Buddies fans are nearer owning their favourites now that the 10000Hours group have reached their target for support of their bid. The group reached an agreement in principle with the selling consortium to buy a 52% shareholding for a total purchase price of £1.5million over three years. Since then, the 10000Hours have been gathering subscribers on their website, www.10000hours.org willing to pledge £10 a month. The target of 750 was reached ahead of tonight's midnight deadline, but the group are seeking further support before Monday, when they will meet. 10000Hours bid leader Richard Atkinson said: "Tell a friend, tell your St Mirren friends and family and ex-pats who have been sitting on the fence about fan ownership. We could become the first, I believe, professional, top-flight football team in the UK to be completely controlled by the fanbase. We've had support of them (the current board) for the past two years in trying to get this to happen and we're just bringing it to a conclusion now. If we don't buy it someone else will, that's what the chairman (Stewart Gilmour) said, so we've got to get our skates on. (The support is) accelerating, which is bizarre because we thought you'd get a big hit right at the beginning of the process, which was three or four weeks' ago. It's still gaining momentum, so that's another good reason to leave it open over the weekend." The current Buddies board, led by Gilmour, is hoping for a sale to be completed before the new season starts. Atkinson added: "What we know is the consortium who are selling the club say they expect the club to be in new ownership by the start of next season. That will either be us or somebody else; there are another two parties that are interested. It's in our own hands to make it happen. If we want it, we can get it. If it turns out there isn't the support there to match the valuation, then if we can't afford it we can't buy it."
Source: FOOTYMAD
