Tory MP blasts Xu Ke after ‘slap in the face’ to West Brom fans with behind-the-scenes decision
Conservative MP for West Bromwich East Nicola Richards has slammed Xu Ke for rejecting the chance to meet with West Brom fan group Action for Albion.
As reported on the Express & Star website on 25 May, AFA were left “extremely disappointed” but “not surprised” that West Bromwich Albion Group’s sole director Xe ‘Ken’ Ke refused to hold talks with members of the group.
Last week, Ken also refused to answer 38 questions sent to him by a group of minority shareholders, Shareholders for Albion.
Richards has worked with Action for Albion in their bid to hold Guochuan Lai and the Chinese ownership accountable for their wretched behind-the-scenes management at The Hawthorns.
And after Ken’s decision to snub fans and shareholders, she took to Twitter on Friday (26 May) to hit out at the Chinese director.
“The refusal to meet with fans is a slap in the face to all those who have been campaigning,” said 28-year-old Richards, who’s served as West Bromwich East’s MP since 2019.
“He must reconsider this so we can resolve these issues and protect the club.”
They don’t care
We cannot fault the work of Action for Albion and Shareholders for Albion for their efforts to the Chinese ownership accountable for ruining what was once seen as a model Premier League football club.
Albion’s issues weren’t really being highlighted by the national media and there’s a chance that a portion of the fanbase were unaware of how bad things are behind the scenes at The Hawthorns.
However, that’s not the case anymore with Alistair Jones doing some brilliant work to make West Brom’s woes mainstream.
Unfortunately, this latest refusal to meet with fans and shareholders just shows how little Ken, and to an extent Lai, cares about West Bromwich Albion Football Club.
The owners-that-aren’t-actually-owners have given nothing to the Baggies, taking millions out of the club instead and endangering it’s future with a £20million loan from MSD Holdings that’s secured against The Hawthorns and other club assets.
Richards may not be popular among some West Brom supporters but at least she’s fighting the fight with us too.
Hopefully she can have some sway and bring about some change but it all seems unlikely right now.
Ultimately, we need someone to come in and make an offer that turns the heads of Lai and co.
In other West Brom news, the club have made a desperate attempt to rip fans off now the season has ended.