Club Finances
Neerav confirmed the financial position ‘wasn’t good following relegation, with the £1m cash injection needed to keep the club going through the Summer. The board yesterday has just made a capital call for a further injection of £3.2m to get through to January, put in as equity, with the likelihood that more money will be required in January’
To add to the above he also said, ‘We’ve inherited a club that needs a lot of money just to sustain it, without factoring in the need to invest in facilities, or players’
It was confirmed that for those shareholders who choose to invest in this capital call, their stake remains the same. For those who don’t, their shares will be diluted
To close this section Neerav told supporters, ‘The football club is in no danger of folding. The long-term goal for the football club, and any football club, should be to do well on the pitch, so we’ll continue to support the team, invest in players, but be conscious we’re starting off from a challenging financial position and it will take time and won’t happen overnight.
Court Case
Neerav was asked what supporters could be told about the court case that he could legally disclose, responding with ‘Watch this space’. When pushed on if ‘watch this space’ could be taken as a positive or negative, the closing reply was, ‘there’s nothing positive about going to court’
Oakwell/Council
We asked if relationships with the council had improved. Khaled told the room that ‘the relationship with the council is positive, numerous meetings, at Oakwell, at their offices, and discussions are ongoing around extending the lease’
Neerav added that ‘financially we can’t buy the ground right now, but the long-term goal is to extend the lease and remain at Oakwell. We did have an option to buy the ground, but that option has now expired, and the other side need to decide to want to sell again, but buying the ground doesn’t come into the picture right now’