The Cumbrians could go under in the summer if Michael Knighton and John Courtenay can't agree a deal to save a club that has spent most of the last four seasons floundering near the foot of the league on gates of 3,000 and below. United's cash shortfall if the TV deal ends prematurely could be as much as £150,000 per season. It is thought as many as a dozen clubs could go into receivership as soon as the 3-year deal falls apart. The Football League hope to be able to thrash out a compromise with ITV Digital's receivers Deloitte Touche and the courts, if necessary. United are already believed to be £2m in debt - a figure higher than that for York City who announced earlier this year that they would resign from the Football League and wind up the business unless a buyer came forward. Luckily for the Minstermen sports car entrepreneur John Batchelor took over the club a fortnight ago and promised to wipe out all debts. Carlisle will not be as lucky unless Irish millionaire Courtenay can finally take over the club after a remarkable 10-week round of negotiations with Knighton which began in Leeds on January 11. Courtenay says he still expects to take over soon despite a series of unexplained delays in the process. All quiet on deadline day As expected, there were no movements in or out of Brunton Park on one of the quietest transfer deadline days in United's history today. Carlisle are banned from signing any new players after borrowing money from the PFA earlier this season. That loan has still to be repaid even though manager Roddy Collins is in possession of a bankers' draft from John Courtenay that would clear it immediately. However director Mark Knighton could not guarantee Collins that any new players would be paid so he has decided to withold payment until the takeover of the club goes through. Speculation in recent weeks had linked teenage defender Lee Andrews with Scottish giants Celtic. However Andrews is staying put for the time being giving Collins a bit of breathing space. His squad has been decimated by injuries and suspensions in recent weeks, forcing him to register assistant manager John Cunningham as a player. Collins himself even turned out for the reserves in a Cumberland Cup tie last week. Picture from News & Star |
