Scary Article in the Mirror Newspaper

[legs77]

How do you get that? By following due process and not rushing into things they are cowboys? Last two owners rushed into it and also turned out to be cowboys, what does it take not to be a cowboy? 😂

I dont know anything for sure but it is just a gut feeling I have.

This is all on Hardy and i'm not blaming anyone else talk is he wants another 2 weeks and we all know what his 7-10 days are like.

We could be looking at mid/end June for a takeover which puts us way behind everyone else ....this is something Colin Slater hinted at a while back.

[Nigel_M]

Maybe I'm misreading this but aren't the prospective owners stringing Hardy along until we get put in administration?

Why take on millions in debt when you can own the club for next to nothing?

I'd be amazed if any of the prospective new owners are willing to take on much of the debt owed to Hardy.

However under EFL rules even in administration all football creditors have to be paid. You have to pay all outstanding transfer fees, all monies you owe for tickets sold for away games, and take on all the players' contracts. You cannot therefore avoid a whole load of the debts that the club most likely owes.

Conference rules are even tougher in that you have to settle all debts within 3 years - I think we have a 1 year exemption from the conference rules but not sure exactly how this works.

I think you also have to have an agreed exit from administration - ie the creditors have to agree - otherwise you get a 2nd points deduction.

So the choice for the buyer is not as simple as will it cost less? Maybe you can dodge a few bills but you will then probably lose a season due to the points penalty which will cost you money - not least as we only have 2 years of parachute payments. At worst you could suffer a 2nd relegation. You would then need to be sure how the lease on the ground could be moved over to the purchaser and you risk the administrator taking a slightly higher upfront cash offer from someone else. You might also not get control until the season starts.

So if you really want a loss making non-league football club the best bet is to give Hardy a few quid and get on with building a squad that can get you up next season. Faff about much longer and you may end up with a large points penalty, no squad to start the season, getting relegated again and trying to fund you way through an even bigger mess.

[1955pie]

They could try that tactic but as the poster above says the club goes to whoever offers most.

Tomorrow will tell us if the HMRC bill is going to be paid as AH said it would.

Lets be honest it looks like cowboys are going to be the owners next season and I include AH in that.

If property developers are to be our new owners, I'm not sure that a loss making football club will be top of their tick list. If we were liquidated they would still want to go ahead with the rest of the deal and also have a football ground to develop as well.

I may be wrong but is this the first time that we will have an owner who is not a football fan?

[SwalePie]

I'd be amazed if any of the prospective new owners are willing to take on much of the debt owed to Hardy.

However under EFL rules even in administration all football creditors have to be paid. You have to pay all outstanding transfer fees, all monies you owe for tickets sold for away games, and take on all the players' contracts. You cannot therefore avoid a whole load of the debts that the club most likely owes.

Conference rules are even tougher in that you have to settle all debts within 3 years - I think we have a 1 year exemption from the conference rules but not sure exactly how this works.

I think you also have to have an agreed exit from administration - ie the creditors have to agree - otherwise you get a 2nd points deduction.

So the choice for the buyer is not as simple as will it cost less? Maybe you can dodge a few bills but you will then probably lose a season due to the points penalty which will cost you money - not least as we only have 2 years of parachute payments. At worst you could suffer a 2nd relegation. You would then need to be sure how the lease on the ground could be moved over to the purchaser and you risk the administrator taking a slightly higher upfront cash offer from someone else. You might also not get control until the season starts.

So if you really want a loss making non-league football club the best bet is to give Hardy a few quid and get on with building a squad that can get you up next season. Faff about much longer and you may end up with a large points penalty, no squad to start the season, getting relegated again and trying to fund you way through an even bigger mess.

Good points made in that last paragraph

[jackal2]

The HMRC cannot force us into administration they can only liquidate us. Administration is the last option to avoid liquidation. In effect it protects your company from direct legal proceedings to recover those debts. The rider being that an administrator has to be appointed to work effectively on behalf of those owed money to find a way to pay them.

This is true, but if Alan Hardy or the prospective owners aren't in a position to cough up the money or proof of imminent funds tomorrow, then surely the best protection would be to put the business into administration before the Court Hearing, rather than gamble everything on a game of extension or bust, relying on the goodwill of the HMRC and the judge.

Earlier this year, North Ferriby Utd FC were wound up because they couldn't pay a debt of just over £7,600!

https://www.hulldailymail.co.uk/spor...-owner-2649722