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Some rather late and ineffective justice for Luton fans
Posted on September 11, 2011
There was some small crumb of comfort for Luton fans in the news that four of the directors of the previous owners of the club had been banned from being company directors (1) (and hence now fail the Fit and Proper Person Test). Former chairman Bill Tomlins was disqualified for six years; Derek Robert Peter, […]
Posted in Debts, HMRC, Insolvency, Points deduction | 5 Comments »
Luton Town and an unfair disadvantage
Posted on April 14, 2009
The 2008/09 season in Division 2 will not be one that the Football League will look back on with pride. The League has struggled to deter clubs from going into Administration by imposing points deductions. This demonstrably has not worked. At the season start three clubs, Bournemouth, Luton and Rotherham, began with a total of […]
Posted in Governance, Insolvency | 2 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 […]
Posted in | 1 Comment »
A day of reckoning
Posted on May 23, 2011
I managed to follow the great play-off between AFC Wimbledon (to whom, many congratulations) and Luton Town (to whom, commiserations) at least live online. Football at its most exciting. I wonder if Andy Burnham chose quite the right words though when he tweeted “Wimbledon back in Football League. Brilliant. A great victory for all football […]
Posted in Broadcasting rights, Costs, Economic impact, Fans, Football Conference, Governance, Merchandising, Premier League, Promotion, Pyramid movement, Relegation, Revenues, Sponsorship | 2 Comments »
Argyle directors finally admit defeat
Posted on March 4, 2011
The desperate rearguard fight by the Plymouth Argyle board to keep their control on trading has finally ended with the club going into Administration (1) and (2). They had already declared their ‘Intention to enter Administration’ (3), which attracted a 10 points deduction this season and the virtual certainty of relegation. The reason they gave […]
Posted in Debts, HMRC, Insolvency | 3 Comments »
‘Good Rangers’ v. ‘Evil Rovers’?
Posted on December 21, 2010
The top of the Conference table intrigues me. The top seven clubs come from right across the spectrum of football business models, from clubs whose fans can be rightly proud, through those that have been abused by boards past and/or present, through to clubs that engage in blatant financial doping and whose fans have seen […]
Posted in Benefactors, Ethics, History, Ownership, Trusts | 1 Comment »
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 »
Ups and Downs 1
Posted on April 7, 2010
Like virtually every football fan, there is really only one football result each week that matters to me personally – I have to know it almost as the whistle blows (thankfully possible in the age that we live in). The rest I could easily wait to read in the Sunday papers. With my particular perspective […]
Posted in Promotion, Pyramid movement, Relegation | 6 Comments »
Chester City drinking at last chance saloon
Posted on October 21, 2009
It was less than a fortnight ago that I was blogging on the Stephen Vaughan approach to management, and some of the odd theories he proposed on how to run a club (1). The Conference is now running out of patience with the way Chester City is being run. This afternoon they published this blunt […]
Posted in Debts, Fit and Proper Person tests, Football Association, Football Conference, Governance, Insolvency, Ownership | 4 Comments »
Sad news for Spurs fans?
Posted on September 22, 2009
The end of an era really. I refer of course to the sad news that Chas and Dave are splitting up, following the death of Dave’s wife – a big enough story in its own right to make The Daily Telegraph (1) for example. The link between entertainers and specific clubs goes back from Robbie […]
Posted in Uncategorized | 2 Comments »
Halesowen Town horrors continue
Posted on September 16, 2009
Regular blog readers will be aware of the extraordinary happenings at Halesowen Town (see postings passim) for over a year. Events have speeded up in the last week, no doubt as the rescheduled AGM was due to take place yesterday, Tuesday 15th September. As things turned out, that meeting has not been held. That is […]
Posted in Debts, Governance, Insolvency, Ownership | 4 Comments »
Chester City latest
Posted on August 6, 2009
Chester City will play in the Conference in the upcoming season, but with a further 15 points deducted, in addition to the 10 for going into Administration (1). This immediately suggests comparison with the 15 points deducted from Leeds United, where Ken Bates bought the club back from the Administrator, and the 10+20 points deducted […]
Posted in Governance, Insolvency, Ownership, Points deduction, Sanctions | Leave a Comment »
JB’s Awards for 2008/09
Posted on August 4, 2009
Well, this is what they call the silly season… SOAP STAR OF THE SEASON AWARD: Although there was a lot of competition for this one, with Northwich Victoria, Farsley Celtic and Halesowen Town all putting in strong bids, they just couldn’t match the story line of the eventual winner, Bournemouth, with constant issues over selling […]
Posted in Uncategorized | 1 Comment »
