Sheffield Wednesday are the latest club to face a winding up order from HM Revenue and Customs. They have unpaid tax debts of £550,000, but are working with the Co-operative Bank to sort things out and are hopeful that they can do so by the court hearing scheduled for 11 August. Sheffield MP David Blunkett has criticised the move by the tax authorities, but perhaps football clubs should keep up with their tax payments.
Sheffield Wednesday are the latest club to face a winding up order from HM Revenue and Customs. They have unpaid tax debts of £550,000, but are working with the Co-operative Bank to sort things out and are hopeful that they can do so by the court hearing scheduled for 11 August. Sheffield MP David Blunkett has criticised the move by the tax authorities, but perhaps football clubs should keep up with their tax payments.
The club’s total debts amount to some £26m, of which £21.m is owed to the Co-op Bank. The club has for some time been looking for a buyer at a price of around £10m. Three Sheffield businessmen and a supporters club each own about 10 per cent.
Wednesday’s financial problems began after it upgraded Hillsborough for the 1996 European Championships. The club was relegated from the Premier League in 2000. Relegation to League 1 is estimated to have cost it about £3m in media rights revenue and about 2,500 season ticket renewals. Its annual wage bill of £5m is about £900,000 below last year’s level.
The Owls are seen as promotion prospects from League 1 this season. If they went into administration, they would be deducted ten points. However, potential investors may be waiting for the club to go into administration so that they can buy it at a knock down price.