Re: Is this the end?

By Gareth Coates (beano)23/4/2022 23:45Sat Apr 23 23:45:53 2022In response to Is this the end?

Views: 719

As an outsider looking in, I'd make the following points:

1. The Supporters Club can't comment publically on the tweets coming from the 'official' account; they'd need to do due diligence on the two proposals which have apparently been made to them to see if either is workable. Then, the committee would need share its findings with the membership and put any proposals to a vote.

2. The devil in either option will be in the detail. According to the most recent accounts, which are made up to 30th March 2020, the club has been supported by Directors' Loans to the tune of £158,618. My question would be this; how much of that money is Joe Dixon looking to recover?

It would be a hell of an ask for supporters to raise that kind of cash in a short time, particularly if all it gets them is the club's FA membership and future place at Step 5. For me, STFC needs to be at Wheatsheaf Park to be viable; almost no-one will know what the status of the club's lease on the ground is, or how much the club needs to find to clear any rent arrears, outstanding bills, etc.

Given Mr Dixon's attempts to force a sale of Wheatsheaf Park, a cynic might suggest that it is highly unlikely that he'd simply hand the club over to the supporters and write off the loans, even though that would be the right thing to do.

The first tweet said: "We can confirm that the clubs ownership has given STFC Supporters Club two exclusive options to take over STFC and allow the club to continue"

I have no idea what those options might be. However, a wild guess might be:

a) Pay £xxxx to Joe Dixon for control of the club
b) Pay a nominal sum for the club, but either Mr Dixon retains a minority stake or gets paid if certain things happen (FA Cup runs, big transfers, etc)

Neither is easy to achieve; there's the money that needs finding to get hold of the club, the Owners & Directors Tests to pass, working out whether the relationship with the Thames Club can be repaired (and if it isn't, whether a groundshare can be arranged). There's not much time to do all that.

So, those 'in the know' almost certainly can't put anything on this forum, in case it goes pear-shaped. But I'm certain that there is a huge amount of work being done behind the scenes.; let's hope that work pays off.

reply to this article | return to the front page