Stoke City key figure reiterates his commitment to the club | OneFootball

Stoke City joint-chairman John Coates has confirmed that he and his family remain as committed as ever to the Potters despite their current fortunes, speaking to Stoke-on-Trent Live via a fans' forum.

The Championship outfit haven't been as successful as they would have wanted to be in recent years, finishing in the lower half of the second tier every term since their relegation from the Premier League back in 2018.

This is a major disappointment considering they spent ten consecutive seasons in the top tier and would have been in a strong position to secure their promotion back there at the first time of asking.

They spent big under Gary Rowett during the summer of 2018 to try and maximise their chances of getting back to the top flight - but that spending spree didn't work out and came back to bite them when they had to restrict the amount they forked out on additions in recent years - something that has arguably limited their ability to be competitive with the top teams in the league.

There was even talk of relegation earlier in the campaign when they were struggling under Alex Neil - but now they are in a much better position.

And in good news for Stoke supporters, the Coates family are still keen to see the club succeed and remain passionate about the second-tier side.

He stated: "In terms of investment in the team and everything else... all I can say is that over the last 15, 16 years we've invested £330m into the club and I can only tell you that our passion for the club remains the same.

"We just want the club to be successful and that's what we'll be focused on."

The Verdict:

They did overspend in 2018 but their commitment to the club is clear to see, with the Potters heavily utilising the loan market last summer in their quest to get back to the top tier.

It doesn't seem as though the Coates family will let the club rot anytime soon and that's good news because the Staffordshire outfit have a lot of potential and deserve to be competing at the top end of the table.

A lot of work will need to be done in the summer and thankfully for the Potters, it seems as though their careful spending in recent years and the sales of the likes of Nathan Collins and Harry Souttar has given them a sufficient amount of wiggle room to spend during the next window.

Not only should the board be commended for their investment - but also for the way they have conducted their business in recent years because they could have easily broken the EFL's financial rules if they hadn't restricted spending.

It would have been easy for them to gamble and spend more to try and get back to the top flight quicker - but if they were unsuccessful in that question - that could have hampered them for years to come.