CHERRIES chief Paul Baker has today published an open letter to supporters as the club’s takeover saga nears its conclusion.

The Murry Group, which includes former directors Adam Murry, Jeff Mostyn and Steve Sly, as well as Sandbanks property magnate Eddie Mitchell, is this week expected to be unveiled as Cherries’ new owner.

And with Baker set to hand over the Cherries reins, he released the following open letter on the club’s official website www.afcb.co.uk:

This forthcoming week will signal the end of another era in the history of your proud club and the start of another. Who can tell what the future holds? That said I am sure that given the right support the new owners will endeavour to give the club a bright new future, one it deserves and as fans I hope you will support them fully.

I said many weeks ago that I have a duty of care to this club and as I write this letter I am acutely aware of the sentiments expressed by David Musker and Derek Timoney.

David and Derek were my lieutenants, who I confided in, trusted and who I genuinely believe are men of the highest integrity. Therefore it was somewhat surprising that they did not my share my concerns about the huge risks associated with the unsuccessful bid, had I accepted it. I have always been open and honest with the fans, sometimes even too honest, but that is my style.

As you are aware the club received two acceptable offers for the 100% shareholding in AFC Bournemouth. The merits of both offers were fully discussed with David and Derek and as we progressed with the bidders we asked both to accept certain pre-conditions as part of our consideration of their offers. This included, but was not limited to, a non returnable deposit, proof of funds and full disclosure of the people behind their consortia. As both bidders accepted this, it was agreed we would inform them of the preferred bid in due course.

However, on the day of my decision and for some reason known only to the soon to be unsuccessful bidder, they backtracked on one of the pre-conditions and were only prepared to put the required non returnable deposit in as a loan. They also made a pre-condition of their own, this being that should they withdraw their bid at any stage during due diligence they would have to be repaid in full.

For me this changed the whole dynamics of their offer and given the assurances I had made to the Football League and with other pressing deadlines looming it was my opinion their offer, if accepted, would not have “been in the best interests of AFC Bournemouth” at this current moment in time. If at any stage they did decide to withdraw then I believe that we as a club could have faced an impossible situation and as the only Director I was not prepared to take that risk with your club’s future.

Although this season has been a huge challenge and a rollercoaster of emotions for all of us I think, ultimately, we achieved many of the goals we set ourselves as a club.

To survive as a Football League club despite the 17-point penalty imposed on us was a fantastic achievement given the restrictions we had to work under.

At the start of the season we also made four promises to the Football League. These four promises were made to improve the match day experience for the club’s supporters, so it was very pleasing to tick all the boxes on those promises, including the opening of the disabled viewing platform and associated facilities, which had been left unfinished since the new stadium opened. And to be in a position for the forthcoming 2009/2010 season with a settled squad, a management team up to the challenge and to be able to start on a level playing field with others in League Two.

As an owner of any business you obviously want to hear what your customers feel about the product and service on offer. Over the course of the past 12 months I have been given plenty of feedback, some of it critical but equally some positive and constructive, but all of it showing a genuine love of the club and for that you should applaud yourselves.

As a club we did budget for gates of 4,800 during last season but this was not a breakeven figure, it was a figure we genuinely thought we would achieve and that is why we budgeted to make a substantial loss last season. This budget was based on us receiving a minus 10 point penalty, as we believed we had a genuine case not to be treated the same as Luton and Rotherham who had entered administration more frequently in recent times.

Because the decision to accept us conditionally as a Football League club came on the eve of the season we started way behind the other teams in assembling our squad and in getting our commercial operations off the ground. As you know, we struggled early on with many loan players proving to be ineffective and, unfortunately, we had to part company with two managers and other coaching staff during the course of a difficult season, all of which were not budgeted for.

Of course January was pivotal. The appointment of Eddie Howe and Jason Tindall and the opportunity to strengthen the squad was the catalyst for the rest of the season, which resulted in AFC Bournemouth collecting more points than any other team in League Two over the balance of the season, an achievement the coaching team and squad can be very proud of.

However, away from football things had got worse for me and as a direct result of this I was unable to give the club the funds it required to cover the additional losses and so, reluctantly, the club was put up for sale.

Finally I would like to thank the employees of the club for their patience, understanding and resilience over what was a difficult season. They have my utmost respect and I wish them all well for the future. Likewise I would like to thank the fans for supporting Eddie, Jason and the players in giving them the mental strength to dig deep to get over the finishing line. A season that began with many negatives resulted in many positives, some of which will give your club the strong foundation it requires. This is something I hope you can all reflect on over the summer.

For me it is time to get off the rollercoaster and I leave you with it very much on the up gradient, which is a lot better than when I arrived last July when the club was facing possible extinction.

All my best wishes for the future.

Paul