Well Society members vote four to one against Motherwell investment proposals

Well Society members voted by a majority of about four to one to reject investment proposals for Motherwell before Erik Barmack withdrew his offer.

Motherwell’s majority shareholder has released the provisional figures for its members ballot, which show 78% of fans had voted against the deal before the ballot was suspended.

The Well Society board had recommended the Wild Sheep Sports proposal was rejected, in contrast to the club board’s position.

The ballot was organised by an independent electoral firm and the results were not available to the Well Society until after the ballot was suspended on Tuesday, eight days into a 14-day period, with 56% of members having exercised their vote.

However, the club board were aware of the opinions of other Motherwell shareholders, many of whom are Well Society members, as their votes were being handed in to officials at Fir Park.

When Wild Sheep withdrew, the club claimed the discussions around the proposal were “creating significant divisions within the fanbase”.

But the emphatic nature of the voting will add weight to calls for boardroom change at Fir Park.

Chairman Jim McMahon, who drove the investment quest, had already announced his intention to retire while the positions of Well Society representatives Tom Feely and Douglas Dickie are in major doubt after they backed the plans. The latter resigned from the board of the fan-ownership vehicle after a majority of his colleagues opposed the proposal.

The Well Society held further talks with chief executive Brian Caldwell on Thursday about the way ahead of the club.

In a statement, the majority shareholder said: “The Well Society board recognise that this is a snapshot of the ballot at that particular stage rather than a result.

“We would like to thank all members who engaged with the proposals over recent weeks and those who took the time to vote. Whatever your view of the investment proposal, you have demonstrated a clear passion for our club and its future.

“Attention now immediately turns to deliver on the strategy set out in our plan for the Society and Motherwell Football Club, Our Club, Our Future.

“We would reiterate that we are open to external investment and will continue the work already done to bring in partners who we feel can help push the club further forward in true partnership with fans.”

Wild Sheep had offered £1.95m for a 47% stake, which would have resulted in Los Angeles-based TV executive Barmack taking over as chairman and left the Well Society without any influence over strategy.

Public support for the plans dwindled following the publication of Barmack’s business plan three days before the ballot opened, although the Motherwell board quickly reiterated its recommendation.

The plan contained inaccurate details about Motherwell’s finances and much-criticised spending plans.

Barmack outlined about £4m of spending on projects inside three years despite committing £900,000 to the club during that period. Plans over a six-year period included spending £600,000 on pre-match and post-match entertainment, more than £1m on “predictive AI for marketing”, and £175,000 on a mobile app targeting 50,000 downloads.

The Well Society was being committed to a £1.85m investment but would have seen its shareholding fall from 71% to 50.1%.