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Walsall fans urged to attend meeting

Walsall fans are being urged to attend a public meeting in a bid to get answers over the club’s transfer policy.

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The Walsall Football Supporters Trust has issued a rallying call to all Saddlers after the club confirmed they will hold a fan focus meeting at the Banks’s Stadium on Monday.

Chief executive Stefan Gamble and club secretary and director Dan Mole will be on hand to answer questions from 7pm.

But it is the state of the club’s finances that the trust wants answers over amid fears boss Jon Whitney does not have the funds to sign a new striker ahead of the 2017/18 season.

Walsall’s accepted policy over the past few years has been to reinvest 50 per cent of any transfer fee received into the team. The other 50 per cent has been spent on improving the club’s infrastructure.

But news Whitney may not be able to afford a new striker has sparked an angry backlash from fans who have seen Tom Bradshaw, Rico Henry and Andreas Makris all depart the club for significant sums.

And Steve Davies, spokesman for the trust, said fans need to know where that money has gone.

“I urge as many Saddlers as possible to attend Monday’s meeting because we need answers,” he said.

“We need to know what has happened to the income we have received from transfers. We need to know if the playing budget has been cut. And we need to know exactly where the money is being spent.

“At the moment a lot of people are frustrated because of contradictory messages coming out of the club.

“One minute we are told the Makris money will be used for a new striker. The next minute it won’t.

“We are not at loggerheads with the club. We all want the same thing – for Walsall Football Club to be successful. But money doesn’t just disappear.

“And the lack of investment in the team makes you wonder what direction we are heading in.”