Brian Caldwell outlines his Motherwell vision and 'huge potential' he sees in ML1 as safe standing addressed

A seven-figure sale, squad overhaul and an investment saga - it’s not been a quiet start to life at Motherwell for new CEO Brian Caldwell.

Taking on the role as the permanent successor to Alan Burrows, he has won early acclaim from fans and those inside the club for the early work he’s put in at Fir Park. Caldwell walked into an investment debate spawned from a US-based proposal from Wild Sheep Sport, which was eventually withdrawn last month after a lengthy process.

He has been tasked with handling the usual overseeing of the departments every football club has, from the ground staff to ticketing. He’s also been close at hand as manager Stuart Kettlewell overhauls the playing squad, with last season’s talisman Theo Bair sold for a seven-figure deal.

A typical day? It doesn’t exists in a role like Caldwell’s. Speaking to the Motherwell Times on his initial draws to Motherwell, he sees major potential in the fan-owned Premiership club. He explained: "In my opinion, as an outside looking in, there were some small easy wins we could do to maybe change things around and there is massive potential in this football club.

“Analysing some of the data I have been looking through with guys from the Well Society, we have something like 9,000 people on our ticketing system who are non-season ticket holders from an ML postcode. If we can get some of those supporters who come from time to time to more regular or season ticket holders, then there is huge potential in growing the football club.

"One minute you can be talking to the groundsmen about seeding and the next it's ticketing or negotiating a player contract. It's such a wide-ranging role and it is about knowing every aspect of it. I am big on fan engagement, when I came here I said put my email on the website and if anybody has anything, just get in touch. I'd rather get understanding and feedback. My motto is if I don't know, I can't fix it.”

The aforementioned Well Society - the majority shareholder at the club - are a group Caldwell is keen to work with. He will lean heavily on their local knowledge of the area and club to bounce ideas off, with his goal to work in a collaborative fashion.

Caldwell said: "I have made no bones about it, I want to work with the Well Society. I probably speak to members of the Well Society board every day. I think there is a lot of synergy and a lot of things we can do. There are things they want to do that are already in my head so we are both on the same page. While I have staff at the club, football clubs try to run with as few staff as possible, trying to put as much money into the football budget as possible.

“Having the Well Society board as volunteer helpers, they are the people who know what the club is about, the history, the local community. I am going to bounce ideas off them that I have in my head, how we can try and work together. The vote finishing early was good for me because now we have closure and can move forward.”

Safe standing is something the Motherwell CEO helped bring into Shrewsbury Town, the first club in England and Wales to do so. That reality is not possible at Fir Park but Caldwell is keen to work collaboratively with vocal supporters group Block E to see how they can best work together.

He added: "I had a meeting with the Block E boys. I am on a group chat with some of the guys, because, Iet’s have an open dialogue. There is a lot they can bring to the party, we can't always control what happens on the pitch but we can off the pitch. From my experience of safe standing at Shrewsbury, the first club in England and Wales to put it in, what a difference it made to the atmosphere and getting younger people to come along.

“We can't do safe standing here without relocating a load of people and moving stands because of the sight lines involved. We then have to think about working together to try and make sure they are enthused. We need to know what they want to do but they need to know what we want them to do too.

“There's a lot of good things the guys are doing we can potentially tap into and work closely with them which is what I want. What will bring young people from Lanarkshire to support Motherwell? It might be the atmosphere and getting involved with what that brings to their matchday experience.”