Ayr United report interest in club

Nov 13 2009 by Mike WIlson, Ayrshire Post (main ed)

AYR UNITED chairman Lachlan Cameron says there has been a flurry of activity to his announcement that the club is up for sale.

And he insisted that it has had a positive affect on his dream of taking the club to a new home.

Last week, the Post broke the news of how Cameron was putting his majority shareholding on the market in a bid to lead United forward.

He stressed: “It has made people realise that this isn’t just a game. It is for real for we can’t go on the way we have been.”

Lachlan’s goal of taking the club to a brand new base at Heathfield collapsed in August 2008 when Barratt pulled out of a deal to buy Somerset Park.

The planning application had been with South Ayrshire Council for 18 months which was later branded as ‘unacceptable’ by the chairman.

That prompted the Californian to call for outside help in a bid to tie up the deal that would secure United’s future.

Now Lachlan says it’s full steam ahead. He said: “I don’t want people to think this is a negative. All I am trying to do is progress the club.

“We either get the deal done ourselves or we bring in outside investment and people with a better working knowledge of the housing market in Scotland. We have a deal with willing housebuilders but they need funding from the bank to take it forward.”

Cameron reveals there has beenapproaches, some foreign and not from America.

He said: “There have been two serious bids in the last two years. One was rejected because it wasn’t right for the club.

“The other was amazing but it got too complicated with too many people from too many countries involved and it broke down because of the financial meltdown.

“I have been speaking to people for months and the club needs change to progress. I’m offering up my majority shareholding if that’s what is needed to make it happen.

“There has been a definite increase in interest from outside parties. We are also continually working on our own plan to see if we can pull it off.

“However, the more rejection we get the less likely that becomes which is why it may take someone else to progress it.”