Administrators win stadium battle

20 October 2005

The administrators of Wrexham FC say they have won the battle to regain ownership of the football ground.

A news conference in Wrexham was told that a judge at Birmingham High Court found against club owner Alex Hamilton.

Steve Williams of administrators Begbies Traynor said that Mr Hamilton could not appeal, but could petition the Court of Appeal against the ruling.

Administrators can now go ahead with the sale of the club, but they must pay Mr Hamilton £300,000 from the proceeds.

Wrexham manager Denis Smith said the news was a great step forward which would ease uncertainty surrounding the club.

Around 200 fans cheered and sang "We Shall Not Be Moved" outside the Racecourse Ground on Thursday evening as the news that the freehold had been returned to the club was announced.

Property developer Alex Hamilton took over from his former business associate Mark Guterman as chairman of Wrexham FC in 2004.

By the end of the year, the club had gone into administration with debts of more than £4m and in May 2005 was relegated to League Two following a 10 point penalty imposed by the Football League.

Administrators began a High Court case to seize the Racecourse from Mr Hamilton.

The court hearing in Birmingham was told that his company, CrucialMove, had negotiated to buy the Racecourse with plans to develop the site for housing or commercial use.

But on Thursday, a judge decided that CrucialMove should not have bought the freehold of the stadium.

David Acland, of the administrators, said there were still "fairly huge obstacles to overcome".

He added: "We're still some months behind. We had hoped to be in this position in July and we hope to effect a sale prior to Christmas."

He said there were three or four parties interested in buying the club and the parties would now have to re-examine their bids.

"There are a couple of groups of frontrunners who have been instrumental in getting us to where we are today," he said.

Mr Acland added that it was too early to be "popping champagne corks". It was crucial that the club was sold before next May, as the Football League only allowed one season in administration before throwing out a club.

Denis Smith, who also confirmed the club's signing on loan of striker Juan Ugarte, said: "It eases a lot of uncertainty. If the ground is back with the club I think everybody is happier."

Lindsey Jones of Wrexham Supporters' Trust said the group was now hopeful that a sale could now be negotiated with the consortium led by car dealer Neville Dickens by Christmas.

He said he was delighted the freehold had been returned to the club as were the hundreds who had turned out at the club.

"If we'd lost it couldn't have been contemplated - but we've won. We'll have a party tonight and in the morning the work starts again," said Mr Jones.