Walsall are fed up of being the "small club of the Midlands" - and their new American owners have big plans as they look to move up through the divisions.
Earlier this week Alabama-based Trivela Group LLC, founded by Benjamin Boycott and Kenneth Polk, purchased a stake in the League Two club.
Whilst they have stopped short of making headline-grabbing ambitions, they have said the ultimate aim is to eventually make a return to the Championship - a division Walsall have not graced 2004. Speaking at a press conference to announce the takeover, former chair Leigh Pomlett made a tongue-in-cheek jibe at Walsall's local rivals such as Aston Villa and Wolves - both of whom ply their trade three divisions above in the Premier League.
Pomlett, who will now become co-chairman alongside Boycott, said: "The future of Walsall needed to be different. It needed to be more exciting and accelerate the pace of change. I'm pretty tired of being the chairman of the small club in the Midlands. It's time we shouted a bit louder and made Wolves, West Brom and Aston Villa listen to us a little bit more than we have had to listen to them."
Plenty of work will need to be done to close that gap but incoming co-chair Boycott is confident the foundations are in place at the Bescot Stadium to move forward.
He said: “We are tremendously excited and honoured. It’s a great club, a big club. Just to be one part of its history, it means a lot to me personally and means a lot to us. We set out to invest in a football club. We looked at a lot of different clubs in different countries – predominantly Europe – but we looked globally at clubs seeking investment and new ownership.
"This is a big club and there's a legacy here; over 130 years of it. It's a club that has always maintained its position in the EFL whilst being financially sustainable, which is not an easy feat."
As well as committing to backing manager Michael Flynn, the new owners are also aiming to purchase the club's ground and have set a two-year deadline to get a deal done.
"That is of critical importance," added Boycott. "Securing the home of this club for generations to come is important."
Last season saw the Saddlers post a 16th-placed finish in what was their third straight season in League Two. Boycott added: "We want to see this club back in League One, ultimately we want to see it pushing for promotion to the Championship. There's no reason why that shouldn't be our future. It's steady, incremental improvement. It's one step at a time. The first order of business is to put the right puzzle pieces in place to get to League One."
The Walsall deal comes just two months after fellow League Two side Crawley also received investment from American backers, following a takeover by cryptocurrency investors WAGMI United LLC.
