12:01pm Thursday 9th July 2009
By Adam Leitch
LAWRIE McMenemy has urged fans not to forget the debt of gratitude they owe to Leon Crouch.
The former football board chairman has come in for a bit of stick from some supporters for his unconfirmed involvement in the Pinnacle deal which collapsed, wasting valuable time over the summer.
But Crouch has been responsible for personally stumping up cash to keep the club going when administrator Mark Fry may otherwise have had to liquidate it.
McMenemy, pictured below, Saints’ legendary 1976 FA Cup winning manager, thinks that now Markus Liebherr’s takeover is completed, Crouch’s contribution by putting his money where his mouth was and keeping the club afloat – when other former board members didn’t – should always be remembered.
McMenemy – a former Saints football board colleague of Crouch’s – said: “My initial reaction is after nearly 100 days it is good the club’s future is ensured because after I first spoke to Mark Fry, when he called me in, he did put the cards on the table and painted a picture of how bad it was.
“Leon Crouch has got to be praised for personally keeping the club going financially from the end of last season until presumably the first money came in from the sale of a player.
“It should never be underestimated that if he hadn’t have done that, the a d m i n i s t r a t o r would have had no option but to finish the club.”
McMenemy says he has b e e n reminded of the significance of the club by the number of people that have approached him over the past few months to ask about its future.
That’s not only when he’s been at events locally but nationally as well – not least on Tuesday when a stream of people approached him at Buckingham Palace after he had been invited to the Queen’s garden party.
“The club has to go on. I’ve always said it’s an integral part of the community,” said McMenemy.
“The number of people I’ve had on my travels asking me how the club is, from taxi drivers to the man on the street to massive functions in London, is amazing.
“I couldn’t believe the amount of interest which reminds everybody we’ve had such a good name in the past.
“Hopefully that will carry on and eventually we will be part of the elite again in the top flight.
“I say ‘well done’ to the buyer.
“Now like everyone else I hope that the football side is concentrated on more now the financial side has been settled.
“Because after all, that is what the club is all about.
“We start with a ten point penalty and hopefully the right structure will be put in place and we will have players who are hungry for success and most importantly want to play for this football club.”
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