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He is returning to the club he supports and the club he joined as an apprentice footballer but apart from that it does seem a downward step to leave a First Division club to join a club recently relegated to Division Three and a club that almost recently lost its life but survived only to lose its best player yesterday when Martin Smith moved to Northampton.
He’s been at Burnley since April 1999 and joined the club at as good a time as it was possible to join. The new board was just taking shape and money had been invested to move the club forwards.
There is no doubt that the best way to improve things commercially at a football club is to have success on the pitch. Stan made his job easier by taking the club to promotion and then more than holding our own in Division One.
He brought in new initiatives, some of which were successful and some of which weren’t. Recently the man himself said that he had improved things at Turf Moor by providing better communication, reflecting on the club’s history along with many, many business ideas including a shop in town, a credit card and lotteries.
But ultimately his policies of increasing the wage bill and copying Ipswich Town have proved not to have been the best of ideas with the collapse of television money and the recent situation at Portman Road.
I suspected his departure could be on the cards following some communication with him in May when he told me that I use this web site to slate the Clarets Foundation and also told me that I had been slating the club for the last twenty years. It was a vicious attack on a supporter and customer. Does that sound like someone still keen to attract customers or someone who was no longer bothered?
In fact Watson is delighted to be moving from Turf Moor to the McAlpine Stadium and said today, "It’s a dream come true for me and I cannot wait to get started. The club is not in the best state, so I feel I can make a difference, I am here to turn it round.
"I will be running the club and working closely with Peter Jackson to ensure the football club is run properly both on and off the field. Most of my time will be spent looking after the business."
He has brought about improvements at Turf Moor no doubt but also alienated fans with some of his decisions, the season tickets discounts ending in April being one. His poor PR and communication have constantly let him down.
But now he is gone and it begins a new era at Turf Moor. Who will replace him or indeed will he be replaced. Certainly it can be viewed that it is another wage off the wage bill.