The owner of the Camrose football ground should have told fans before evicting Basingstoke Football Club, according to documents exclusively unearthed by The Gazette.

And clauses in the paperwork show fans might have been able to stop Rafi Razzak from going ahead with the decision.

This is down to a ‘preferential share’ - also known as a golden share - which was given to the fans when Mr Razzak’s Basingstoke Town Ltd (BT) was set up in the early 2000s. This was for the purpose of ensuring “that the club, ground and land at The Camrose remain in operation for football use,” according to a report in The Gazette’s sister paper, the Daily Echo, at the time.

Basingstoke Gazette:

And the documents show that Mr Razzak and BT should have given the preference shareholder, the fans, “not less than 40 days prior written notice of any intention to ... transfer all or substantially all of the land buildings or facilities at the Camrose ground”.

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However, Mr Razzak denies the claims, and said that the preferential share was taken away. He was unable to provide further evidence at the time The Gazette went to press.

The documents also reveal that should the fans have not approved of leaving the Camrose, they could have demanded a meeting where a vote would have been held.

And the vote of this preference shareholder would have been worth 51 per cent of all votes - surely blocking the club’s eviction.

Basingstoke Gazette:

Mr Razzak said: “That preference share was changed to allow everyone to buy £5,000 chunks of shares, which was better, because that was what [the fans] wanted.

“They wanted to have shares themselves. I was approached by the supporters saying they wanted to buy shares of the company. I did what they wanted.

“We had to be very careful, we didn’t want to have publicity because otherwise it becomes a public offering and has scrutiny of FSA [Financial Services Authority - which was abolished in 2013].

The business owner continued: “I am the one who saved the football club, and I am the one who is trying to do it for the sake of the football club. I didn’t need to do any of that myself.”

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A fan of the club, who wished to remain anonymous, told The Gazette that the club would still be playing at the Camrose had Mr Razzak abided by the rules agreed upon when the limited company formed in 2001.

“He hasn’t abided by anything. That should have stopped him doing anything.”

Talking about the decision to evict the club from the Camrose ground, the fan added: “He didn’t tell anyone anything. He never consulted the fans at any time.

“Whatever you call them, [Basingstoke Town FC are] the team that plays at the Camrose.”

It comes ahead of a big week for the club, as a report on the history of the Camrose saga will be presented at Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council’s Scrutiny committee on Tuesday evening.