New faces set to get on board at Oxford United (From Oxford Mail)

New faces set to get on board at Oxford United

9:30am Tuesday 2nd October 2012 in Oxford Utd By David Pritchard, Chief Sports Reporter covering Oxford United. Follow us on twitter: @oxfordmailoufc. Call me on 01865 425458

CHANGES are being considered to add two extra non-executive directors to Oxford United’s board.

With Kelvin Thomas stepping down in July and Jim Rosenthal resigning last month, the club have only three members – owner and chairman Ian Lenagan and his sons Adrian and Simon.

Although there is a desire to add fresh blood at the top, Ian Lenagan is in no hurry to make the new appointments.

He said: “I had always been of the view that a couple of extra non-executive directors would be quite useful from an Oxford United view.

“You get an external view then, but I’m not in a massive rush to choose who those people are.

“I’m already assembling in the boardroom on matchdays a group of people who are from different sectors and interested in Oxford United.

“Whether that’s from local government, national government, big and small businesses around Oxford.

“They can be very useful to take the pulse of fans generally and to help us grow and push forward the franchise.”

Some supporters have been uneasy about a board which is now completely made up of one family.

But Lenagan does not believe the concentration of power is an issue. He said: “I don’t think there’s anything wrong with the same family.

“My two sons are excellent business people, they are the ones who persuaded me to buy Oxford United.

“They’re not 21-year-old boys, they are 37 and 42 and they’re very good at running businesses and know their football.

“I could not get better directors for Oxford United and succession is important as well.”

There has also been some consideration of implementing an extra structure just below the board.

It would be made up of about a dozen trustees or vice presidents, who would play a role in making decisions and advising the directors on a range of topics, but the idea is just a proposal at the moment.

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