Kiddeminster Harriers have new owners after a local business consortium completed their takeover of the National League North club on Thursday.
Headed up by Kidderminster-born businessman Richard Lane, the new owners say they are committed to keeping the club at Aggborough for the foreseeable future.
The sale brings to an end Colin Gordon’s four-year tenure at Kidderminster. While he will no longer have a role at the club, he will work as a consultant to the new owners.
According to a club statement, further plans to develop their home in order to secure a self-sustainable future and long-term success on and off the field will also be enacted.
Kidderminster also want to strengthen their position as one of the biggest exponents of football provision, education and employment opportunities in the Wyre Forest.
The strength of that work across the club and its Community Trust saw Harriers named Community Club of the Year in 2019, a platform the club is looking to build on.
Lane is the owner of leading technology firm EBC Group who specialise in office Cloud technology encompassing multiple data centres across the UK.
He hailed the news ahead of the formalities surrounding the takeover being finalised with the National League.
Lane said: “I grew up less than a mile from Aggborough, and started watching the club when I was two with my father, ‘Rocky’ Lane.
“His years of enthusiasm for the club concluded with him becoming a director a few years later, to which I am very proud, especially when I reflect on what the football club achieved in his tenure.
“We can see the enormous potential here for the club to do something very special in the community.
“There are some immediate challenges ahead of us, namely ensuring that the club is stable and self-sufficient, not just for now, but for the future, so that the club’s supporters have a team to watch and a club to support for many more years to come, that is our only immediate priority.
“I know this is a tight-knit community, and we’ll need that togetherness. The manager and team will need it on the pitch as we drive success off the pitch to keep the club moving forward and thriving.
“Winning Community Club of the Year was a fantastic achievement for everyone here, but it is important we continue and build on that work with local children, businesses and charities.
“A successful, sustainable football club can help bring together a community and that’s what we want to create.”
Thanks
The club statement added: “The club wishes to place on record its thanks to previous owner, Colin Gordon. While Colin will no longer have a role at the football club, he will work as a consultant to the new owners.
“Before the year is out, we will bring together a new board of directors at the club; it will be made up of like-minded local business people with passion for football and the community.”
Harriers have been reassuring fans over their ongoing change of ownership all summer, urging supporters in September to ignore continuing “rumour and conjecture” over negotiations and details of the parties involved.
A similar statement was released by the club in August following news that chairman and majority shareholder Colin Gordon was negotiating to sell the stake he acquired at Aggborough in November 2015.
