Bury petition

I don't know the legalities of a challenge to the EFL and Id say if Dale was involved in any way it would be a no no, but new investers and proven finance let them try and save Bury Football Club.

 

Clubs are normally saved by a New Co buying the assets off the administrator as the club still fulfils fixtures - as happened with Bolton. Bury stopped trading andthe charges on their assets mean they go to the debt owners, making it nigh on impossible for a New Co to buy them intact. The staff have all been sacked an contracts with suppliers and sponsors broken. You can't just start a new company up and bring all that back together like a typical rescue. That chance has gone. The petition is futile.

 

As far as I understand from what I've read, the potential deals fell through due to charges over the ground, social club and car park to a range of parties. The mortgages for these are in default so any deal has to be done with these parties and not the receiver who has no significant assets of the club to do a deal with so is proceeding with liquidation of the little left. Even if a deal could be struck with parties holding assets, contracts would have to be reinstated with staff and players to get the golden share but I understand they have all moved on. (Maybe they could receive compensation but that would take a while to agree.) I've seen no evidence of anyone now working with the receiver or asset holders so would expect redevelopment of the ground and a phoenix club started by supporters elsewhere. I'm just taking this from newpaper reports. What are your sources, please? I have seen the MP talking things up but he seemed to be garnering sympathy and hoping to turn them into votes rather than fronting a genuine attempt to reassemble the dispersed assets of the former company that now belong to the mortgage lenders.

https://www.theguardian.com/football/2019/aug/27/bury-historic-club-football-league-financial-ruins

The mortgage was taken out in stages by the previous owner, Stewart Day, who in December, as his own property empire was about to collapse into insolvency, sold the club to Steve Dale for £1.

The lender, a firm based in Crosby called Capital Bridging Finance Solutions (“Capital”), is now owed £3.7m. Capital in turn mortgaged Gigg Lane, most homely of football grounds, to a company based in Malta whose own lenders were eight companies registered in the tax haven of the British Virgin Islands. As revealed in the Guardian, large portions of the borrowed money never came to Bury at all, because 40% was paid as “introduction fees” to unnamed third parties.

Day justified that by saying it enabled a low interest rate, understood latterly to be 6%, but it is safe to say that one would not expect to find an arrangement like that on Bury’s home ground. That – along with another mortgage on the social club and what they politely described as “the overall financial state of the club” – was perhaps a major reason for Campbell and Newman deciding they did not really need the steaming mess at Bury in their currently prospering lives.

 

Bury went through a pre arranged CVA, that is why they got docked 12 points. They came out of the administration so as @StaffordBantam said the company is still trading, probably not for long with no income. The offers may have fallen through, but they were offers to buy the club off the current owner rather than from administrators like Bolton was. I honestly don't think I read a report that says Bury are currently in administration or are being liquidated. @Aleman can you point me in the direction of the reports you have seen that say that?

 

Ok. Now I'm a bit confused. I thought the CVA stemmed from an administration in the summer that fans were calling for. Evidently I am wrong. I apologise. I don't know how I reached that conclusion. Maybe I've mixed it up with something I've read about Bolton. It was just a free-standing CVA rather than one agreed in receivership. I thought I'd read that coming out of receivership stumbled on the charges over assets I posted earlier but this does not seem to be correct if the club is not in receivership. That then puts me in everyone else's camp. Why did the EFL stop them playing games if Dale insists he provided evidence of funding to last a season in time? Is Dale/Bury still making mortgage payments despite no revenue? If so, maybe they do still own the ground, club and car park. I don't know.

Sorry if my confusion has confused others!

 

Bury was earmarked for discussion at the Divisional Meeting for League 2 this month when they were ejected so, in some ways, this report is nothing new, but it does try highlight some hope of reinstatement in League 2. However, then there is this highlighted comment:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/49569697

"In response to the combined efforts of supporters' groups, local authorities and politicians, the EFL clarified there is "no precedent for a club to enter the EFL directly through an application for admission or readmission following withdrawal of membership"."

 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/49829915

If there is an indication that the reinstatement of Bury is the preferred option, and a change in the league's regulations is therefore required, a board meeting will be called and then another general meeting will take place three weeks later.

At that stage, a formal vote would be required at which 50% of all the clubs and 50% of the Championship would need to back reinstatement.

The BBC understands the rescue bid is strongly opposed by most League Two clubs, one of which will be relegated if Bury are readmitted, and now hangs in the balance.

If Bury's bid is rejected, they will have to apply to the Football Association for a place in non-league football.

 

Just to catch up, Does Dale still own the club? If so I would not want to see Bury reinstated into the league.

 

Good, it’s the best way.

 

Good on them. I would support a clause of allowing them to start in league 2 next season if it meant that Dale wasn't the owner.

However a question is raised, with only 1 team now going down from league 2 and the same 2 coming up, would it go back to 2 going down to allow Bury to join the league? The numbers don't add up otherwise. It needs to be clear asap as to if 2 are going down, you can't just revert back to 2 going down a month before the end of the season.

 

I think its a shame. really sad for them. I'd have backed the application.

 

I think today's decision was the correct one, regardless of who might own the club, though it is hard on the town and the supporters. Why should Bury receive favours not given to, say, Aldershot, or Maidstone, or the original Accrington Stanley, or (at a lower level) Hereford Utd.? All had to reform/become phoenix clubs, and rejoin the pyramid at a much lower level. I'd think that Conference North would be the highest newBury could hope for, but I expect the next step down would be more realistic.

The problem of unsuitable owners and inadequate EFL oversight of the same however remains. WIll the end of a two-time FA Cup winner move the EFL to action? Cynical me will not be holding my breath.

RCB