That only become an issue when the new owner didn't want to finance the million pound a month Wigan were losing - so he put them in admin. We aren't in that position.
Afternoon Marlon. We are a million miles from Wigan. They were a third tier club (with little obvious route back up the league ladder) saddled with mammoth football-related debts. These could be written off by an insolvency process by a normal business but would require clearing in full to continue in the league. The value of these debts look to be greater than the inherent value of the club, hence a procession of potential buyers who look at the situation and run a mile. Simples really, if a club is worth say £8 to £10 million and it has football related debts of £11 million, it's just not worth it. I actually expect some closed door fudge by the EFL that won't get publicised because they dont want to set a precedent. Bury were one thing, a recent premier league club and FA cup winner is another
What happened in the Oyston case though? Oyston was forced to give up control by the courts. I can't recall if Blackpool went into administration upon the ruling, I'm guessing so as there was much discussion of points deductions. Isn't the debt within the HK investment vehicle and not the club itself? Is there any form of jurisdiction for a UK court to force a company from another country to pay proceeds to another party?
I vaguely recall Patrick writing off further loans to get the deal done too, when was even credited by Conway, and obviously strengthened the balance sheet hugely, not to mention a very decent cash balance.
I have no knowledge of the Blackpool case. You tend to find that no two cases are the same anyway. My understanding here is that the club as an entity (incorporated here) contracted to pay rent and maintenance costs to the owners of the stadium. That is one issue as the club (effectively owned by the HK co) have questioned making such payments on an ongoing basis. The other issue is that the Hong kong Co agreed to pay the Cryne family instalments to purchase the football club. These appear to have not been paid. There may of course be an arguable case as to why the payments have not been made. However, assuming it goes to court and the Cryne family /ground owners win and seek to enforce the judgements these would first bind on any assets held by the Hong Kong group here in the UK. Technically, at any time once proceedings have been issued, either side could apply for a "Mareva Injunction" preventing the disposal of assets. Court orders have reciprocal agreements by international treaty, although the current political situation in HK casts some question over this. Either way, the worst that happens is that the club gets put on the open market but I agree with another poster that no-one in their right mind would stand by and watch a substantial asset go up in smoke.
A million miles isn’t far in football terms , I’m not suggesting we are same as Wigan regards size etc and that’s not what I said , My comparison was regards debt and how easy any club could find themselves in that situation with dodgy owners . As regards potential buyers running a mile from Wigan I didn’t see many reasonable offers for our club when Patrick was desperate to sell tbh. There’s obviously very little protection coming from the EFL other than columns on the media stating the bleeding obvious . Bury went into debt in a natter of just a few years and although everyone could see what could possibly happen nothing could be done to stop it. There’s always a possibility that stable clubs could get into trouble very quickly we aren’t immune and although we don’t think we would get into that situation it is possible and vigilance isn’t a bad thing from those that care .
Yeah, I wouldnt want to rely on the EFL either. What I am saying is where we are different from Wigan is that they have large football-related debts they cant get out of they wish to stay in the league. If they were debts to a bank or even HMRC they could be written off if enough creditors agreed to a CVA. My understanding is that the penultimate owner wasnt prepared to keep pumping money in and the football-related debts mounted up. He sold it to someone who wasnt prepared to either and the club folded. Why the last owner bought it is anybody's guess. In general, we are also different from Wigan because we are not reliant on one benefactor pumping money in like Dave Wheelan did. I'd say Wednesday are actually nearer to Wigan than we are in that respect. Wigan's owners lost interest/never had the money in the first place, whereas Wednesday's owner would put more in but can't. (hilarious) I actually think he (or more probably his dad) will lose interest as well. They are lucky in that they have got rid of quite a few high ticket wage earners this summer.
We should stop calling them the owners they don't own the club because they haven't paid for it yet, they are running it yes, owning it no. In my book if you haven't paid for it you don't own it
While I agree with your sentiment to a point, they do, at this time, legally own us. The shareholding was transferred to the HK investment vehicle and that means ownership resides there.
In Wendy’s case I thought he could put his own money in but it had to be a gift and not reclaimed. Not 100% sure if this as the EFL rules are all over the place but I think he wants it as debt on the club rather from his own coffers . That’s where he falls foul of the EFL because he can’t load more than 39mil over three years which he already has done ? There’s many ways for clubs to get into trouble financially and we may not be in the same vein as Wigan or Wendy there are other avenues of making money from stable football clubs and we should always be vigilant imo .
