The Well Society's next steps after Barmack's failed Motherwell proposal bid as external investment addressed

The Well Society insist any external investment into Motherwell must work for all parties, after proposals from Wild Sheep Sport were pulled this week.

The Motherwell board recommended that shareholders should accept a £1.95m offer for a 47% stake, which would have crowned American TV executive Erik Barmack as chairman. Members of The Well Society, the current majority shareholder of the Premiership club, were halfway through a two-week voting period over the proposals, with the group objecting the offer.

Their 71% stake currently would have dropped to 50.1%, and they will now press on with plans outlined in their recently published prospectus for growth, titled “Our Club, Our Future.” Well Society board member, Derek Watson, says the group are in conversations with Motherwell chief executive Brian Caldwell and that external investment is not something that will be opposed if the deal is right.

With this news coming amid the news Theo Bair has left the club for Auxerre in a deal in excess of the £1.3m figure that’s been reported, there’s an additional backdrop of financial health added to the situation. Watson said: “We are meeting again with Brian again this week, which is something that our board and Brian were keen to do.

“We will look at the plans we said we will deliver, and make sure Brian buys into that, I know he has already given his blessing. He’s really positive about the work we can do together. It’s just making sure everyone is pushing in the same direction.

“We’re going to push the positive message of what fan ownership can do and what a fan-owned club can do is win trophies, buy players and develop young players. This happens all over Europe and Motherwell will be a very successful fan-owned club for years to come. I think our outgoing chairman (Jim McMahon) and executive board have been clear from the start that Motherwell are in no financial trouble. The club is not for sale and we’re in a good position as it stands.

“That won’t change and Theo’s transfer fee will no doubt provide a healthy backdrop to that. We will continue to do what we are doing behind the scenes. We’ll continue to look both locally and globally for external investment and hopefully we get the right deal that works for the football club and those who want to come in as well. This wasn’t the first bid and won’t be the last bid. It’s not that anyone is against investment, it just has to be the right deal for the football club and I am pretty confident that will come in time.”

While there was a desire for the ballot to come to a natural conclusion, Watson is happy that The Well Society can now press on with their plans for the future. He believes there’s a positive outlook to what is to come on and off the pitch at Motherwell

He added: “It’s a bit of a shock. My personal opinion was I was hoping the fan ballot would have concluded and we’d have got to a decision one way or another. Considering the Well Society board have been pushing members to reject the deal, it’s certainly welcome news.

“I hope now the Society can push on and get on with the work we should have been doing before now, and start delivering on the objectives that we said we are going to deliver on. Since we got our newly-elected board in October, I think the pace has changed within the Well Society and I think it has changed for the better.

“Regardless of your opinion on what you think would happen with Erik’s deal, this has been fan ownership in action. It’s been great to see our members engaged with the process. I feel it has energised the membership. It’s a great opportunity for the football club as well on the backdrop of Theo Bair moving on and more money coming into the club.

“It’s a real positive time to be a Motherwell fan and I hope everyone can start pulling in the same direction, and we can start achieving things on and off the pitch. It’s a positive time to be a member of the Well Society and to be a Motherwell fan. I look forward to what the next few months will bring.”