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Preamble
A significant percentage of folk who see a long email or a long internet forum post
will tend to ignore it. We have short attention spans. But I urge all genuine
Carlisle United supporters to read this post because the club is in its biggest
ever crisis .... and I am well aware of all the other crises that have occurred.
History
We know that in March 2017 the club's financial position must have been dire because
the club got a loan from Edinburgh Woollen Mill Limited, believed to be interest free
but on the strictest possible terms. The club's owners must have had no other choice
because these terms were such that all the club's assets were used as security for it.
Thus a failure to repay it on demand would lead to Edinburgh Woollen Mill Limited owning
sufficient of the club's assets to pay it off. Furthermore the three Holdings directors
who, in concert, own almost 75% of Holdings which owns 93% of Carlisle United FC 1921
Limited have given personal guarantees to pay the loan off. I believe that these guarantees
had to be given in order for the loan to occur but they were given in the naive belief that
they would never be exercised. In the last accounts the value of that loan was £2.89 million
and we can assume that this figure has not diminished. The plain fact is that the club does
not have assets to the value of £2.89 million. A few folk may dispute this but we will deal
with that separately on another occasion.
Crisis
The Carlisle United FC 1921 Limited loan is from Edinburgh Woollen Mill Limited, which is one
of at least 12 subsidiary companies of Edinburgh Woollen Mill Group. The group is now in a
terrible financial state such that the owner Philip Day is likely to passively let the
majority of its companies go into administration and then into liquidation. Those companies
that are viable will continue in business. The problem for 1921 is that Edinburgh Woollen Mill
Limited went into administration on November 7th. At this point I am cautious. I cannot, for
possible legal reasons, state that Edinburgh Woollen Mill Limited is heading into liquidation.
All I can say is that it would be unwise to park your car in an Edinburgh Woollen Mill limited
car park because it may well be taken away.
In the event of Edinburgh Woollen Mill Limited being liquidated it would be the duty of the
liquidator to secure all the company's assets into his / her ownership and to arrange for their
values to be realised, in terms of cash, for the benefit of the company's creditors. The 1921
loan is an Edinburgh Woollen Mill Limited asset. It would be the duty of the Edinburgh Woollen
Mill Limited liquidator to call in the entire value of this loan, in the first instance on
the club's entire assets and then on the personal guarantees of the three Holdings directors.
Thus a liquidation of Edinburgh Woollen Mill Limited is a liquidation of Carlisle United 1921 Limited.
There are possibilities that some sort of intervention could prevent this cataclysm from occurring
but currently the course of events indicated above is likely to happen.
Who is making this public and demanding information?
Nobody on either message board or social media is showing any interest whatsoever in this matter.
The local printed, internet and broadcasting media may well be asking questions but they could make
it clear that they are asking questions. It is the duty of anyone who is a Carlisle United supporter
to demand information by telephone, email, letter to the 1921 Chief Executive
(Nigel.Clibbens@carlisleunited.co.uk) and the owners of the club. The owners of the club do not have
club email addresses (at least not in the standard club format) and you will also have difficulty in
contacting them by fixed line telephone at Brunton Park. Andrew Jenkins is known to be a gentleman
who always replies to postal letters.
Last edited by Dick Large; 20-12-2020 at 04:44 PM.
Moderator
A well considered post, Dick, and it’s true that we hear nothing about it on BBCRC or in the local press. We should all be extremely worried; this isn’t just a flash in the pan, it’s a huge sum to be realised and the BoD may now be realising that over-valuing the ground and other capital assets may now act as a ‘come and get it’ sign to any appointed administrators. I’ll be emailing NC and also Jon Colman and urge others to get involved.
Hall Of Fame
The teams doing well and as so these questions get cassed aside.
As far as the EWM loan goes any questions on it the reply’s the same. And If you dig deeper you just get told the club will pay it.
It’s been a season of financial surprises and the football fortune will be eaten up quickly. If the loan, as predicted, goes to the administrators then it’s danger time.
The aim this season may be to get promotion and forget everything else in the hope someone comes in for the club (not going to happen) we could end up like Bury albeit they were in a far worse position.
Interesting the noise from the trust in that PR was ready for the takeover. That won’t happen now. The owners put all their eggs in the same basket and are now buggered.
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PR?Originally Posted by mullen103
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Does the apparent lack of concern/panic from within the Club and from the Trust not suggest that they may be party to certain information which is not being shared with the general public?
If Philip Day was a billionaire last year, it is almost certain that he is still a billionaire now. Like Philip Green, off-shore entrepreneurs are invariably shrewd enough to make sure their own financial positions are well protected, no matter who else is shafted.
If that is the case could it be that, behind the scenes, Day has reassured the CUFC directors that, whatever the outcome of the Administration process, he will ensure that loan support continues to be provided, either through another of his Companies or from personal funds?
Just a theory, but it could explain why everything at Brunton Park seems irrationally serene.
Moderator
That’s one of the things that I’ve asked.
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Sorry press releases were drafted for release.
That’s the thing, we don’t know!
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Correction :-
In the last accounts the 1921 total debt was £2.9 million. Of that figure the amount owed to Edinburgh Woollen Mill Limited was £2.1 million. That latter figure is subjected to interest, in the fiscal sense of the word.
Last edited by Dick Large; 21-12-2020 at 04:38 PM.
International
We know that Edinburgh Woollen Mill Limited went into administration on November 7th but there is no public comment on the matter from 1921 or its owners.
If you were the Edinburgh Woollen Mill administrator would you have contacted 1921 by now or would you have decided to leave it for several months?
Hall Of Fame
FRP Advisory is the company that is the administrator of Edinburgh Woollen Mill Limited.
The two specific joint administrators of Edinburgh Woollen Mill Limited are Tony Wright and Alastair Massey who are partners in FRP Advisory.
tony.wright@frpadvisory.com
alastair.massey@frpadvisory.com
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