Jim McMahon has officially resigned as chairman of Motherwell Football Club following a board meeting on July 31.
With over 23 years on the Fir Park board and eight as chairman, he is the second longest-serving chairman in the club's history.
McMahon was instrumental in guiding the club toward fan ownership, initiating discussions with John Boyle that shaped its legal and financial structure.
He was also the first member of the 1886 initiative.
McMahon had announced his intentions to step down last December, and tributes from current and former players, staff, and board members highlighted his invaluable support and dedication to the club.
While serving on the Motherwell board, McMahon had supported the controversial collaboration with Erik Barmack, a former vice-president at Netflix, and his wife, Courtney. However, the American couple retracted their investment proposal last month - citing fears of the proposal creating "significant divisions within the Motherwell fanbase".
Read more:
- Eilish McColgan wants to make Scotland proud after learning Olympics fate
- Barclays becomes title sponsor for Scottish Women’s Football Leagues
In a lengthy leaving statement released on Motherwell's website, McMahon said: "Having attended my first Motherwell match in the 1950’s and supported the Club ever since, I am immensely proud to have served as the Club Chair for the last eight years. But as I announced at our AGM it is time for me to stand down from that role.
"I have been Chair since the Club moved into fan ownership and have a number of people to thank for their unstinting efforts on behalf of MFC during that period.
"My fellow Board members who have operated as a unified group over that time. Three excellent Chief Executives – Alan, Derek and now Brian who has brought enormous experience and enthusiasm to the role.
"I was also fortunate to have marvellous Heads of Department in three key areas – David, Suzanne and Bob are best in class. And finally, Graham Keys who has been an outstanding Company Secretary. Thank you all.
"Their work has meant that: The Club has, in real terms, broken even during fan ownership, which has allowed the Well Society to build up its reserves to over £800k.
"We have made very significant improvements to our pitch, stadium and importantly our training facilities.
"We have retained our Scottish Premiership status, extending that run to 40 years. There was huge pressure to change our manager and back-room staff last season. However, we believed in Stuart and backed that judgement.
"Lennon Miller extended his contract, and we have just sold Theo Bair for a very significant transfer fee. These have and will bring enormous benefits to the Club, and neither would have happened without Stuart.
Read more:
- Filip Stuparevic earns praise after netting first Motherwell goal
- Zach Robinson aims to follow in Theo Bair's footsteps at Motherwell
"The overall effect of this operational and managerial professionalism has left the Club in a very stable financial position. The combination of income from future player sales and the additional growth and investment promised in the Well Society’s business plan, means the Club has never been in a better place.
"I wish the new Club Chair and Board every success in what will be an exciting next chapter for the Club.
"My thanks again to all the people I have been proud to work with and who have contributed so much during my time on the Board.”
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here