Former Cliftonville coach highlights 'things I would like to protect' as takeover talks reignited

The Reds held an Extraordinary General Meeting with their members on Thursday with an overwhelming majority voting in favour to enter formal negotiations with the Canadian consortium.

In January, Cliftonville confirmed that the Toronto Investment Group had withdrawn its investment proposal, bringing to an end a lengthy process.

The following month, chairman Kieran Harding stood down from his role with directors David Begley and Adrian Keenan also resigning.

Talks have now reignited with Cliftonville’s legal representatives set to “engage with their counterparts at TIG on the next step of the process”.

Having spent the majority of his playing career at Solitude before returning as a first-team coach, Cliftonville has a special place in Small’s heart, and he insists any deal has to prioritise history and community.

"It has huge potential,” said Small. “There's so many things that haven't been done that could be done, not just commercially but the identity of the football club.

"Cliftonville have supporters in New York, Boston and other areas, there's so much potential globally in terms of an international identity.

"There's so many other things the club could offer and definitely grow the club.

"Cliftonville is a big football club and always has been with its history, legacy and the community which has supported the club through thick and thin.

"The good thing is now we've got to a stage where everybody has had their say. I think people have always wanted an opportunity to see what it's (takeover deal) all about.

"It hasn't been an easy process to get to this stage but I think it's good to examine details of what the takeover or investment might entail then make a decision.

"There's a lot of really intelligent, forward-thinking people amongst Cliftonville's members and supporters, and setting up a negotiation committee and trusting them to have the club's best interests could be good.

"There would be a lot of things that I would like to protect about the club and be at the core of negotiations.

"Everybody talks about the financial aspect, but history, community, identity, those things are way more important than a financial investment – seeing things just through a financial lens wouldn't be the right thing to do.

"We've some fantastic, intelligent people at the football club in our supporters, the board, and letting them examine what it looks like...everybody wanted the ability to know what it was all about.”

Small has worked closely with Larne – a former club – in recent years through his role at LLS Football Academy, partnering with the scholarship programme at Inver Park.

He watched on as Kenny Bruce built the Inver Reds into a formidable Irish League force and believes Cliftonville could follow their example in the event of a takeover.

"If there's a template or guideline of what investment should look like, that's it,” he added. “Kenny had community, history and identity of the club at the root of everything he did and you can see where they are now, continuing to build on the work that Kenny did.

"There's a lot of things you could learn from that, the investment in youth structures, full-time academy, community - Cliftonville is a community-based club with supporters who have different ideas and I don't think that's a bad thing...if everybody is thinking exactly the same then that's not a functioning club.”