ONE of the Administrators for Wrexham FC has been joined by fans in remembering the struggle of the last 12 months to keep the Red Dragons alive.

Wrexham FC was put into administration on December 3 last year, and the 12 months since then have provided a mix of agony and ecstasy for fans with success and disappointment both on and off the pitch.

The club won the 2005 LDV Vans trophy at the Millennium Stadium in early April but a month later were relegated to League 2.

Wrexham were also subject to a number of bidders promising better things for the club, but only that of local businessmen Neville Dickens and Geoff Moss garnered the fans' support.

Jubilant

Supporters were jubilant at the end of October when a court ruling for the freehold of The Racecourse Ground went in favour of the club and against CrucialMove Ltd, the company owned by controversial club owner Alex Hamilton.

But Mr Hamilton has since sought leave to appeal against the decision, meaning that the sale of the club is on hold until the legal process is resolved.

Wrexham football club administrator, David Acland, described the club winning the 2005 LDV vans trophy as 'an absolute godsend' in the process of rescuing the Reds.

In a recent Supporters' Direct fans interview he said that without the momentous victory in Cardiff earlier this year there would have been tremendous difficulty preparing the club for the 2005/06 season.

Mr Acland said: "Cash flow would have been a real problem without it. Additionally, the lift it gave to all connected with Wrexham is still being felt today. It was their first English trophy, and a first for a club in administration."

Mr Acland, of Preston-based insolvency firm Begbies Traynor, has been working with joint-administrator, Steve Williams, since the summer of 2004 to save Wrexham Football Club and find a new owner for the club. Despite the recent court action to restore the freehold of The Racecourse from Alex Hamilton's company CrucialMove Ltd, Mr Acland revealed that Begbies Traynor were initially approached to become administrators for Wrexham by Mr Hamilton himself.

He said: "Begbies Traynor were approached by the then Chairman, Alexander Hamilton, in the summer of 2004, through a recommendation to him from a professional advisor. After a sequence of well publicised events, including the presentation of a winding up petition, the Board of Directors were advised, through their professional advisors, to consider a number of insolvency practitioners from different firms.

Supporting

"The Board, I understand, spoke with Huddersfield Town FC and certain football authorities and decided to invite Begbies Traynor to take the formal insolvency appointment, based on their substantial knowledge of football club rescues."

He is also quick to highlight the role the Wrexham Supporters' Trust has played in supporting the administrators over the past year.

He said: "The WST has been working tirelessly to raise funds, raise the profile of the club and more recently give their support to one of the bidders looking to rescue the club. That harnessing of support means that most parties are now pulling in the same direction to help save Wrexham FC.

"The WST, along with members of the steering committee, has, in conjunction with the administrators, indemnified certain of the new players' contracts, in the event that for whatever reason the contracts cannot be fulfilled. Aside from donations and fund raising activities, which have been substantial, the WST has provided personnel to assist in trading activities and expertise.

"It has access to lawyers and barristers who have assisted in the investigations and they are a fundamental sounding board when it comes to certain key decisions.

"We try wherever possible to address the trust and its members on a regular basis and have regular contact with certain board members.

"Additionally, the WST has put its money where its mouth is by providing indemnities for new player contracts."

The administrators have been searching for new potential owners of Wrexham Football Club for many months, with businessmen Andy Smith and Paul Buttivant linked to bids and property firm Old House Holdings.

Fans favourite, Neville Dickens, and his business partner, Geoff Moss, have made numerous attempted bids to Alex Hamilton, with little success.

Mr Acland said the failed bids were extremely frustrating, but common in football insolvencies.

Emotions

He said: "It is not so much the abortive time dealing with the bids. We take a view early on whether a party is likely to be credible and able to deliver or not. It is more the case that other bidders and fans read the press coverage and believe it!

"It is fair to say, therefore, that fans are more frustrated than we are, as we come to expect it. Football clubs attract a great deal of interest from a number of different sources, and sometimes it is difficult discerning between realistic bids and those doomed to failure. Invariably you have to start second guessing the motives behind certain bids," he added.

Chairman of the Official Wrexham Supporters Club, Carroll Clark, said that 2005 would be remembered with mixed emotions by supporters.

He said: "Winning the LDV Vans trophy was obviously the main highlight, and relegation the low point because it wasn't the fault of the players. The LDV trophy was important because it improved the morale of the fans and players, as well as improving the club's finances and raising our profile because the match was shown on Sky Sports.

"In terms of next year I hope we can complete the sale of the club from Alex Hamilton, move out of administration which will allow Denis Smith the freedom to improve the playing squad and hopefully get us up into League One."

Fan-backed bidder, Neville Dickens, said: "Like I'm sure many people would say, the LDV Vans trophy has been the highlight of the year for me, and obviously seeing light at the end of the tunnel for the club's finances.

"Going down to League Two was a shame because of the way it happened after the Football League docking us ten points, but things are coming together on the pitch so the revival continues."