FOR a man who says he’s on the verge of going bankrupt because a property company owe him “many millions of pounds” Spencer Day is in a relaxed mood.
In fact he’s spent the morning not phoning his lawyer but watching DVDs of Weston-super-Mare and plotting how his Farnborough side will win three points later that evening.
Just before kick-off we sit in the main stand at Cherrywood Road talking football.
How can the 41 year-old remain so calm when he’s on the brink of financial oblivion? Well, he’s been there before, of course, rebuilding his life in the wake of bankruptcy in 1990 when his attempted salvation of Aldershot FC saw him hit the headlines under the name of Spencer Trethewy.
It emerged he was unable to repay money he borrowed to raise 200,000 pounds signed affidavit, Aldershot went into liquidation and crashed out of the Football League. But Day – he subsequently took his mother’s maiden name as his surname – says there is no danger of Farnbrough being affected in the same way.
Day says: ?I am in a terrible financial position, basically they owe me many millions of pounds.
“I can’t survive. If I don’t do a deal with the administrator I will be finished and have to start again. It has caused Armageddon.
?But I’ve not been funding this club, and never offered to, all I did was to sort out the basics; the taxman got paid, we got the roof on the stand and other little bits, so it won’t affect them.”
For now, Day prefers to enjoy the buzz of coming back from two goals down to get a point at Dover on the opening day after a week of ?unmitigated disaster”? when Boro lost new signing, and guaranteed goals, Dave Tarpey to injury before failing to get international clearance on two other new faces.
?For the first time in 14 years I didn’t know what side was going to go out on the Saturday,” Day says.
“Then you’re in 85 degree heat, playing the joint favourites for the title and at half-time we are 2-0 down.
?I said to my management team at the back of the coach on the way to Dover last Saturday, “I’ve had a terrible nightmare, I’m not going to tell you the score but it wasn’t good! But we rallied in the second-half and it was a good moment.”
Golden egg
Just days after his appointment at Farnborough it emerged the club was on the brink of collapse. Club officials asked the new boss, a self-made millionaire through his property and finance portfolio, if he could help them.
Day says: ?It was surreal. You’ve got the job, the next day: You’re not sure you’re going to have the job very long because we might lose the club so can you lend us some money.”
He forked out a ?significant six-figure sum” that has since led to him becoming part-owner, and a reluctant one at that.
“I’ve never said and never will say I was the golden egg here financially,”? says Day who put money into the budget while manager at Chertsey.
“I only own 50 per cent here and, I say this with all the niceness, I don’t really want to own that. I just want to be a football manager.
?Putting money in probably held me back at Chertsey. But I did speak to a couple of clubs in my tenure there who were interested in me as manager.
?Like lots of managers I do bring certain players with me and sometimes I am willing to help out with the playing budget. I’m not naive enough to think they are just looking purely at the management side
?We’ve stabilised Farnborough but I don’t run the club. I don’t make any financial decisions around here at all. The CEO Steve Duly, chairman Brian Berger and commercial manager Marcus Jones do all that, I just deal with the football.”
Day accepts his past means he has to work even harder to show he has what it takes in the dug-out. It is points on the road at places like Dover that go a long way to helping quieten his critics.
Good faith
?Of course I have to prove people wrong,” says Day, who? in an interview with this paper five years ago showed documents to prove he acted in good faith with Aldershot.
“?Many months after I’d joined Farnborough, I was guided onto a website and? saw the comments when there was a rumour I would be appointed here! It wasn’t pleasant. But it’s the same at every club you go to. Thankfully things went very well very quickly because we got some early wins.”
Farnborough and Day are now hoping the ?serious buyer” coming to the end of due diligence will make an offer to take the club over.
Day says: ?Hopefully new owners will come about and take the potential of Farnborough forward. It needs investment. At the moment we are just getting by. So we’ve got to be realistic. Where we are right now is slap bang in the bottom of this league in terms of budget. But we’ve got great heart, a fabulous ground and great supporters.
?In adversity people come together. We did that last year and we did it for 45 minutes against Dover.
?As long as we keep the right players at the club and people who want to come and play for the club then there is every chance we can survive this year. But it is going to be difficult.
?Somebody said to me the other day, “Why are you doing this? Why don’t you just go and sit on a beach?”
“I’ve been a football fan since the day I can remember. I don’t know what I’d do with myself without it.”
