Clive Nates is to step aside as chairman of Lincoln City after a decade of success, and around eight years at the top.
The impact Clive has had on the club can not be underestimated, and he will remain as vice-chair. In his place, current director Ron Fowler will assume control when the move is ratified by the EFL.
Little more can be revealed at present, and as the club explains in their press release, they’ve been given permission to make this statement but must adhere to EFL confidentiality rules beyond this.
The club statement read:
“Lincoln City can confirm that Liquid Investments, Inc. is seeking to become the club’s controlling shareholder, with Ron Fowler assuming the position of chairman.
“This follows a proposal by Ron Fowler, approved at a board meeting on 11 December, for Liquid Investments, Inc. to increase its shareholding in Lincoln City Holdings above 25%.
“This triggered several steps with the EFL and, as this process is currently ongoing, it limits what can be said publicly at this stage due to Regulations which are in place to protect all parties, including the integrity of the league.
“While Ron will assume the role of chairman of both Lincoln City Holdings and the football club, Clive Nates will remain an integral part of the club, joining Jay Wright as co-vice chairman.
“The ongoing EFL process requires confidentiality from the club, but, as documentation for City’s AGM needs to be released with 28 clear days’ notice, we have been given permission to provide this interim update.
“There will be a full and detailed update from Ron and Clive once we can provide it, which is expected within the next two weeks.”
Genuinely, this is huge. I’ll be dropping a more in-depth look at Ron in the next few minutes, along with some insight into his time with the MLB team San Diego Padres, but the biggest takeaway is Clive stepping down.
Of course, Clive will still be heavily involved as vice chair, and his seven-and-a-half years put him among the longest-serving chairmen in our history. Only John Reames (1985-2000), Bob Dorrian (2010-2018) and Charles Applewhite (1948-1960) have had longer post-war stints at the top table, and none delivered the sort of sustained success and ascension as Clive, albeit under different circumstances, of course.
While I am excited to see what the future holds, my first reaction to this was sadness that Clive’s spell as chair, which started in June 2018, is coming to an end. Of course, he isn’t going, and that’s brilliant, so this news shouldn’t be seen as an exit of any sort.
Today, all the chatter will be about the future, and Ron, backed by Clive and the board we have, is sure to bring something unique. We still don’t know a massive amount, and that will mean two weeks of speculation, discussion and debate, but one thing is for certian, there are interesting times (again) for Lincoln City.