What A Waste

The proposed takeover of Dagenham and Redbridge has collapsed after the Directors of the club admitted they were unlikely to win a crucial vote of club members over the ownership change to a consortium of investors.

Members had voted last month in favour of changing the structure of the Limited Company from one limited by guarantee to one limited by shares - effectively moving control from the members to the shareholders. However the vote was one that saw so few members vote that the second, crucial, vote to allow the external investment was always on rocky ground.

It didn't help matters that Glenn Tamplin and one of his business interests, Manns Waste Management, were convicted at the end of October of illegally dumping 6,000 tonnes of waste on to an area 'the size of a football pitch' at his home in 2014. It is reported the waste raised ground level by 2 metres with the Court ordering Tamplin to pay over £75,000 in fines and costs within 3 months of the hearing. The total bill for Tamplin, co-defendant Ricky Mann, and the company was in excess of £170,000.

Needing 75% of the members to vote in favour next month, the Board of Directors have admitted defeat and withdrawn support for the proposal - leading to Tamplin and his consortium to withdraw their offer, with a club statement adding:

“The current Board will now arrange for the necessary finance to be put in place for the Club to continue at its current level. It will hopefully submit new proposals to its Members at its upcoming AGM."

Managing Director Steve Thompson had previously told supporters it would be the end of the club before the season was out if the investment didn't come in, with fans questioning the quality and detail of the financial situation of the club offered prior to the first vote.

Thompson faced a fans forum after the announcement where he faced repeated calls for his, and the Board's, resignations. The six figure sum paid out by the consortium to the club now has to be repaid, and the club is coy on how it now intends to plug both that gap and the hole in funding that saw Thompson make such stark comments about the club's lifespan.

Supporters of the club remain calling for answers that they are yet to receive.

Meanwhile Tamplin has agreed a takeover of Ryman Premier side Billericay Town instead. That agreement came just days after the collapse of the Daggers deal, with the completion subject to contract.