Walsall: American investment firm buy majority share in League Two club

Walsall finished 16th in League Two last season

An American investment firm has bought a controlling stake in Walsall.

Club chairman Leigh Pomlett, who has owned 76% of the club's shares since 2019, has transferred 51% of his stake to Alabama-based Trivela Group LLC.

League Two side Walsall is the first club the investment firm, founded by Benjamin Boycott and Kenneth Polk last year, have got involved with.

Pomlett said he believes the firm "are the right group with the right vision to help take the club forward".

It is understood Boycott and Polk have met all required English Football League regulations to go through with the takeover.

Pomlett, who succeeded long-time owner Jeff Bonser as the club's majority shareholder in the summer of 2019, will continue to serve as co-chairman with Boycott for four years "to ensure a smooth transition".

Along with the transfer of a majority stake in the Saddlers, Walsall have said Trivela "injected additional capital directly into the club for strategic investment" when the deal was done last week.

As part of the deal, the firm has agreed to purchase Pomlett's remaining 25% of shares within two years and fund the purchase of the freehold on Walsall's Bescot Stadium home.

The Trivela Group say they are "building towards a multi-club ownership model in global football", with Boycott adding the firm were "extremely drawn" to Walsall because of "the passion that this town has for the team, and extremely impressed with the work that management has done to build a sustainable football club".

Walsall have reported profits for 16 consecutive years, which includes a pre-tax profit of £13,000 for the 12-months up to 31 May, 2021 - a period that covered last season, which was played behind closed doors because of the pandemic.

The Saddlers finished 16th in League Two in the recently completed 2021-22 season.

'A wild card' - Analysis

Mike Taylor, BBC WM sports reporter

For decades, while Jeff Bonser controlled Walsall, many Saddlers supporters hoped for new ownership, notwithstanding some notable periods of success. When that change came in 2019, the response was largely positive, as Leigh Pomlett was known to be a supporter. Under his stewardship, however, there has been no great transformation of the club's fortunes on the field, and despite Pomlett's efforts to articulate his plans, the long-lasting gloom of many fans has lingered.

Now comes this wild card, almost entirely unexpected, which may upend all the generally understood truths about Walsall FC that have been in place since the early 1990s. Walsall fans have always hoped that they would find more money to spend, either to stave off bad times or capitalise on opportunities, especially after the two promotions to the second tier achieved during that time.

It was never expected that they would find that money. Walsall's methods may at times have appeared by football standards almost monastic, but they have offered their fans a comfort - however cold to some - that they would survive the moments of greatest crisis, such as the demise of ITV Digital, or the effects of lockdown.

Already online this morning, new hopes are being expressed - and also, until the new owners prove themselves, new fears. One key factor to note at this stage, however, is the promise in the club's statement that the plans include the purchase of the stadium freehold. Regardless of the financial effects on the club, such a move would be a symbolic marker for many supporters wishing to end all links with the previous owner, and an early garland for the new regime.