It's just a question of trust

Since his death in August, however, fans have voiced concerns over the future of the club.

How will the club be funded? Who makes the key decisions? What is the Trust Fund? And, who apart from new director David Brown, is among the board of trustees?

Here, Paul Egerton-Vernon , Mr Walker's personal solicitor in Jersey and the chairman of the holding company responsible for looking after the club's affairs, provides the answers to the key questions all Rovers fans want to know in an exclusive interview with the Lancashire Evening Telegraph.

What is your background?

I'm a solicitor and I acted for Jack Walker from 1984. My firm has acted for him since 1976 so we go back a long way together. I'm a commercial lawyer and I have been responsible for advising Jack Walker since we first started working together.

What is the Trust fund, how does it work and who exactly are the trustees?

Basically, we are shareholders and I think that's really all that's relevant as far as the football club is concerned. The trust fund was structured by Jack Walker to provide on-going support for the club for the forseeable future and arrangements have been made to ensure that support is there now and for the years to come.

Are you able to say who exactly is on the Trust board?

No, not really. I'm the chairman of the shareholders and we are there to provide the club with funds. The shareholders are faceless but that doesn't mean the club is faceless at all. The support for the club is for the players and the manager. I personally don't think it would help the fans if there were greater details provided about the shareholders, because it wouldn't add anything. It's Graeme and the players who will decide whether we get up. The message to the supporters is that we are absolutely committed to ensuring promotion to the Premiership by every possible means. But that is not simply a matter of buying players, it's about having a team that works together, that's committed, that is confident and has the necessary skills to do the job.

What has happened to the shares owned by Jack Walker? Have they been split between the Trust members or members of the Walker family?

The shares are held by a holding company and I am the chairman of the board of that holding company, responsible for investment into the club.

The fans have been used to Jack Walker being the public face behind Blackburn Rovers and knew he was a huge supporter. Now we've got a situation where we don't know who is on the Trust board, we don't know what their football background is and whether they've got a real interest in Blackburn Rovers or not. It could even be argued that they see the club as a drain on the resources of Mr Walker's other concerns. So can you tell us any more about the people who are now running the club?

I can put that very easily for you. The people who are running the club are John Williams, Rob Coar, the other members of the board and the manager, Graeme Souness. The role of the shareholders is not to run the club. The role of the shareholders is to ensure that the objectives the board sets themselves can be met. To put things into perspective, one of the things we are looking at is to provide a more stable funding for the club. For instance, we are looking at converting short-term loans into long-term funding by switching the loans into shares. So one of the things we aim to put before the AGM is a reconstruction of the capital of the club so it has more long-term capital than it does at the moment. I think that gives you an idea of the long-term commitment the shareholders have towards the club.

Who has the final say should there be any disagreement?

We've never had that situation and I can't see that situation arising. Matters are discussed and agreed in the normal way.

How exactly does the funding arrangement work?

It works in exactly the same way as any other shareholding structure. The board are responsible for the business of running the club and meetings take place between the shareholders and the club. Budgets are then agreed and it's our job to make sure that the board have sufficient funds to carry out the agreed programme. But it's not a new arrangement, that's the point. The point is there has been a change in personnel. Jack Walker clearly used to be the man at the sharp end in terms of the public face. But, regretfully, nobody can replace Jack Walker. It would be nice for the fans if we could say here is Jack Walker number two, but he doesn't exist. What does exist is a dynamic business which I believe will be sufficient to fund the club for the foreseeable future to enable the wishes of Jack Walker to be achieved. And that has to be done on a sensible basis by agreement with the board, relying on the manager as to who we should buy and so on and so forth.

So it's a case of the club putting a suggestion to the shareholders?

Yes, we sit down and see if that makes sense and then discuss it. It's like any other business. You have a budget for the year and you operate within that.

If the budget has been agreed and Graeme Souness suddenly decides he needs another signing, is there leeway there for extra finances to be made available and who would make that decision?

What both parties want to do is agree on a realistic budget that will cater for the sort of contingencies you have in mind. All budgets are clearly subject to contingencies and I don't think we are any different from anyone else. If, clearly, expenditure was required which would double the budget then it would be a matter for the board of the holding company. It is flexible if, say, a good case was made out for the acquisition of a particular player who could transform the fortunes of the club. But, like any other business, we try to make sure we operate within the agreed budget.

So is there a specific pot of money set aside to run Blackburn Rovers?

No. The football club is one of a number of businesses that Jack Walker acquired. The funds of the club are generated by the success or otherwise of the other business interests that he put in place. So I can certainly confirm that there is no diminishing pot where, as the years go by, the amount gets smaller. It's a dynamic business, the business generates funds and the funds will then be used in a sensible way for the club.

It's been said that it's very much a make or break season for the club. If the worst happened and Rovers didn't go up, what effect would that have on the finances for next season?

I think it's a make or break season in the sense that we are very keen for the club to get back into the Premiership and the arrangements are that all possible efforts are being made to achieve that particular objective. If we don't obtain it, then clearly what we will do is go back to the board and ask them to come up with a strategy which will enable us to get back into the Premiership the season after.

But would there be any pressure on the board to start scaling things down if promotion didn't happen or would it be allowed to run at its present levels?

The board have to come up with a strategy which enables the club to get back into the Premiership. Now that partly concerns cash but it also includes a number of other issues i.e. the manager and a whole host of other things. But we'll obviously discuss the budget with the club and sit down and agree that budget.

On the other side of the coin, if Rovers were to get promoted would there be more investment?

Yes, there would from the television companies because the funds available to Premiership clubs are significantly greater than those available to clubs in the Nationwide. So that would, obviously, be a help. But just to re-emphasise the point, we are long-term not short-term players. Our objective is to make sure that the club thrives and plays at the highest possible level.

Regarding TV companies, is that how you see the future of football going?

I believe so. As a relatively small town in footballing terms we've got to box clever and try to raise our profile in ways that the Arsenals and Chealseas don't need to. So we have to constantly look for ways of raising our profile to attract players to help us achieve our objectives.

We know that Jack discussed the possibility of floating the club in the past. Is that still a possibility?

Absolutely. I doubt it would happen until such time as we get into the Premiership and I doubt it would happen before we know the effects of the changes in the transfer system. But I would see it as, initially, a means of raising funds for the club which will enable us to raise money to carry out the objectives we want to carry out. But it's not a priority at the moment. Our priority is getting into the Premiership, then we'll take one step at a time and decide whether flotation makes sense for the club.

Could that not lead fans to think that there might be a point where this current arrangement cannot fund further progression in getting back to the status the club previously enjoyed?

We don't need to float, that's the wonderful thing about the Rovers. Rovers don't need a public flotation in order to achieve the objectives other clubs set themselves. We would only float if it was in the interests of the club to do so and there are a number of reasons why you float. Principally, of course, it's to raise funds for the club. I would love to see a situation where we are soon full to capacity and would have to look to building a new stand. We may also be able persuade one of the TV companies to take a stake in the club, but the reason to seek a listing would not be because we can't afford to run the club, because we can. Jack Walker made arrangements to ensure that was the case.