'It wasn't me' - Golding denies involvement in petition to remove Roberts

Mark Golding, member of Parliament for South St Andrew, where the Arnett Gardens FC is situated, is adamant that he has nothing to do with a petition signed by the club's players, which called for the removal of Patrick Roberts as club president.

The petition, sent to the Kingston and St Andrew Football Association (KSAFA) last Thursday, read: "We the players of Arnett Gardens Football Club wish to have your association (KSAFA) intervene in what has become crisis. We have not received our salaries for two and a half months, plus the incentives. Mr Richard 'Charlie Chaplain' Bennett has tendered his resignation.

The president, Mr Patrick Roberts, has refused to resign, and is clearly not in a position to fix the problems.

Member of Parliament Mark Golding has offered to step in and we know he has the resources to fix the problem.

We are unanimously asking for the reins of the club to be handed over to Mr Golding."

However, Golding distanced himself from the latest development after Roberts charged that the MP was behind the petition.

"I am aware that they are not paid up to date. I was sent a copy of the petition signed by the players last night (Thursday). I am not behind it. I don't know what he (Roberts) means by that. The players have not been paid and they are saying that they are owed over two months salary. I have heard that they are not training properly," Golding told The Gleaner yesterday.

"I did not have anything to do with it, from time to time individual players would call me but I told them I won't move until the executive body is no longer there. I want to put my own team in place," he shared.

Position consistent

"My position has been consistent. Last year June when Dr Davies resigned as member of Parliament, he also resigned as chairman of Arnett Gardens Football Club on June 29. On that day, prior to his resignation, he appointed me as chairman because I was chairman of the constituency, and it was known that there would be a by-election to be a successor as MP," Golding added.

"I met with Patrick and told him that I would be restructuring the management system of the club. I had being involved in the 2016-17 season as Dr Davies had indicated that he could no longer carry the financial burden," he further said.

Dissatisfied with admin

"To be honest, I wasn't satisfied with the way that the club was being administered. I was not seeing the full picture. I was not happy with the system of collecting revenue, and so on. The funding was a constant burden, and I was the one carrying it for all of that season," he insisted.

"... My position is that I am prepared to resume responsibility for the club, but I want to implement the changes I think need to be made to make it more sustainable and transparent," Golding added.