Former Doncaster Rovers chairman John Ryan endorses Nigel Farage's Reform UK

Doncaster Free Press

Former Doncaster Rovers chairman John Ryan has endorsed Nigel Farage's Reform UK - here's what the party leader had to say on his latest visit to the city.

Transcript

00:00Tell us about this endorsement, why is that endorsement so important for Alexander's campaign?

00:04Well because John Ryan is a big figure in Doncaster, you know, born and raised here,

00:08proud of that, you know, parents, grandparents living in the coal mining industry,

00:14very proud of Doncaster, hates to see the sort of sense of decline that it's in,

00:18he's gone off and become massively successful, but he came back and rescued

00:22Doncaster Rovers, and you know, football clubs do matter, not just rescued it, but actually,

00:27got it into the championship, got it back playing proper professional football,

00:31so he's one of those people, quite often people buy football clubs and they leave being unpopular,

00:36John is still a hero to Doncaster Rovers supporters, so I think in terms of this town,

00:42and in terms of his bluntness about how badly Labour have served Doncaster,

00:47I think it's a very big endorsement.

00:48But Labour have turned the council around in some sense haven't they? It was a far more

00:53dysfunctional council when Mayor Ross Jones started than it is now, is that not true?

00:58It's still in terrible trouble, you know, daily interest payments of £48,000 a day,

01:04money being spent on net zero initiatives, I mean what that's got to do with Doncaster City Council

01:09I don't know, cycle lanes being put in at cost of £20 million not being used by anybody,

01:14I mean I could go on if you want me to, we believe with a fresh approach we can do better.

01:19And just on Mr Ryan again for a second, he left so many years ago as he's mentioned,

01:24and he's worked for a far away company in Cheshire,

01:27he's not really in touch with what's happening in Doncaster at the moment?

01:30Oh he's in touch with it all right, and he's very very depressed about it,

01:33he even made the point when he was setting his businesses up, this wasn't a very friendly place

01:36to set businesses up, he found other places that wanted him to set up businesses,

01:41and so I think he's got a lot to say, and yes he may live in Cheshire now,

01:45but until a few years ago he owned the football club here and he saved it,

01:48and I loved his message, you know, that Doncaster Rovers was on the verge of literally extinction,

01:53and they turned it around and got it into the championship,

01:56and with fresh leadership the same can happen to the city too.

02:00And my last question for you then, more on Alex's campaign as well,

02:02you will have seen or you may be aware of some concerns,

02:05particularly attacks from political rivals concerning

02:08Alexander's lack of experience in politics, why should people trust him with their city?

02:14Because he's a fresh young entrepreneur,

02:15he's somebody from outside the normal political set,

02:18and frankly if things aren't working, don't repeat what you've been doing, try a fresh approach.

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