Men with future of the club in their hands
02 December 2004
IF,
as expected, Wrexham FC goes into administration tomorrow, the day to day
running of the club will be carried out by David Acland and Steve Williams from
Preston insolvency firm Begbies Traynor's specialist Football Finance unit.
Their job will be to try to salvage the club as a going concern, but also
maximise the return for creditors.
Mr Acland steered Chester City through the perils of administration.
Wrexham directors David Bennett and David Griffiths will give up control of the
club, but will be available to give advice to the administrator, as will owner
Alex Hamilton.
The administrators have wide ranging powers to look at business dealings and the
conduct of the board, but their main task will be to find a solution to the
club's problems in agreement with shareholders and creditors.
D-Day for the Reds
BOSSES at Wrexham FC are today putting the
finishing touches to their bid to put the cash-strapped club into
administration. |
An Administration Order is a single court order that deals with all credit
debts. It means a single monthly payment can be made to the court. The court
staff will then divide the money among creditors.
While the Administration Order is in place, none of the creditors listed on it
can take any action against without first getting the court's permission.
Provided you pay what you have offered, the creditors can take no further
action.
Unless the judge makes a Composition Order, or regular payments are stopped, an
Administration Order will go on until all the debts are paid off in full.
Club directors David Bennett and David Griffiths, who have now resigned
themselves to the club going into administration, say they are already working
on plans to get the club back out of administration as soon as possible.
Raising money
The directors, and Wrexham Supporters Trust, feel administration is now the only
way forward for the club because if the move was not made a High Court
winding-up petition will close down the club.
The trust is also keen to work with the administrator and help in any way it can
to ensure the future of the club. It has also been raising money to be in a
position to buy the club, should the opportunity arise.
However, all agree that administration will be a bitter pill to swallow.
The club is likely to be deducted 10 points by the league, putting it joint
second bottom of the League One table and plunging Wrexham FC into relegation
danger.
Directors hope they can appeal against the points deduction, but if it goes
ahead, Wrexham FC will be the first league club to suffer the punishment.
The Football League could also withhold payments in an effort to ensure the club
completes all its fixtures, and under other rules other payments, including Sky
TV's £75,000 payout from tomorrow's Scunthorpe game, could be withheld.
The administrator may also conclude that the only way to pay off the club's
creditors will be to capitalise on the club's assets - including its best
players.