Geoff Thompson opens up on decision to put South Shields up for sale

Geoff Thompson has expressed his determination to ensure he leaves South Shields in a strong position if or when he departs the club he has owned for the last eight years.

The Mariners supremo revealed he was putting the National League North club up for sale earlier this week to focus on his ongoing battle with cancer and the recovery process following a diagnosis just under a year ago.

Should Thompson depart the club over the coming months, he will be able to reflect on a transformative period in the history of the club after they progressed from the Northern League second division to the second tier of the non-league game, creating a whole host of lifelong memories along the way.

Progress has been rapid on and off the pitch, with the 1st Cloud Arena, the South Shields Foundation, the club’s training facility and the playing squad and staff all receiving major investment during Thompson’s ownership - but for now, the focus is on health and making sure the club remains as strong as possible following his departure.

Thompson told The Gazette: “It’s something I’ve been considering for some time and it’s not something I’ve just reacted to overnight. “It was following the cancer diagnosis, and I am not trying to overplay that, but I was diagnosed just before Christmas last year and that made me re-evaluate what I am doing with my time and all of my business interests.

“That was the catalyst. I had surgery in spring and then I had a period of recovery, I am still being monitored and I’m not out of the woods yet as I have more tests ahead. Hopefully things will be ok, there is a risk of reoccurrence.

“I have to be fair to my family, I have to think about how I want to spend however many years I have left on this planet. Everything has a beginning, middle and end, nothing is forever and I’ve tried to make sure there is an infrastructure in place and help the club become sustainable.

“We have the training facility, we have the stadium, we have the foundation, we have a public facility, the international academy is a new element, we have tried to invest in all of the right things to ensure the football club is around longer than Geoff Thompson.”

Thompson moved to assure Mariners supporters he has put processes in place to ensure any new owners are ‘fit and proper, bonafide’ custodians and avoid the pitfalls that have hit numerous other clubs that have fallen fouls in the recent past.

The Mariners chairman revealed he is ‘exploring discussions with other parties’, and has received two approaches, one from a party in the United States that he described as ‘interesting’.

“Preparation has been done properly,” he explained. “I’ve spent time preparing information so if there is an approach, I have an information memorandum that any interested parties can review. That shows the effort and thinking that’s gone behind it because you can’t just signal you are open to selling and expect things just to happen.

“There will be no fire sale, I am exploring discussions with other parties, I’ve had a couple of approaches, one interesting set of discussions from the United States, but they are still early stages. I am a realist, I know what I have spent, I know I won’t return that money and it wasn’t done for that purpose.

“There is a process in place, we have the advisors in place, we have the memorandum prepared so if there is an approach, we will run the slide-rule over them. We will ensure they are fit and proper, bonafide and they are credible before starting engagement.”

Thompson admitted there is a possibility he may have to remain in place, such is the challenging financial environment across the globe that may prevent credible bids from coming forwards.

That would mean making ‘different decisions’, with an emphasis placed upon youth development and ensuring the pathway from the club’s ever-growing academy to Julio Arca’s first-team is given more prominence.

The goal, in the worst case scenario of no deal, would be to strengthen the ‘common ethos’ across all levels of the club and achieving Thompson’s aim of ‘making sure the club is in the right place’.

He said: “Let’s say nothing happens, there is no interest and I remain as is. I would have to make some different decisions and I’ve mentioned the investments I’ve made. I know there is published data about average wage bills in the division.

“We are paying higher than the vast majority of clubs, that’s an investment. But I want a pathway to get the younger talent in the academy through and that may be accelerated, the pathway may be clearer if there is no sale. That means working with Julio (Arca), Tommy (Miller) and Lee Picton to create it.

“By doing that, you end up with the right pathway and a common ethos from academy to first-team and a lower cost base because you aren’t buying in new talent at a premium.

“No matter what lies ahead, we will always put South Shields first and making sure the club is in the right place.”