John Boyle had taken control of the club a month earlier and he saw Nevin as the man to guide the club to be the third force in Scottish football. The winger bought a 5% share at Fir Park for a reported £125,000 – it was also believed that he had become Motherwell’s highest paid employee.
‘Chiefie’ became a favourite on the field and his winning goal against Hearts deep in injury time in November 1999 was the highlight. It was a right footed curler from the angle of the six yard box beyond the ‘keeper and into the far corner.
The roller coaster of the next few years saw wages and transfer fees explode as clubs raced to outspend each other. $ky money fuelled the frenzy and Motherwell were as guilty as the rest in spending big fees. Pat was directing the football side of the club and his recommendations fuelled the shopping bill.
Wednesday 24 April 2002
Eventually the flow of TV money was cut and the club started to haemorrhage cash. Boyle was subsidising the club with over £2 million a year and a halt was called when the club entered administration.
Boyle renounced his substantial debt and the club was put up for sale. Nevin disagreed with the plan and argued that costs could be reduced if the owner could find a further few millions to facilitate a soft landing. He resigned.