By Adam Ellis
Port Vale chairman Norman Smurthwaite has resigned with immediate effect and placed the club up for sale after they were relegated to League Two on Sunday.
Smurthwaite has relinquished his duties and released a statement in which he conceded to making a number of mistakes during the four years he spent at Vale Park which have ‘damaged’ the club.
“It is with a heavy heart that I have decided to stand down as Chairman with immediate effect and relinquish all remaining duties that I am involved in. I will leave it to Colin Garlick the Club’s CEO, and the team he is building, to work through what will be a very difficult period for the football club,” the statement confirmed.
“I took up the Chairmanship of this great club four years ago, with the football club and its parent insolvent, a very large unpaid creditors list, and with no knowledge whatsoever of running a football club.
“Admittedly, I seriously considered putting the club back into administration but the consequences of that would have been catastrophic so, having made my peace with Micky Adams, we agreed a course of rebuilding our club.
“I did not realise what a big asset Micky Adams was until he left us who, in reality, he was much more than just the manager.
“On his departure I became vulnerable without his structured management of the football department. Being focused in trying to stabilise the club I ignored and took for granted the most important asset the football club has, and that is you the supporters. When I really understood that, I think for some of you that was unfortunately too late.”
The outgoing Vale chairman also admitted that his appointment of Bruno Ribeiro was detrimental in playing part to the club’s downfall, as the Portguese manager brought in players from overseas who were untested in the lower divisions of English football.
“In thinking outside the box last summer I have clearly seriously damaged our Club, resulting in Sunday’s relegation which was never my intention as the club is now a very big part of my life. I deeply regret the actions and appointments I made during the closed season and would like to apologise sincerely to all supporters, Port Vale staff and the wider Burslem community for the impact of my decisions last summer.”
Smurthwaite formed part of the takeover of Port Vale in 2012 to ensure they moved out of administration eight months after being placed into it as the club’s debt mounted to around £2million.
In his first season at the club the Valiants achieved promotion to League Two by finishing third in 2012-13.
But three years later Vale return to League Two with the majority shareholder open to offers for the club.
