The ‘Well Society have appointed three new board members to help them reach their target of fan ownership of the club.
Derek Watson, who works for Motherwell FC’s Community Trust, becomes the youngest member of the board at the age of 23, while Dee Cameron is the first woman on the board.
Colin Macinnes, a consultant in Clydesdale Bank’s private and bussiness banking sector, was also co-opted by the four board members who were voted into their positions in October.
The ‘Well Society, who have a 15% sshareholding in the club and will assume a controlling stake when they raise £1.5million, will now press ahead with the election of two representatives on to the Motherwell FC board.
Derek is a community engagement officer based at Fir Park and plays bass guitar in Motherwell indie band The Banter Thiefs, who will support The View on tour in February and headline their own Scottish tour in March.
He said: “My job is to build up better relationships between the Community Trust and the local community and tell people what we do.
“We are doing a lot of things from dementia cafes for older people to coaching kids from two or three years old.
“I think it’s very important that the ‘Well Society engages with the local community, especially going forward to reach the target of raising £1.5million.”
Derek has also played a central role in improving the atmosphere and colour at Mothewell games as part of a group of fans who congregate in the East Stand and follow the team across Scotland.
“Motherwell are quite a forward-thinking club and have embraced what we are doing in the East Stand,” he said. “There will be a lot of clubs who think we are not wanting these kids to make a racket and bring flags and a drum. But we have got a great relationship with the club.
“It’s very important that the younger generation are involved in the Well Society, that they have an input and are being listened to.”
Dee worked in the sponsor’s lounge at Fir Park for more than a decade until work commitments forced her to stop, and is relishing the task of getting involved with the club again.
She said: “It’s nice to have a female voice in the ‘Well Society because there’s a lot of female members.
“Kids are the future of Motherwell Football Club and we need to get kids involved in the club. If kids go then their mum and dads will want to go too.”
Dee, who lives across the road from Fir Park and is practice manager at the Glasgow-based Buckingham Clinic, added: “We are a relatively small club but we have fans with great hearts and even greater spirits.
“The targets are there and the fans can put the club on a sound financial footing for future generations.
“If we can make it a reality then we will be living and breathing and writing a new historical passage for Motherwell Football Club. I think that’s huge.”
Colin, who is originally from Hamilton but now lives in Renfrew, added: “I first saw Motherwell back in the mid-1960s when my grandfather took me my first match.
“If we want to see that football is there for future generations then we need to make this work.
“The days of the individual benefactor are gone. It’s going to fall on individual supporters to keep their clubs going.
“I’m looking forward to the challenge. I don’t think it’s anything we can underestimate but if we want to see a successful club in the future we need to take steps.”
The three new members join chairman Graham Barnstaple, secretary Tom Feely, Brian McCafferty and Sandy Kilpatrick on the board.
