A 'great honour' for South Shields' new owners - Jason Ye addresses immediate challenge facing the club
South Shields’ new owners have been speaking to the media with chairman Geoff Thompson at the 1st Cloud Arena.
South Shields’ new owner Jason Ye has expressed his ‘great honour’ of becoming involved in the club and has vowed to tackle any challenges head-on.
The first will be to address Ian Watson’s future as manager following an approach from an EFL club.
An international consortium led by Ye’s ORY Investment Holding completed a majority takeover of South Shields last month. Former majority owner Geoff Thompson will remain as chairman under the new ownership.
Speaking for the first time at a club event on Sunday, Ye said: “It's a great honour on our end to be involved in this great club.
“I do want to assure you that this new investment does not represent the beginning of a new club. It’s a continuation of the growing foundation that you, all of you, built around Geoff as a chairman, the staff, the manager, the players, supporters, the sponsor, everyone that is in this great club.
“I want to thank you all for building this great club and now we are able to be part of it. We are super excited.”
The positive message was followed by Thompson addressing the speculation surrounding Ian Watson’s future as manager, confirming an approach had been made by a League Two club.
Responding to the news, Ye said: “Geoff told me, ‘Jason, we’re not [just] partners, we’re also friends’. There will be challenges and difficult times ahead where we have to work through issues and problems and situations.
“I want to assure you that now this club, it’s not just Geoff alone. Any situation like this, we’re going to tackle it and we’re going to have a solution for it.”