Huw Jenkins admits his lack of voice in the boardroom was a pivotal factor in his decision to leave Swansea City in 2019.
The former club chairman was a key figure in the Swans' rise up the divisions and into the Premier League, although his relationship with the fanbase was soured following the controversial sale to Jason Levien and Steve Kaplan ahead of what was their sixth of seven successive seasons in the top flight.
Jenkins ultimately left the club shortly after the 2019 January transfer window, with fans regularly voicing their anger towards the businessman along with Swansea's American owners from the stands.
READ MORE: How Swansea City's January transfer window could look as priority identified and two exits expected
"Looking back, my biggest thoughts on why I felt the time was right for me to go, perhaps it should have been nearer to 2016 than 2019, but perhaps I worked so long at the club that I felt attached to it and didn't want to go at that time," he told The Price of Football podcast.
"My views, whether it was on potential managers, the way we did transfer windows or whatever, I wasn't getting my views across, for whatever reason. The decisions made mostly from 2016 weren't decisions I would have made like I did in the past with the full support of our board behind me.
"They were changed and perhaps watered down. Everybody was having a view. I suppose that's one of the problems you find with having takeovers and too many people having a say."
The 2016 sale has proven to be a huge source of frustration and disappointment for many supporters, with the club's own Trust claiming it was excluded from negotiations.
The situation dramatically changed once again in February 2022 as the Trust controversially struck an agreement with the club to ensure they would not take legal action over the sale, despite more than 81% of members voting in favour of taking action in 2019.
And the 59-year-old has opened up on the summer that ultimately changed his future at the club.
"We had a couple of inquires about possible takeovers before the one that came to fruition in 2016," he explained.
"Just general approaches I suppose, like you do find Premier League clubs seem to be fashionable for people to look at or buy into. We were just one of them at that time.
"I'd like to think that, the way we run the club, that we were seen as quite a good club to get involved with because we operated quite a tight budget and financially we didn't stretch ourselves that much. For anybody coming in it was probably a good position to find a football club in.
"While there was disappointment with the way things turned out in 2016 for myself, you can't forget, the background of working together with the Supporters' Trust and Leigh Dineen was a big one, and that changed probably the way the club was looked upon and run.
"There's a bigger factor that, the promise was there that a deal could and should have been done with the Supporters' Trust in 2016. That would have gone probably hand in hand with the takeover. That probably would have changed the outlook a little bit but that was out of our control at the time.
"The current owners and the Supporters' Trust will have views why those agreements that were nearly reached weren't reached. Things took a different twist and they are where they are today."
Jenkins recently linked up with Cobalt Sports Management Agency - a firm which specialises in the careers of professional footballers.
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