Take-over rumours have been flying around the town like measles at an anti-vaxxers convention. Are we any closer to a deal and would it be a good thing if we are? Older fans are nervous, but should they be?

One moment leapt out during the Bunch of Amateurs episode that was devoted to Maidstone’s 3-2 win at Dorking.

As fun as it was to relive one of the most satisfying wins we’ve had for a couple of seasons, the pre-game interviews included one of our younger fans, who said the “ownership of the club is a disgrace”. As he may not have been born when Oliver Ash and Terry Casey took over the club I wouldn’t feel too judgemental about this, but I did wonder how he’d arrived at that conclusion.

“Disgrace” is way over the top, but a number of fans have had it in for the owners for a while. Some have personal animus with one or the other, some are unhappy they’re not “investing” in the team.

There’s nothing new in this. Last year, on the opening day at Hemel, a section of our fans started singing: “We Want Ash Out” as soon as they equalised. When a couple of us asked one of them why he was singing it, he just shrugged.

The Ash Out brigade may soon get their wish, however and older fans are wary. We’ve been here before. The Back Page has spoken to a number of our less vocal supporters and they are nervous about what happens next.

In my lifetime this club has had only three owners: Jim Thompson, Paul Bowden-Brown and the incumbents. There have, however, been a few attempted takeovers: a failed boardroom coup in 1984 that might have saved the Athletic Ground; the fantasist Mark English and the even more risible John Waugh, both in 1992; David Folb on more than one occasion after the original club folded and most recently Alan Manchett in 2023.

Some of these were more credible than others. Some weren’t credible at all. Waugh wanted to move us to St James Park and call us the Newcastle Browns. “All that would have all been quite hilarious if it hadn’t been so tragic,” one fan told us.

“I am optimistic that Oliver and Terry will try to do what is best for the club rather than their own financial positions,” he added. “Unlike some of our younger supporters, I understand that they don’t have a bottomless pit of money and they have done whatever they could to help the club succeed – with one or two missteps along the way – so I’m hopeful that whoever they sell to will be at least as beneficial for the club as their ownership has been.”

Lest we forget, Ash and Casey built the ground we now call home after 24 years of exile. In the 17 years since they took over, we’ve had maybe two bad seasons, four promotions and countless memories: Brighton, Barrow, Stevenage (twice) and above all Ipswich. Neither man wants to squander this legacy.

Rumours have been circulating for some time now that a takeover is imminent, but after months without news, the situation has been likened to London buses. There’s now more than one interested party and the bids are said to be credible, but no one wants to say anything until the deal’s done because of what happened when the Manchett deal collapsed.

There was some local resistance to the idea of a foreign owner, but as someone close to the deal put it this way. “Why shouldn’t we sell it to a foreign investor, if it’s the best outcome for the club? Ryan Reynolds is from Canada, Jim Thompson lived in Otham. Some of the very worst owners in English football have been local men.”

This is true to a point. They haven’t all been local, but up until now they have all been men …