Hallett 'patient' in search for new Plymouth investor

Simon Hallett took over Plymouth Argyle from James Brent eight years ago [Shutterstock]

Plymouth Argyle owner Simon Hallett says he is being "patient" in the search for new investment in the League One club.

Hallett has been in control at the Pilgrims since 2018 and has invested millions in new infrastructure both at Home Park and in a new training facility.

He had agreed in principle to sell a stake in the club a year ago, but that deal fell through.

According to their last set of accounts published in December, the Plymouth-born, American-based businessman lent the club £9.8m after relegation from the Championship last May.

Those figures showed that in total he lent Plymouth almost £12.5m between July 2024 and December 2025.

"I think we have to be patient, because we're so careful about getting the right person in as an investor, or the right group in as investors," Hallett told BBC South West.

"I think three years ago I used the phrase "tapped out" and there's been a lot more gone into the club since then, so at some point Jane (Hallett's wife) really will take the wallet away and that time's about now.

"It's been enough money gone into the club, it's mostly been in infrastructure, which will outlive me, which I'm really pleased about.

"But when it starts to cover operating losses then I'm less happy - I want my money to build something permanent for the fans here, not just go into this year's operating expenses, so we need a new investor."

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• Owner Hallett lends Plymouth £9.8m after relegation

Argyle are going through a redundancy programme which is seeing up to 20 people lose their jobs following the club's relegation last season.

Hallett says rising costs are affecting the club in the same way as other businesses, but without investing in the side, they will be left behind by other clubs in the third tier.

"When you come down from the Championship, players have contracts that reduce, but not by enough to cover your costs," he explained.

"And frankly a few of the other costs in the club had crept up and we weren't aggressive enough in cutting them back, so we were having Championship quality stuff and we didn't go back to League One quality stuff, so again that's something we're going to have to address as well.

"At an individual level it's heart-breaking, but we want a sustainable football club one day. We're not going to have one this year; this club is going to lose a lot of money this year like every other League One club these days.

"So it's partly football, it's partly not just the Championship - what's happened in the Championship has spread to League One and League Two, so the average club in League One now is losing over £6m a year."

Former Plymouth Argyle manager Derek Adams has been director of football at Home Park since November [Shutterstock]

Having been bottom of the League One table in November, the Pilgrims have staged a remarkable turnaround in form.

They have lost just six league games since the start of December and are one place and four points off the play-off places with four games left.

Hallett feels the decision to bring in former manager Derek Adams as director of football to work alongside head coach Tom Cleverley has been one of the reasons for the upturn in form.

"We'd had a change of CEO, we brought in Derek and I think that kind of helped Tom learn his craft," he said.

"We've always got to remember that Tom, just as Schuey (Steven Schumahcer) before him, just as Ryan (Lowe) before Schuey, is a young head coach and he's learning his trade.

"With Ryan and Schuey, we explicitly brought in an older head to help them out and with hindsight, maybe we should have done that from day one with Tom.

"They have a great working relationship, a great personal relationship.

"It's very clear who's the head coach and who's director of football, there's not any blurred lines despite some of the things I've heard people say.

"Very often there's such pressure to do something and one of my mottos in life is 'don't just do something, stand there' and this time it worked, but it doesn't always work."