At last, it's out, the region's worst kept secret. Dave Allen has formally been announced as the new majority shareholder of Chesterfield Football Club.

The former Owls chief has purchased £4m in shares, the equivalent to 80% of the equity, as well as loaning a further £2m to ensure the funding for the club's new stadium at Whittington Moor will be complete.

The former Owls Chairman, who still holds 9.5% of the shares in Wednesday as well as being owed in excess of £2m in loans, had to receive special permission from the Football League to enable the deal to be completed.

Allen said; "The League was anxious that I reduced my shareholding in Sheffield Wednesday to less than 10%, which I've done and they wanted to see how the remaining loans were structured. They've now seen that and are satisfied that there won't be a problem."

With obvious enthusiasm, the casino owner and pigeon fancier shared his aspirations for his new club who will have a new manager next week and a new home next year.

He outlined how his involvement started; "I've known the Chairman Barrie Hubbard for 40 years and I was approached by him some time ago about giving him some advice about the banqueting suite and catering at the proposed new stadium, which I was happy to do.

"One thing led to another and he said he needed some funding for the stadium, I was interested, we had a few meetings and having seen the plans I offered to put in the £4m for the 80% shareholding to help fund the stadium and a further £2m to complete the project.

"Why? Because I believe in it, I like the people here, the fans are a nice bunch of people and they deserve something better. Saltergate is an old ground with lots of nostalgia but times have moved on and there's now the opportunity to move into a brand new ground and a brand new future.

"My ambition is the same as the current Directors, let's get the club into the Championship. We need to get out of this division, hopefully this year if we can and get into the new ground in League One and take it from there."

With the new manager set to be revealed next week Allen confirmed he wanted to see attacking football; "It's important that we build a club that's renowned for playing good football. Doncaster Rovers have done it. We need to play attractive, attacking football, the type of football where the ball doesn't get height sickness all the time.

"We need to score goals, we've already got one of the best scorers in the division in Jack Lester so he needs some more service and a style of football that makes him keep performing as the great footballer that he is."

However Apperknowle resident Allen, whose early business interests included owning the Adam & Eve Nightclub in Chesterfield, doesn't think throwing money at the wage bill is the answer; "All the money I'm putting in is for the stadium. I propose getting us into the Championship by getting a proper manager who'll play good, attractive, attacking football. We won't be going out and spending an absolute fortune on players.

"Burnley did it with one of the lowest budgets in the Championship, it's not all about how much money you spend on players. You don't just throw a lot of money at businesses, it needs proper management. The Board have proved they can do that here and moving to a new stadium will help by getting bigger crowds. I'm sure if we get to the stage where the playing budget needs a little push we'll be able to do that."

Hubbard, who will remain as Chairman, said; "I'm pleased we can at last move forward into the start of a new era and we're delighted to welcome Dave on board."

Allen added; "I'm always enthusiastic about any business I get involved in and I'm really looking forward to an exciting future for everyone involved with Chesterfield Football Club as I see this club at the heart of the community and with serious ambitions for Championship football. That's the end game, getting the club into the Championship and being debt free."

Phil's Green Un Report from Saturday 30th May

Chesterfield's new majority shareholder Dave Allen, who's acquired 80% of the shares in the club for £4m as well as loaning a further £2m to ensure the funding for the club's new stadium is all in place, has outlined his desire to see exciting football at Saltergate and, from 2010, at the purpose built ground at Whittington Moor.

The 67 year old former Sheffield Wednesday Chairman, who was given the OK to become involved by the Football League on Thursday, believes that such a style will help to attract new supporters to the club.

In his characteristic style he said; "We've got a friendly football club here without a lot of antagonism from lunatic supporters and if we play the right sort of football, we'll go forward. The new ground's going next to Tesco so what we'll get is Mum, Dad and the kids coming along, Mum can go shopping for an hour and a half and Dad and two kids can come to the football and they can meet up outside afterwards in one of the cafes or bars that will be there.

"We'll build a proper family stadium, that can be done and it will be done here. We can attract people from the South of Sheffield, down below Meadowhead and around Woodseats and Totley as well as from Dronfield if the football is attractive. Where the new ground will be will make that journey very easy.

"We won't put the catering out to tender either, we'll do it all in house and control the quality and prices ourselves. It'll be a big leisure package that will give bigger income streams for the club." But there'll be no casino; "Chesterfield isn't a designated area for a casino and if it was I wouldn't do it there anyway."

Barrie Hubbard will carry on as Chairman, the current Board will all remain in place but Allen ruled out any immediate involvement of Kaven Walker, his former Hillsborough Chief Executive; "Now he's settled his situation after leaving Hillsborough, he'll probably go to a bigger club, he came from Liverpool and was highly regarded there. In the fullness of time, probably when we're in the new ground, we'll need a Chief Executive."

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