the deal and how we got there and future part(s) will focus on what has happened with the Well Society so far and where we go from here. Hopefully the statements answer the above questions anyway but if not then I will address them. Briefly, on the subject of not having the forethought to prepare these, the focus and hard work was all on getting a deal sufficiently over the line to be able to release a statement, which initially said a bit more but had to be cut down slightly as part of the agreement on getting it out. There were a huge amount of twists and turns in this saga, and a host of different parties involved, so it was difficult to prepare anything in advance.

Understand why people are wary (and it's good that people are) given recent events at other clubs but Les easily has the wherewithal to buy the club by the front door if he wanted - but he wants to help the community to achieve this for themselves and unite behind the club. There's a long interview with Les that will be going on our website soon where he explains his motivations. his track record in philanthropic ventures is also easily viewable online. We had a lawyer (a member) go over the MOU (for free) and it sets out clearly that the well society will take control when Les's loan to the club is paid back. The club's lawyers have also gone over it obviously. Les was initially just going to gift us money but he realised that might not be enough so he looked at other ways to help, and we ended up with this deal through circumstances including the financial pressures facing the club. The fact that he is in control of the club at the start is a positive as he has very valuable expertise and drive that can help the club get back on an even keel. It's a big challenge and his input allows the fans some time - and much insight - to work out the best way to run the club after his involvement ends.

am working all day today so don't have much time but just to clear up some confusion: Les will be in control of club board appointments, but Well Society chairperson will be chairperson of the club board - that's why he says on BBC that he's asked Brian McCafferty to be chairman. He has asked Derek Weir and Jim McMahon to stay on the board. His daughter - a committed Well fan and accountant - will also join the board. He might put others on the club board who he feels can help the club generate income and add efficiencies. he says they will all be unpaid. The Well Society board is a matter for the Well Society, the rules are pretty clear on the make-up - elections to choose up to four board members and to co-opt others but always have a majority of elected members. Les has done another interview with the Press Association, some of which should be out in a story on several media platforms and maybe the club website very soon if not already - it was a 25-min interview and the whole transcription will be on the well society website in the coming days, as well as on other platforms, the more press coverage we can get the better as not everyone reads the well society website. Brian will also have a lengthy message to Well Society members in the coming days on the website explaining how we got to this stage and as much detail as possible sorry for the brief update, I have been working all weekend so been difficult to keep up - Les was keen to get his point across asap so that's why he spoke to BBC, allows everyone to hear him too will be back on here consistently too to see if there's any other points that need clarified, but might struggle for time today

Just to add to a couple of things that the meeting probably didn't clear up sufficiently: 1 The 800k target was raised, in early October. This was done to make sure that the club could meet all financial obligations in the worst-case scenario. This was after the early European exit and the League Cup defeat and league form. That was why the society went looking for loans to the club - because the club could need them. 2 The confidentiality agreement. The reason/benefits to the society for signing it was that the potential lender made it a pre-condition of talks. Without signing it, there would be no potential loan and the game would have been over a long time ago. The potential lender did not want people knowing their identity and being harassed by the media and people speculating about them, and possibly being blamed if things didn't work out. But if a deal is finalised then the identity will be made public. The same thing happened with Ann Budge at Hearts - her identity wasn't revealed until there was a lot more certainty about that deal being done. In general, everyone should expect more information from the Well Society, moves towards that were made in the summer but this is a difficult period when people the board are dealing with are demanding confidentiality. Hopefully there is a positive conclusion and we can build from there. Also in general, the financial situation has changed dramatically since the Well Society was set up by the club. The initial (over-ambitious) target of raising £1.5m to act as a safety net has been undermined by the fact that we have raised over 500k but the club has lost the best part of £1million in the three years since. So trying to find a solution that provides both safe/community ownership and financial stability for the club has been a lengthy process.

There's absolutely no danger of WS members being personally liable for any loans. Thought this question had been answered (below) when it was put on social media, apologies if it went unanswered elsewhere. Obviously haven't explained in more detail yet but hands are tied at the moment until there is some form of agreement in principle. Clearly we were desperate for some concrete news in time for tonight but there are legal reasons why all information can't be shared, and it would be entirely self-destructive to the aims of the society if we were to do so. Doesn't mean some information can't be shared but just not all. But there will be another meeting soon and hopefully very soon. Clearly, there has to be a lot more information and engagement in the future if community ownership is to work, and a lot of things improved on, but communication has been very difficult recently amid the current constraints. The Well Society @TheWellSociety · Nov 2@Malloyal @mr8man Absolutely no danger whatsoever of any WS member being liable for any debt. will try to explain in more detail very soon

To answer some questions: Who makes the decision? It's not as simple as saying one person. As is said above, John Boyle still owns the shares and anyone can revoke a power of attorney. So it's fair to assume he needs to be satisfied with what's happening. I know a sale to an outside party would be better for him (he is owed £350K by the club) and he could probably have sold up before now. So that tells you something. Club directors also need to be convinced by proposals. In the WS case, you have JB, club directors, WS board members, and the sources of the finance, who all need to agree a deal. What happens to security over stadium? Once JB's loan is settled then that falls back into club's hands. I think it's pretty standard practice to use stadium as security for a loan, especially when you control the club, as he did at the time. If another group buys the shares what happens to the money raised by Well Society members? Well Society rules 93 and 94 deal with what happens if the Society is wound up and where the money goes (basically a community-based charity in Lanarkshire, probably designed to be the MFC Community Trust). These rules were set up by the club. But rule 94 can be changed and rules 88/89 explain what is needed to change it. You can view these rules on the WS website. So it's up to members to decide what happens to the money raised should the society cease to exist. Members also decide whether the society should be wound up. There was a share purchase but we have been promised that money (150k) back if the JB shares are sold to an outside group. So all of the membership fee cash will be available for the members to collectively decide what to do with. On the subject of the "bizarre/cloak and dagger" statements.... There are many reasons why they are not clearer. (1) Talks regarding the main source of our potential finance are bound by a confidentiality agreement. So there are legal reasons why the statements skirt around the surface. (2) Details and opinions are constantly changing. There would be seven statements a day if we were to constantly update in detail as the previous statement would be out of date within an hour. The proposed deal is not simple and that's why it is difficult to be clear when you're trying to give a brief update. (3) We don't want to jeopardise negotiations. Someone has said we're doing the club no favours by not being clear in the statements. But there has been no statement whatsoever from any other party - not the club, not directors, not John Boyle, not our potential backers. And I haven't seen a statement from any foreign consortium. The statements are an attempt to keep members informed without breaking any confidences from the people we are negotiating with. So they are vague and I'm sure they are frustrating to read, but rather that than be putting something out there that scuppers a deal. I feel uneasy about writing anything on here or anywhere else, for that reason. The email appeal for loans was a case in point - how far can you go in warning of the consequences of failure without actually saying what you know about the alternative for fear of upsetting people who make the decisions? The most recent statement came on the day of the report in the Daily Mail - it was designed to reassure members (or people who want the WS to succeed at any rate) that there was still a chance of a community solution. The choices seemed to be: say nothing and be criticised and leave people completely in the dark; or to say something that is slightly vague and be criticised; or to say too much and potentially scupper a deal. Might be over-cautious but there's a lot at stake. The unavoidable consequence of that is that there are misunderstandings and misconceptions, but I can categorically reiterate that no WS member would be personally liable for repaying any loans. There was a real chance of a major interest-free loan months ago but the WS couldn't offer any security, so it stalled, and then new information came to light that we needed more than 800k and that there was an alternative option for the club ownership. Hence the move to appeal for people to lend the club money. the whole deal is now hinged upon where the risk lies and how to satisfy all parties, and obviously there is little time to proceed. Hence the complications and hence the vague statements. Hopefully that goes some way to explaining a few things, although I know it still leaves a lot of unanswered questions. It's all very frustrating when you know what's going on so can only imagine how frustrating it will be waiting for information. Thanks for everyone's patience. Hopefully there will be a new statement soon, and hopefully it's a lot clearer than the previous one...

Here's a Well Society statement. promsie to answer questions in the very near future, including yours Steelboy, but things very delicate just now and don't want to jeopardise anything. hopefully this provides some answers to go on with We are doing everything possible to help finalise a deal which would stabilise Motherwell FC’s finances and ultimately hand control of the club to supporters. The proposed deal is complicated and we are trying to help find a way to satisfy the need to commit ongoing funds from Well Society members and new recruits. We had an excellent response to our recent plea for help to keep the club in the hands of Motherwell fans and are hopeful we can find a way to bring the discussions to a positive conclusion. Time is of the essence though. We hope to be able to be in a position to share all the details with members as soon as possible and will be looking for endorsement for the plans. At the minute, negotiations are ongoing and have been regularly updating throughout today, so it is difficult to share too much information. We promise to do so when we can, and hopefully very soon. As we have said before, our aims are first and foremost to stabilise the club’s finances and keep the ownership of the club in the hands of Motherwell fans, and also to keep alive the goal of supporters owning the club. We are doing everything we can to make sure that the club is in the hands of people who have its best interests at heart. On another note, some reports today stated that we needed to hit the £800,000 mark by the end of this month to keep alive our goal. That was initially the case – but we were told last month that it would take more money than that. We have been offered enough help, but it is now down to the details of satisfying John Boyle, the club board, our financial backers and, of course, ultimately, Well Society members. We will update as soon as possible. Thanks again for your support and patience. Brian McCafferty Well Society acting chairman

Latest Well Society statement We have had two positive meetings in the last 24 hours which have given us encouragement that we can find a community-based solution to the ownership issue facing Motherwell FC. A number of Motherwell fans have pledged money for a joint loan to the club – before, during and after a meeting on Thursday night. We are extremely grateful for their help. Today a Well Society representative held further talks with a friend of the organisation with whom we have been in discussions for almost six months. These talks are bound by a signed confidentiality agreement but we can say that today’s discussion gave us further grounds for optimism. Again we are extremely grateful for this ongoing help. We cannot give out any more details at this stage and we are going to spend a couple of days ironing out the mechanics of some issues and in further talks. To clarify reports surrounding the email that was sent to some Well Society members and other Motherwell fans – this was written by the Well Society and not the club. The club is not in any immediate financial danger. What we are trying to do is to ensure that this remains the case and that the club is in the hands of Motherwell fans. Any Well Society offer for the majority shareholding of former Motherwell chairman John Boyle will only be made if it provides long-term financial stability for the club. We hope to provide a further update in the coming days but there will be no further comment for the time being.

Totally appreciate and understand the frustration over the shortage of information. But we're in a situation where we need an agreement over shares, and agreements rely to a large extent on respecting confidentiality, and rightly so. What we can definitely say, and have to say, has changed is that we need more money than the 800k target, and there is a possibility that we might not even have until the end of November to raise it. We need pledges of money in now and we needed to let people know that time is running out. These facts shaped the wording of the email. There are three options now (1) the Well Society raises enough money to secure the shares; (2) John Boyle's shares are sold to someone else. If someone emerges who is better for the club than the Well Society then great. (3) The shares are not sold and the club faces a cash shortfall in the second half of the season. (It was £350k last season and 150k the season before, and the club has made annual losses in each of the last three seasons). The WS doesn't have enough as it stands to be sure of plugging the gap again. The Well Society was set up by the club to transfer John Boyle's shareholding to people with the best interests of the club at heart, to provide the club with financial security, and also to give him an exit route. We are working within those parameters. Clearly some Motherwell fans would rather own shares than join the Well Society, but we don't have many shares to sell. If a consortium of Motherwell fans wants to buy JB's shares and can provide the club with more security then great but the club didn't set up that route and no consortium has emerged naturally. About 1,300 Motherwell fans have paid a lot of money to join the WS and they did so to give the club financial stability and keep it in the hands of Motherwell fans. That's what we are trying to do. How does the club pay back the money if the Well Society gets enough loans to secure the shares? There are options for the WS to help the club. One is for the WS to sell part of its shareholding - we could possibly raise £400k by selling shares in batches to Motherwell fans who want to own shares rather than join the WS. Also, the WS would also continue to recruit members, collect renewal fees and raise funds in other ways. Our market research showed that there were a lot of fans who would join the WS who hadn't done so yet, for several reasons. One being that they weren't sure it would succeed. If it does we are hoping for an increase in membership. Last year WS members paid £40k in renewal fees, annual income that can help pay off loans. But, yes, the club has spent more money than it has earned in most of the recent seasons so to an extent it will probably need to correct the situation over future seasons. It definitely needs to start spending no more than it earns like any other sustainable business. But there is also the prospect of income increasing when the likes of Rangers and Hearts get promoted, and the prospect of league sponsorship and TV revenue increasing with it. Also, we would be very hopeful that the club would not need to take up the bulk of £1million in loans before being able to restructure its finances at the end of the season. But we are trying to ensure there is no shortfall. How much money do we need to raise? We have raised about £520k or more (don't have an up-to-date figure) but some of that was already given to the club. We have targeted raising another £1million in loans, although that is a round figure based on meeting the absolute worst-case scenario and having a reserve left over, and we would make an offer if we fell a bit short. But we clearly don't want to take over the club and be unable to meet the looming shortfall. That would be a disaster for everyone. Last night's meeting was encouraging and we have a number of pledges of money so far. There's a crucial meeting later and we will update after that.

A brief update - Tonight's meeting lasted about two and a half hours, lots of questions asked as you can imagine. Some people pledged money beforehand, some people pledged money afterwards, some went home to think about it, others were more sceptical. Different means of providing loans to the club were mentioned and different conditions were suggested. There is another meeting on Friday which will be crucial. Just a few short points for clarity - the email was written by the Well Society rather than the club. The club is not in immediate financial danger - they have just paid back the Well Society loan after getting in the rest of the SPFL prize money from last season. Every detail of the background financial situation was in the club statement in May. What's changed in recent weeks is that £800kMIGHT not be enough to give the club financial security in the second half of the season (remember that £150k of the total raised was spent on a share purchase). But that's going on the worst-case scenario. And obviously that we are weeks from the deadline and that means that the situation has become critical. Clearly some fans don't like the idea of the Well Society and/or fan ownership in general. At the moment though we firmly believe there is no better option in the pipeline. That's why we are continuing to push for the Well Society to succeed. I'd imagine everyone who joined the Well Society, by the very act of giving their money, wants what is best for the club. Obviously the WS board and other volunteers have been tasked with securing a majority shareholding if possible but no-one would continue to blindly chase that goal if it was to the detriment of the club or if they felt there was a better option. No matter how much time/effort/money people have spent on trying to succeed, the future of MFC will always be more important. Here's the Well Society statement from earlier in case anyone missed it As we stated a couple of times in the past few weeks, we have been holding a number of meetings with individuals and the club over the future ownership and financial stability of the club. The background to these talks is as follows. As everyone knows, we were given until the end of November to raise £800,000 to keep the prospect of fan ownership viable, the ultimatum coming in a club statement released in May. We realised that we would probably need a major input of cash and were – and still are – in talks with someone over a soft loan that would ensure we not only reached the total, but hopefully a higher total that would trigger the transfer of John Boyle’s majority shareholding to the Well Society. However, earlier this month we were given new information that means we MIGHT need more money to underpin the club’s finances should we assume control. Given we are very nearly at the cut-off point, we needed to act quickly to make sure that the club remains in the hands of Motherwell fans– there are no guarantees that will be the case if the Well Society does not reach the funds required by the end of November. One of the main points of the Well Society has always been to ensure that the club remains in the hands of the community – as expressed in our statement in May, for example. To do this, we contacted several Motherwell fans and Well Society members whom we felt would be willing and able to help the club through any potential difficulties in the second half of the season by way of a loan. Having been given some encouragement, we decided to open there quest out to more people and push for a deal that can provide financial security for the club and guarantee the club remains in the hands of Motherwell supporters. The prospect of selling shares to fans, should the Well Society assume a 75% stake, was also discussed and remains a potential option,but given we do not have the shares and given the need for quick action, we decided to keep it simple and seek contributions to a joint loan. However, we know that some fans would prefer to own shares than become Well Society members so that remains a further potential source of cash for the club. There is a meeting tonight which we invited certain people to, but anyone who can provide cash is obviously extremely welcome to attend.After much discussion, the appeal was not published publicly, but if the emergence of the email in an online forum encourages fans to attend and pledge money then all the better. We realise that some fans might be concerned by the email but the financial situation outlined was previously explained by the club in its statement in May. The reason for the ultimatum was that the club needed financial security after recent annual losses – this obviously remains the case. And, naturally, the way the season has gone so far means that some more money than first envisaged MIGHT be needed. In short, the Well Society board is committed to helping the club towards financial stability and keeping the ownership of the club in the hands of Motherwell fans – those have always been the main goals and they are guiding the way we approach these talks. There are more talks planned on Friday as well as tonight and we will provide an update as soon as we can.