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Progress at Darlington?
Posted on May 21, 2009
In a surprise turn of events, Darlington have announced plans to come out of Administration at an unspecified time “in the next couple of months”. It should be noted that the statement comes from the club rather than directly from Dave Clark of Brackenbury Clark & Co, the Administrator (1). The surprise is in the […]
Posted in Insolvency, Ownership | Leave a Comment »
Darlington and Stockport County
Posted on May 7, 2009
The lot of an Administrator is not one I envy. The primary responsibility of an Administrator is to the company’s debtors, with a proviso that that he/she should try to maintain the company as a going concern, which would normally mean its sale. In other words, the stakeholders whose interests are being protected are primarily […]
Posted in Insolvency | 1 Comment »
Councils & Clubs – Southampton, Darlington, Cheltenham Town and Bury
Posted on April 3, 2009
Historically the link between councils and football clubs has been the ownership of stadiums. Today in the Premier League only Hull City and Newcastle United retain this link, yet another indicator of the post-commercialised game. But are new links emerging? As the precarious future of Southampton is picked over, the Daily Echo reports that the […]
Posted in Community, Insolvency | 1 Comment »
Round-up of Season 2011/12
Posted on September 8, 2012
The 2011/12 season has been characterised by long-running sagas. Normally I find myself in an annual review recounting a series of relatively self-contained accounts of the woes which have beset a number of clubs, but many of those listed below are far from resolved scenarios. The selection is not systematic – it consists of the […]
Posted in Benefactors, Debts, HMRC, Insolvency, Ownership, Resurrection, Trusts | Leave a Comment »
HMRC Winding-Up Petitions
Posted on February 23, 2012
The following list is of the winding-up petitions presented by HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) and its predecessors, the Internal Revenue (IR) who were responsible for the collection of direct taxation such as income tax (PAYE) and National Insurance contributions, and HM Customs and Excise (C&E) who were responsible for the collection of indirect taxation […]
Posted in | 1 Comment »
That feeling of déjà vu at Pompey, all over again
Posted on February 17, 2012
Portsmouth’s return to Administration today (1) for the second time in a smidgen under two years speaks volumes, especially coming in the week that Rangers, a rather more iconic club, suffered the ignominy of Administration too (2). High profile those these events are, the phenomenon of financial problems is not confined to te top clubs. […]
Posted in Benefactors, Ethics, Financial doping, Fit and Proper Person tests, Globetrotterisation, Governance, History, Insolvency, Ownership | 4 Comments »
No. of Clubs
Posted on February 13, 2012
I’m sometimes asked for a magic number – the number of top clubs which have gone into Administration. It’s difficult give a simple answer because: Administration is a misleading basis for counting. Clubs can be wound up without ever going into Administration. A better measure is ‘insolvency event’, a term which can however be defined […]
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The Magic of Football – still there in the Cups?
Posted on January 27, 2012
It’s increasingly difficult to see any magic in the beautiful game other than black magic, especially when you look at it from a financial perspective. You only need to think of the narrow escapes at Plymouth and Wrexham recently, and both Portsmouth and Darlington are standing on the edge of the precipice. The Cups may […]
Posted in Community, Fans | Leave a Comment »
2011 – The Year in Insolvency Events
Posted on December 31, 2011
Below is a round-up of the insolvency events I have logged during 2011. The definition of insolvency event is a debatable one, and I prefer a descriptive rather than prescriptive one. Broadly I would define an insolvency event as one which reflects a discontinuity in the operation of the ‘club as company’ caused by insufficient […]
Posted in Insolvency | 3 Comments »
Some stadium snippets
Posted on April 22, 2011
Mainly, but not exclusively, bad news from various clubs at various levels in the pyramid: Bradford City (L2; population 294,000; nearest higher Level club Leeds United 10 miles [city centre to city centre, not stadium to stadium]) Younger readers may be forgiven for not knowing that Bradford City was home to Premier League football, albeit […]
Posted in Stadium | 4 Comments »
Portsmouth’s continuing purgatory
Posted on July 16, 2010
To no-one’s, I suspect, great surprise, HMRC has waited until the last minute to object to the proposed CVA (1, 2 , and 3). The grounds on which HMRC are appealing are twofold: (a) The interests of HMRC have been or will be unfairly prejudiced by the taking of that decision; and (b) There were […]
Posted in Debts, HMRC, Insolvency | 15 Comments »
The trouble with new stadiums 1
Posted on June 27, 2010
You may have noticed – I am not a fan of the new stadium. At the Supporters Direct Conference I spoke briefly about ‘the myth of the new stadium’, and over a couple of postings I’ll elaborate on why I don’t, in general, rate them. Broadly, there are three lines of argument that are trotted […]
Posted in Stadium | 7 Comments »
The Top 91 Clubs?
Posted on May 29, 2010
The uncertainty and overall shambles characterising the allocation of clubs next season in the Non-League divisions (see Appendix E: Tough Love for Salisbury City?) is in danger of spreading to the Football League. Grimsby Town, together with Darlington, occupied the two bottom slots of League 2 at the end of the season just gone, and […]
Posted in Football League, Governance, Pyramid movement, Relegation | 2 Comments »
Appendix E: Tough Love for Salisbury City?
Posted on May 23, 2010
This is the time of year that anorakies like me start to change our data files to reflect the promotions and relegations which are about to take place officially. If you think that is already a straightforward task, barring the odd play-off final, then you are forgetting what is happening in the Conference and lower […]
Posted in Debts, Football Association, Football Conference, Governance, HMRC | 4 Comments »
Final final warning for Southend United?
Posted on April 14, 2010
Back in the High Court after a 35 day adjournment, Southend have been given a further stay of execution, but this time for only seven days (1). Chairman Ron Martin’s views on the situation are, as ever, a tad confusing. After the hearing a club spokesman said “The funds are going to be sent immediately […]
Posted in Debts, HMRC, Insolvency, Stadium | 2 Comments »
