That Ron Martin statement in full

A few – not many in truth – have commented that I have “gone quiet” over the past two or three weeks whereas supporters would have expected me to obfuscate “as you always do”.

I do not know whether those sentiments are echoed by the majority but I should not like my devout followers to think that the “drama out of a crisis” surrounding HMRC had, in any way, diminished either my enthusiasm for the Club or determination to deliver the “promised land”!

I said at the time of discharging the payment to the “tax man” (on the day of the Gillingham FA Cup game) that a fuller statement would follow. Some of you may have therefore been surprised when the same statement was repeated - albeit with the words about a "fuller statement would follow" deleted.

Some might have even interpreted my next statement that "this brings the matter to a close" as somehow suggesting that this brought the matter to a close, that I would not - unless events conspired to force me to - comment further on the matter in hand, and that things like a transfer embargo were a thing of the past. Such misunderstandings are to be expected by football fans, who lack the business acumen to fully comprehend such matters.

The transaction to enable the £2m payment to HMRC was part of a larger arrangement which “simply” (understatement!) accelerated its conclusion. Like all legal/banking matters there are often complexities that one can hide behind, which provide time to conjure up a suitably plausible explanation. Obviously I am still working on this. [Marissa - is this 500 words yet?]

The period leading up to making the funds available was an intense three, maybe even four years, and the last couple of weeks have been only a little less so. If the club was caught by surprise by its centenary anniversary, which it had only one hundred years to prepare for, I'm sure you can appreciate that HMRC's unwelcome, devastating and entirely justified action left little time to prepare. Therefore please accept my apologies for not keeping you in the loop which I plan to rectify over the next few day, once I work out suitable excuses to explain it all away.

I shall, next week, or quite possibly the week after, be issuing a series of blogs to cover-up such subjects as:

· HMRC – how precisely did the position arise whereby we did not pay tax for three years

· How was the debt paid like I assured you it would be

· The “consortium” and why selling to the devil you don't know (literally in this case, given the "anonymity" and secrecy they managed to hide behind - in stark contrast to my transparent and open dealings regarding the various winding up and administration orders faced) would be less than desirable and how their offer was completely unacceptable and showed a lack of faith in the future of the club.

· My thoughts about the current squad size being far from ideal and how the manager - who has my full and undivided support - must bear responsibility for the failures of his signings. I shall however wait until certain matters have been resolved so that I can refer to delicate matters such as transfer embargoes in the past tense - a luxury I can not currently indulge in.

· The future (apologies if this section seems a little short)

So once again, sorry if you think that supporters have been kept in the dark but that was certainly not the intention for you to realise you had been kept in the dark. Some matters must take priority, others are commercially sensitive and there are only so many hours in the day and my home was on the line.

I look forward to opening up the airways however there are one or two items you can be assured of. Recent events did not “creep up” unnoticed - HMRC wrote at least three warning letters - and whilst the inadvertent advertent “use” of HMRC Bank Plc may not have been well received in all quarters the Club’s approach was one of trying to delay payment to the last possible moment and exaggeration of policy promoted by the Football League in discussion with HMRC. In the event, HMRC had the Government coffers to protect and in doing so had no regard for the fact that my home and business was on the line and all the stress that this caused.

If I can paint this as the gods are looking down from Olympus and competing with each other to see who can screw our Club the hardest, and therefore something completely out of my control, and not at all my fault, then all the better. As football supporters we (see - I am one of you!) are all cursed with a genetic propensity for moaning but the tax man’s efforts to make us obey the law and pay tax like any other person or business was beyond the pale. Not just the passion that is created during 90 minutes on a Saturday, or as with today on a Friday night, but the outstanding contribution the Club makes to the community, social inclusion, charities (because I paid Spencer Prior's money to Little Havens), civic pride and the children of our Town. Do not tell me this would not have been unravelled if HMRC had “won”. And I'd hate to see unravelled children.

I know where I am taking this Club and will not be distracted by the detractors.

To be continued…