David Elliott and David Walker of BKR Haines Watts, the Barnsley-based firm who have taken over the running of United after directors Andrea Whittaker and Mark Knighton applied to the Courts for the club to go into administration with debts of £1m, say they have no plans at this stage to sell the club as a going concern. They will put together a rescue package with the help of the club's holding company, CUFC Holdings and present their plans to a meeting of creditors at the end of July. If they receive 75% approval at this meeting from the creditors, the debts will be restructured and the Knighton family are likely to remain in control. The administrators are likely to continue running the club for several months until the debts are fully satisfied. The rescue plan involves the selling of 100 acres of land owned by CUFC Holdings which covers an area between Tesco supermarket at Rosehill and the Brunton Park training pitch. Most of it is classed as agricultural and is on a floodplain, ruling out planning consent. A small area near the end of Warwick Road which is currently occupied by wasteland and a derelict house has had outline planning permission granted. There has been speculation that a property firm want to build a hotel there. If succesful, the administrators may be able to raise enough capital to clear or partly clear the debts. CUFC Holdings are also hoping to refinance their own £1m debt with the Bristol & West Investments plc, a loan that is secured on Brunton Park stadium. The money was borrowed in the same week that the takeover by mysterious Gibraltar concern Mamcarr was announced in January 2001. That deal collapsed amid rumours that Michael Knighton was involved with Mamcarr. Since then, the football club have repaid the loan money to the holding company but the Bristol & West are thought to be charging the holding company over £3,000 a week in interest. CCUIST spokesman John Wilson said he was disappointed to hear no third parties were being considered at this stage in the proceedings. "I believe the position of our members and supporters in general is that they want a change of ownership full stop, not a rescheduling of debt to allow the Knighton regime to remain in place. Also, it appears to me that the proposed rescheduling of debt payment plan, to the extent that it is reliant upon any kind of meaningful attendances next season, must surely be inherently flawed. "The administrators seem to have been appointed with a very limited remit. They haven't been appointed to sell the business. We would have preferred administrators to be appointed with the remit to sell the club as a going concern to John Courtenay or Brooks Mileson for other interested parties to take over in time for the new season. We would like to see the powers of these administrators changed to enable the club to be sold to new owners to allow investment to take place, given the proximity of the new season." Prospective purchaser Courtenay has flown home early from the World Cup in Japan to organise his takeover bid and will be keen to meet BKR Haines Watts to put forward his alternative proposals. He is understood to be in talks with both Mileson and Scottish-based businessman Andrew Lapping in a bid to form a powerful consortium. He claimed last season that he could make the club successful on initial gates of 4,500. Last season's average of 3,204 was boosted towards the end of the campaign by fans who returned on the promise of a Courtenay takeover. Just 2,184 watched the final match against Cheltenham after the sacking of Roddy Collins and the collapse of the Courtenay bid. Administrator David Elliott would only say that he would pass any new offers for the club on to Michael Knighton. Picture from News & Star www.newsandstar.co.uk |
