None of us can really know what has gone on with ED.
For all we know, he may have said three years ago "I am out of here at the end of 2015" and a combination of incompetency, ego and bluff-calling (he'll never pull out because he is a true fan) from the current management team has resulted in the current situation.
Not sure you can build a business model anyway on the long term benevolence of an elderly man living offshore with the scale of losses we have been experiencing. It was bound to end badly unless we cut our cloth or found new owners with a similar outlook.
Division 1 if we survive won't be that bad. First started following BWFC when down in Div 2 and that for me is still the best of times since I have been an active supporter