Swansea City Supporters Trust have said club chairman Huw Jenkins’ position is “close to untenable” as they consider legal action over the takeover by Americans Jason Levien and Steve Kaplan.
The Trust have accused Jenkins and his fellow directors – who sold their shares for £75m – of putting their own financial gains ahead of the interests of the club.
They say the selling directors made gains of 110 times their original investment back in 2002, but kept the Trust in the dark over their intentions throughout the negotiation process with Levien and Kaplan.
The legal threat centres over whether the selling directors breached their contract by changing the shareholders agreement and whether the Trust has a case for “unfair prejudice” for being excluded from negotiations.
The Trust – who still own 21 per cent of the club – have stressed the legal action would be a last resort and their preference is to convince the new owners to give them the kind of role in the running of the club that they previously enjoyed.
The Trust outlined their position to their members at a meeting at the Liberty Stadium on Thursday night.
A presentation was given by Trust chairman Phil Sumbler, who said afterwards: “I think the position of Huw Jenkins as chairman is as close to untenable as it’s ever been.
“No-one can ever deny the crucial role Huw Jenkins played to save this club when we were on our knees and he has been a huge asset for us since then.
“But on this takeover, we were deliberately excluded from negotiations and our influence in protecting the club’s interests has been pushed to the margins.
“We used to be very proud to say that Swansea City was not just another football club. We were different because of the way we were run and structured. Now, the truth is that we are exactly like every other football. We’ve lost that difference.”
In their presentation, the Trust’s statement spells out their anger and frustration with both those who sold their shares as well as the new buyers and their reluctance to engage.
They also claim Levien and Kaplan have put no new investment into their club and they are not aware of their intention to do so, having held recent discussions with Levien.
The statement says: “Regardless of our options, the guidance does bring into sharp focus the actions of the sellers who have acted purely from a position of self-interest with little regard for the future of the football club, the Supporters Trust or the fans.
“It also reflects badly on the buyers, whose words to date of wanting to work with the Supporters Trust have been backed up with precious little action.
“We remain disappointed at how we have been completely bypassed by the remaining shareholders in decisions regarding the future of this football club.
“What we have outlined above relates more specifically to the sale of the football club, however it is much deeper than that. There has been a much wider disconnect between the Club and Supporters Trust under the new ownership.
“The feedback from our Supporters Director is that the level of engagement, on all matters, is significantly lower than at any time over the last 14 years, and that is something that is unacceptable to us.
“It is imperative to us that the Supporters Trust is fully engaged in all major decisions regarding the football club and in particular those areas that are important to our members and the fans in general.”
The club have so far declined to officially respond to the Trust’s claims, but Jenkins has told The Guardian, “In the best interests of the club, delicate issues should be discussed in-house and around a table, in the right way, not in public and in the media.”