Bournemouth Running Out Of Time - 13/11/2005

League One club Bournemouth could have to go into administration. Having been rescued from administration in 1997, the south coast club is facing mounting debts, thought to be £6.5 million. They have been forced to consider selling off their stadium and leasing it back off new owners. When they became the first community-owned club in 1997, the idea was to stave off future bankruptcy. It was believed that the scheme would serve as a blueprint for others in the lower divisions, concentrating efforts on raising money through areas outside football. Money raised secured the loans for the building of the stadium, but with unpaid construction debts, the collapse of the ITV Digital deal and the bottom falling out of the transfer market, the club owe the Inland Revenue about £500,000. A sale and lease-back scheme has been proposed by chairman Peter Phillips, but because of the complicated ownership arrangements at the club, he has to rely on a majority vote before he can act. Bournemouth are owned by the Community Trust, about 1,400 fans, none of whom owns more than 10 per cent of the club. There is also the golden share within the trust that belongs to 2,500 fans and accounts for 51 per cent of the voting rights.