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Articles about football clubs facing or going into administration.
Southend United have been given 14 days to sort out their financial affairs after appearing in the High Court to answer a winding up petition from HM Revenue and Customs over unpaid tax debts of £200,000. The Shrimpers should receive a cash boost after the sale of Nicky Bailey by Charlton to Middlesbrough. They wisely inserted a selling on clause in the contract and although Bailey is not too popular with Southend supporters, at least they will see some financial retu
Cardiff City’s troubles continue. The club is facing a fresh winding-up petition over the £1.3m it owes HM Revenue and Customs. The club insists that the bill will be settled this week, but if it isn’t Cardiff City could face a court appearance on August 11th, just days after the opening match with Sheffied United on August 8th.
Portsmouth have agreed a Company Voluntary Arrangement with their creditors with over 81 per cent voting in favour of the deal. HM Revenue and Customs are not happy about the outcome and have 28 days in which to decide whetyher to appeal to the courrts.
Non-league clubs are complaining that they are being treated more harshly and more inconsistently than league clubs who run into financial trouble. Prominent among the complainants are Northwich Victoria and Salisbury City who consider that they have been unfailrly demoted to Step 3 of the non-league pyramid for failing to comply with financial rules.
Just when it looked as if Portsmouth were all set to emerge from administration through a CVA, new difficulties have emerged. At one time it looked as if Revenue and Customs (HMRC) were prepared to vote in favour of a CVA as part of a package deal, but now they appear to be taking a different view.
Gerald Krasner, a partner at insolvency specialists Begbies Traynor has warned that they have eight Premiership and Championship clubs on their critical list and some of them could well go under over the summer. Kranser served as chairman of Leeds United and also as administrator at Bournemouth so he has direct experience of clubs in financial trouble and what he says should be listened to. Fortunately, Crystal Palace escaped from the brink, but the next club may not.
As we predicted earlier today, Crystal Palace have been saved from extinction. A last-minute agreement was reached for CPFC 2010 to buy the club and the stadium.
Most negotiations over football clubs in administration are resolved before the brink is reached, but the situation at Palace was particularly complicated. The sequence of events does demonstrate that in today’s financial climate, nothing can be taken for granted.
A deadline of 3 p.m. BST has been set for the sale of Crystal Palace to be completed, otherwise the club may be starting down the slippery slope towards liquidation. Administrator Brendan Guilfoyle sounded a worried man when he was interviewed on Radio 5 this morning and said that he was ‘genuinely concerned’. That is administrator speak for ‘things look grim’.
South London Championship club are reported to be on the brink of folding. There is a consortium of local businessmen, CPFC 2010, ready to take over the club and they have agreed terms with the club’s administrators. However, a deal has not been concluded because there is a dispute about how much is owed to former owner Simon Jordan. He thinks he is owed more cash in any settlement than the administrator calculates he is entitled to.
Portsmouth are close to agreeing a Company Voluntary Arrangement (CVA) with their creditors which would pay them 20p in the pound. This is more than creditors often receive in such circumstances. When a business collapses, trade creditors often in effect write off what they have lost and getting anything is a bonus. Unfortunately when a football club goes down many small businesses such as builders and printers often take a hit.