Jeff Bonser again urged to end Walsall exile
Chief executive Stefan Gamble has tried to persuade Walsall chairman Jeff Bonser to end his Banks's Stadium exile on numerous occasions.
Despite the Saddlers' improvement under manager Dean Smith, Bonser's self-imposed match-day ban remains in place.
While he remains an active figure at the club five days a week, he has not attended a home game in close to five years due to the fierce criticism he received from supporters.
Smith urged Bonser to attend the Johnstone's Paint Trophy Northern Area Final against Preston, when the Saddlers secured their passage to Wembley.
And chief executive Gamble has also admitted his attempts to bring the chairman back to the Banks's.
He said: "I have tried many times over the years. He is very principled and that is his choice. He goes to quite a few of the away games and he will be at Wembley.
"The chairman supports the club as he feels best. It is a shame, very much so. I can't put words in his mouth, but I think he feels his presence will take focus away from the team.
"I think he feels the focus should be on the team and what is on the pitch."
While Smith, and to a lesser extent Gamble, have become the public faces of the club over the past five years, Bonser remains the man at the helm and his enthusiasm is undiminished.
Gamble explained: "He is still very active. He is here five days a week, comes in every day and is at the training ground.
"He is fully behind the club, it is just his personal choice to come to the stadium on a match day.
"He is a sounding board for me and is very supportive of everyone at the club, whether it is from the receptionist, the manager, right up to the chief executive."
Gamble believes unity in the boardroom has been a key factor in the club's resurgence in recent years.
He said: "Certainly I think the chairman and the board have been very united behind the way the club is going forward.
"We have never ever deviated from that, we feel it is the right way to go. Season on season we are seeing improvements, even if they are not always apparent to the outside world.
"We can see the club has moved on a long way in a relatively short space of time. If we could get a trophy at Wembley that would be the icing on the cake."
