Rovers Chief Executive Resigns

Bill Smith the Chief Executive of Rovers has resigned. This is not wholly surprising. He was, after all only brought in to handle the financing of the stadium redevelopment. He never moved from his home in Reading. But there are aspects of this which raise questions.

First, it seems odd that Rovers seem to have been trying to conceal the fact that he had left despite this apparently being the planned course of events, (especially if Smith had taken on other commitments which now take priority over his role at Rovers). Perhaps things were supposed to be completed long before now?

Curious too that the club web site made the public statement on Friday 10 August 2007, on the eve of the new season. Perhaps they were waiting for as many season tickets to be sold as possible before coming clean with the fact that the financing for the stadium is not in place and the person who's job it was to do this has left.

If Smith has not been around since the end of the last season, who has been handling the financial negotiations with the prospective backers of the scheme? This is a complicated set up. The £35 million for building the stadium and enabling development has to come from somewhere and that somewhere will be a bank. HBOS was the original lender although there were rumours that they had pulled out. But whichever bank is financing the project, the club still needs buyers for the enabling development in order to get the loan in the first place.

The above was all supposed to be organised in time for the July 17 signing of the S106 agreement with Bristol City Council which has now been granted a two month extension supposedly over the amount of money to be spent on a piece of public art. How much is this artwork supposed to cost that it could endanger the whole stadium redevelopment? Or is it simply a smoke screen to cover the fact that financial negotiations have not been going to plan and the club is hoping for some eleventh hour miracle to save face?