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 Chairman Colin Gardner Steps Down due to Serious Illness

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Lady Magpie
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Join date : 2008-05-13
Location : Middleyard, King's Stanley

Chairman Colin Gardner Steps Down due to Serious Illness Empty
PostSubject: Chairman Colin Gardner Steps Down due to Serious Illness   Chairman Colin Gardner Steps Down due to Serious Illness EmptyThu Jun 05, 2008 1:58 pm

MAJOR PRESS RELEASE

Forest Green Rovers are saddened to announce that the Chairman – Colin Gardner – has relinquished his position at the club with immediate effect.

In a formal statement issued today, the club wish to inform all connected with the club and the community, that at the request of Mr Gardner, he wishes it to be known that he has been diagnosed with a brain tumour. It is also with his permission that it becomes common knowledge that his medical team have advised that the prognosis is not good and it is imperative that he receives urgent treatment. However, in his usual style he refuses to hide away and will face up to the challenge despite such news.

With the Club about to commence a new season, which brings a number of challenges both on and off the field, Mr Gardner feels that he should hand over the stewardship of the Ltd Company now rather than soldier on, particularly as the structure towards a new shareholding company will require a degree of stability, as 2008 is the target year to finalise this move.

Having been with the Club for the past four years and in the role of Chairman for the past two years, he has been instrumental on a day to day basis around the new stadium project and will see one of his major achievements as that of persuading Jim Harvey to become Manager. This partnership culminated in the club finishing in the highest position in football it has ever done, since its’ inception in 1890.

Previously before joining the Board at the New Lawn, Mr Gardner had connections, firstly with Minehead FC and then a well documented connection with Gloucester City AFC.

The holder of the MBE for services to charity, he was a successful business man in the security industry and operated Gardner Security from its headquarters in Gloucester before a major buy out took place a few years ago, which then financially allowed him to follow his love of football, injecting money into many schemes connected with the game.

Trevor Horsley, who is the current Vice Chairman and who will assume the Chairman’s role until the AGM of the Club later in the year, stated “The news which Colin has conveyed to the Board and the staff at the Club came completely out of the blue in the past few days. Insiders knew he had been having scans and that he had had mysterious symptoms over the past 6 months but this news is a bombshell. If the club feel this way, then we cannot imagine what affect it is having on his wife Clare and Colin’s three children and the rest of the family. Our thoughts are with him and all of them at this time”.
He added “Colin recognises that the workload at the FGR FC at this time is immense and he has had to shoulder more of the work, especially with me being abroad quite often on business. Obviously, it is now in his best interests for him to stand aside and deal solely with the issue of his health”.

“For those of us, who have had the opportunity to talk to him, we are amazed that Colin has been so pragmatic in the way he has faced up to this devastating news, with a ‘what will be, will be’ attitude. That speaks volumes and we will do all we can for him and his family at this time, for we have a debt of gratitude to repay him for his hard work since he has been at the club and the challenges we faced over that time. He now has to face the hardest challenge of his own life, which is much greater than any faced by this club or anyone in football”.
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Chairman Colin Gardner Steps Down due to Serious Illness
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