Shropshire Star

TNS grant saga goes on as owner asks council boss for £47k donation

A long-running war of words between a football club and Shropshire Council over an £80,000 grant has continued.

Published
TNS owner Mike Harris, left, has called on council CEO Clive Wright, right, to donate his pay rise to the TNS Foundation

Last week The New Saints owner Mike Harris hit out at the authority over the grant, which was awarded for new seating, saying he was ready for a legal battle over the saga.

The New Saints were awarded the money, and it was alleged just £10,000 had been paid back.

However, Mr Harris has said that the authority stated the repayments were voluntary.

He said he is ready for a legal battle and wants to an apology from the authority.

The whole affair has ‘blackened’ the name of the JD Welsh Premier League champions, according to Mr Harris, who released a new statement in which he appeared to demand more money from the council as compensation for the harm done to TNS's reputation.

In a new tweet this week, Mr Harris told council chief executive Clive Wright that if he donates his £47,000 pay rise to the club’s foundation, he will not seek damages.

Mr Wright's 45 per cent pay rise from £103,010 to £150,000 was approved by the council in May this year.

Mr Harris, who has invested heavily in the club since he took over, also started a poll asking fans for their opinion on the matter that has gathered more than 200 responses.

Shropshire Council today declined to comment on Mr Harris’ statement.

The situation came to light in January, when the authority said it was looking into the £80,000 grant, after claims were made that it had not been paid back.

Ever since then the situation has rumbled on, with Mr Harris last week saying the council had previously said payments back were voluntary.

Leader of the council Peter Nutting spoke out earlier this month after the council admitted it had made errors.

But he insisted that, although some administrative mistakes had been made by the council, it was not at fault. He said the issue was a “cock-up and not a conspiracy”.