JOINT UPDATE FROM GMFC & MCT BOARDS | 13/05/25

An Update from MCT and GMFC

Over the last week, we are aware that there have been several stories in the public domain, we apologise for the lack of updates but can assure supporters that there have been lots of conversations happening in the background to try and pave a positive way forward.

MCT Board Update

Over the last week, there have been several changes to the MCT Board, most recently last night. Last week, both Tom Tracey and David McCluskey stepped down from their positions. In addition, Sandra McGregor, Graham McLennan and George Wall both resigned last night, with Graham McLennan also resigning his position as an Honorary Director of GMFC. Prior to those resignations last night, Chris Samson, Stuart Duncan and David Whitton were co-opted onto the MCT Board. Jon Keen will also continue to remain as a director.

This means the current interim MCT Board is:

• Jon Keen (existing MCT Director)
• Chris Samson (previously served on the MCT Board)
• David Whitton (part of the MCT Ops Team and had been acting as an Associate Director)
• Stuart Duncan (previously served on the MCT Board and as Company Secretary)

It is important to note that this Board has very much been set up as an interim Board until a General Meeting can be held and a newly constituted Board put in place. This is to allow for stability for MCT in the coming weeks and a fair and open process for director elections. Plans for a Special Meeting are already underway and we will look to communicate that process to members to discuss and determine the way forward as soon as possible.

This will also enable the interim Board to engage with Dalrada and the GMFC Board about the way forward for the club. Importantly, the interim Board will act as a vehicle for communicating details of the Dalrada proposal with the MCT membership, as it is the members who will have the say on whether it is acceptable or not.

Relationship between MCT and GMFC

With the various changes that have taken place on the MCT Board in recent months, the previous relationship between MCT and GMFC at Board level had a long way to go to become a constructive working relationship.

It is very clear that a firm reset is required, and this working dynamic cannot continue. The two Boards need to be working closely in conjunction, if not as one, with each other and we hope that with the changes that have occurred within MCT that this will be possible.

It is very clear that both the GMFC Board and interim MCT Board are ready and willing to engage with each other, and this will start immediately.

FIFA Sanction

The GMFC Board fully accepts and acknowledges than many MCT members feel it is unacceptable that this information was withheld.

It took the club several weeks after the 17th March to ascertain the full true facts of what had happened. The GMFC Board acknowledge that the way this story became public was unsavoury and we apologise for that. However, there was a lot of work required engaging with the Scottish FA, Liverpool and FIFA to gain clarity on the situation, with it dating back to June 2023. We were required to engage with two different offices within FIFA, as you can imagine with an organisation of that scale that has not been a straightforward process.

With the team pushing for the playoffs, it was also agreed that the issue would be kept under wraps as tightly as possible, especially until we had a full grasp of everything that had happened, the potential implications and the route for resolving.

Our intention with our approach was to avoid any disruption to the team’s playoff push. We could have shared this information after the matchday where we were no longer in playoff contention, and we had reached a point of reasonable understanding of the situation. The priority has very much been resolving the issue and an internal review of the process which led to this point was planned to follow.

We fully understand that the above reasoning won’t be valid justification for some, but decisions were made with the best intentions. What has been evident in the last week is that the relationship between the two Boards has not been conducive to a positive flow of information between each other. What is clear is that there is now a willingness from everyone involved on the GMFC Board and interim MCT Board to build that trust moving forward.

Sam Robinson and Graham Barr

It would obviously be remiss of both Boards not to touch on the reported situation with the two MCT Reps on the GMFC Board, Sam Robinson and Graham Barr. The reality of the situation is that it was very unclear for the GMFC Board what was happening, no conversations took place with Sam and Graham from MCT and only a short email was delivered and not followed up on. This left the GMFC Board in limbo as we were all unclear on the situation.

What has been portrayed is Dalrada holding MCT to ransom over Sam and Graham. While Dalrada did state that they wanted that decision reversed, we would emphasise that this is down to the way it was done, not because Dalrada were not open to changes, if these changes benefit the business.

One of Brian Bonar’s requests to MCT several months ago was not that the GMFC Board could not be changed, but that any changes made would need to be reasonable, discussed with the GMFC Board including Ross Gourdie, the Dalrada representative, and the way forward agreed for the best of the club.

Sam and Graham did not immediately step away due to the above and the lack of engagement on the issue. Both Sam and Graham’s priority, as stated to MCT in their response to the email, is the financial health of the club and wellbeing of the staff. The current interim MCT Board are both willing and looking forward to working with Sam and Graham in the coming weeks as we all look to find a positive way forward.

Dalrada

A process will now begin of Dalrada engaging with the GMFC Board and MCT Board regarding what will be on the table from them moving forward. All parties will meet urgently this week and get the ball rolling on the discussions.

The interim MCT Board will look to share information with members as soon as possible as all parties look to get the club onto a stable footing with everyone working together.

While it has felt like the club has ground to a halt in the last week, it is important that does not happen. The plan is to have season tickets on sale later this week to supporters, while a squad update will be slightly delayed this year as conversations take place with Dalrada. We will also look to provide an update on the FIFA situation shortly.