Lt 29/10/09

[katei77]

http://www.lancashiretelegraph.co.uk...ard_to_resign/


FANS are calling for the Accrington Stanley board to resign after it was revealed that the club have only paid £96,000 off their £308,000 tax bill.
The Reds were granted a seven-day stay of execution at the High Court yesterday after former shareholder Ilyas Khan and former vice chairman Peter Marsden stepped in as guarantors for any outstanding amount.
Mr Khan, a stockbroker, has offered the cash all the way through Stanley’s eight-week fight to raise the cash for the unpaid tax bill.
Reds bosses had previously refused because they did not want to relinquish control of the club.
Mr Khan’s latest offer is said to be unconditional and will not be in return for any shares.
He said: “The reason I will put forward the money is because I love Accrington and the club and that is the only reason.”
70 fans staged a 90-minute protest outside the Crown Ground last night from 6pm.
Mr Khan addressed the fans and got a standing ovation.
The fans were unhappy that the club had only sent £96,000, the day after claiming more than £200,000 had been repaid.
And they questioned why the total is less than the £116,000 Stanley have raised from their fund-raising campaign.
Others were angry that Mr Khan’s offer had not been accepted until the 11th hour.
Accrington Stanley Official Supporters’ Club chairman Rob Russell said: “I think there should be wholesale resignations of the board.
“The fans are disgusted that the news could chan-ge so dramatically in 48 hours.
"If it wasn’t for Ilyas Khan and Peter Marsden, there would be no club today.”
Chief Executive Rob Heys and chairman David O’Neill said delays in the handing all the fund-raising cash were down to problems with the transfer of credit card payments and other issues.
The court was told that £100,000 had been pledged from the Professional Footballers’ Association, but Stanley chiefs said this statement was a ‘mix up’.
At the 10.30am hearing a High Court judge warned the club that this was literally the last chance.
Rejecting the club’s bid for a two-week adjournment, Registrar Simmonds said: “I will give you seven days – that is the 4th of November – and mark it absolutely final.
"The petition debt must be paid in full.”
The court was also told Stanley had additional debts of £127,000.
After the hearing, chairman David O’Neill said: “Thanks to the gesture from Ilyas Khan and Peter Marsden, we can now meet that deadline with no problem.
"There’s not a doubt in my mind that the club is now safe.”
Mr Khan revealed how close Stanley came to closure, adding: “When we were in there the judge moved to wind up the club and I said we pledged any remaining cash.
“There was no plan B. If I hadn’t the judge would have wound us up.”

[katei77]

Accrington Stanley chief executive answers the key questions (From Lancashire Telegraph)



ACCRINGTON Stanley fans want some answers about their club's battle for survival. We put the key questions to the Stanley Chief Executive Rob Heys.
Emma Cruces: Why has only £96,000 been paid to HMRC when the fundraising total has been at £116,000 for over a week and directors pledged £100,000 of their own cash?
Rob Heys: £96,000 is the amount that had cleared on the day. We were also able to put through a further £110,000 which will clear either today or tomorrow. Some credit card donations have taken four to six weeks to clear.
EC: In court your solicitor said that amount had been pledged by the PFA, so where is the rest of the fundraising cash?
RH: No that is a mix up. We have taken out a loan with the PFA which should have remained in our account but the fundraising cash is still going through. There is a lot of cash being sent to HMRC, which was not outlined in court.
EC: Where is the £100,000 pledged by the directors?
RH: I’m still waiting for those funds to clear, which should happen in the next seven days. The cash is from the remortgage of properties and that sort of cash is not something you can withdraw from a cash machine.
EC: A week ago you expected to have the cash on time. Was this delay not anticipated earlier?
RH: It was hoped that the money would come through a lot quicker than it did. The delay was longer than expected.
EC: Do Ilyas Khan and Peter Marsden want shares in return for the cash they have promised you?
RH: No, they have offered the money to make up the shortfall unconditionally.
EC: Protests for your resignation took place. Will you now resign?
RH: I can fully understand the fans’ anger and the reasons for the protest. What happens in the next week will have a bearing on that and hopefully the bill will be paid.
EC: So will you resign?
RH: Not immediately. Football clubs rely on their supporters, however. If that is what the fans deem necessary I will certainly listen. People are angry right now, but we need to see where we will be in the next day or so.
EC: On Tuesday you told the Lancashire Telegraph that well over £200,000 would be with HMRC on deadline from funds raised by the SoS campaign. A week ago you said you expected the entire amount would be with HMRC on deadline. Have you lied to us?
RH: No. People are very angry and that is to be expected. We have had unforeseen problems. Going forward the club is safe and well.

[cashman]

ok so why were fans kept in the dark about these things? no excuse to me,this is just bull.

[smudgie]

No excuses.

We have been fed lies and bull**** for 8 weeks now. (If not for 2 years under EW)

Time to go, its as simple as that.

[yonmon]

Extract from today's LT 's Report

The court was told that £100,000 had been pledged from the Professional Footballers’ Association, but Stanley chiefs said this statement was a ‘mix up’.

(Q) How can any CEO or Co-Chairperson possibly concoct a 'mix-up' form an amount of this magnitude in such a situation of real emergency ??..

(Q) Why would, even in the final seconds of 'the eleventh hour' would a CEO and a Co-Chairperson seek to prevaricate with Mr Khan and Mr Marsden regarding the true extent of 'THE DEBT' ??

(Q)..Why in that totally inadequate statement regarding yesterday's Court Hearing which appears on The Fishy Site, did the Directors fail to express any gratitude whatsoever to Mr Khan and Mr Marsden for saving the club from annihilation ?.

(Q) Do the two Director's who by their statement 'We'd rather see the Club die than take his money !'....still hold the same view after 'taking his money'
....or have they altered their stance?....and if they have ,will they come out and firstly admit their guilt, and secondly apologise for this appaling lack of judgement and taste??.

(Q)...If Do'N and RH have exhibited to everyone in the business and Football world that they are incompetent failures in every area of Management continue to fill their present roles....will this not result in a continuation in the downward spiral towards oblivion ?...
Heeding the advice of Ilyas Khan...this is not from a 'hang 'em high' standpoint, but from a logical assessment of all that I , and everyone else has observed over the past Month or so!!...any other Director and Manager of any business or organisation would definately have been asked to either fall on their respective swords..or been 'shown the door' a long time since !!

Answers please....many more questions for your perusal coming up shortly!!.

[katei77]

[B]£96,000 is the amount that had cleared on the day.[B]we were told last nite at the time of sitting before the judge not 1p had be cleared into the taxmans account

We have taken out a loan with the PFA which should have remained in our account
Do we take the PFA loan was not for the taxman if it was to remain in their account?

I’m still waiting for those funds to clear, which should happen in the next seven days. The cash is from the remortgage of properties and that sort of cash is not something you can withdraw from a cash machine.
how long ago was this promised from the board and they still havent sorted,dont you think they have more than enough time to get this sorted?also note the which should happen in the next seven days,not it will happen in the next few days

It was hoped that the money would come through a lot quicker than it did. The delay was longer than expected.
so why did they say the money was there,when in fact they were still waiting for it?

I can fully understand the fans’ anger and the reasons for the protest. What happens in the next week will have a bearing on that and hopefully the bill will be paid.

again he is only hopefull the bill will be paid but Khan/Marsden have promised the shortfall so why is saying hopefully?he wont answer if he will go?we fans only have a bearing on that?

Not immediately. Football clubs rely on their supporters, however. If that is what the fans deem necessary I will certainly listen. People are angry right now, but we need to see where we will be in the next day or so.
again no straight answer,does he think all be forgotton in a day or so?and now he says he will listen to fans,we have more than a bearing??

No. People are very angry and that is to be expected. We have had unforeseen problems. Going forward the club is safe and well.
why tell LT that there was over £200,000 would be with HMRC on deadline from funds raised by the SoS campaign and then say only 96k has be transfer,or has it?he refused to give the information to LT that uforeseen problems had come up even thought LT tried in vain to get information,Going forward the club is safe and well,is he sure or hopeful as he is only hopeful the bill will paid?

[maccawozzagod]

nicked off the Telegraph comments page but I think it deserves its own special mention because it sums up very well the position we are in

Norman the Wangler, Baxenden says...
7:38pm Wed 28 Oct 09
As a born and bred Accringtonian, and the son of a born and bred Accringtonian who grew up in view of the Crown ground i have always had drilled into me the romantic pride associated with our fantastic little mill town.

It punched above its weight in the Great War, took far more than its fair share of losses, it was associated at one time with the single best amateur cricket league in the world (the Lancashire League), and it also had Accrington Stanley.

Accrington Stanley - one of the proudest, most romantic names in football. As a young boy i was indoctrinated by my father on these subjects. My main football alliegance was always Rovers (peer group pressure - sorry dad!) but my second team was always Stanley.

My love and pride of the town of Accrington always made me wonder what i would do should Rovers and Stanley ever meet. Who would i favour?

The current and previous directors, managers and players have answered this question for me for the following reasons:

1. I do not for one minute believe that the 3 players caught for the match fixing was even the tip of the iceberg. I also know a past insider to the club who has confirmed this as such. The 'summer bonus' they called it. it went on for years. They only got caught when they were cocky and greedy.

2. The arrogance shown when they finally won promotion back to the league was flabbergasting but all too sadly indicative of the board and chairman. They didnt promote that return to the league one jot. they expected Accringtonians with other football alliegiances to come flooding back home in their thousands. They didnt and they only have themselves to blame. Impetus was lost to save a few quid on advrtising. where were the banners at the traffic lights? where werer the leaflet drops through doors? why no season ticket offers to gain interest? pathetic if you ask me. They clearly expected the 10,00 gates they got in cup games at Ewood or the Turf to roll up at Stanley. They didnt. Their fault.

3. The current mob. Refusing good cash while gambling with the future of the club. O'Neill turned up today with fingers crossed that the Inland Revenue will give them a bit longer after he previously said 'dont worry we have the money'. An absolute joke. A blatant attempt to see if anyone (other than Ilyas Khan of course) will give them some more free money so they dont have to pay their own unpaid taxes and players wages. But why would they put their hands in their pockets when the fans, the TRUE Accringtonians, will walk to Rochdale, stand in the rain with collection buckets, donate their spending money, organise sponsored events, etc, etc etc - the list goes on. I can only speculate as to why they turned down Khans money - and my guess is they are scared to let an honest man look into the clubs books - but i can only speculate... but the truth will out.

This is exactly why i have regrettably stayed away. This board, the guilty players, Eric Whalley (who will no doubt return to replace his puppet O'Neill if this all blows over) do not deserve it.

But the fans and the town do. I have donated anonymously - and i am now torn between thinking i have done the right thing and the wrong thing.

How can this be? because there is nothing romantic in what, in my opinion, has been a systematic abuse of the very concept of sport.

Thats why i stay away. And thats why i am so very, very ashamed of one of the 3 things i was brought up to hold dear.

Once the clubs fate is decided this regime must be ousted for the good of the club and the town itself.

Then, and only then, i will return to the ground where i have attended over 300 matches over the years.

ON STANLEY ON!

[Stanleymad]

Hopefully = no atm as it has done over the past few weeks thats all i've heard.

[Tin Monkey]

It does sum up very well what many of us have been saying for a long time now. I just hope that the recent events will bring it all to a head and then we can move forward.

My one main fear is that once the tax situation is sorted, things will go back to how they were until the next crisis rears its head.

[Redash]

Quite an honest assesment, don't you think.

[Doug]

Originally Posted by Tin Monkey

My one main fear is that once the tax situation is sorted, things will go back to how they were until the next crisis rears its head.

Even I agree that that can’t be allowed to happen.

Deep sense of respect for this gentleman and his feelings so eloquently put.

[lancsdave]

I think Redash needs to get up to the club as soon as possible with one of his big diggers. The spades curently being used for digging holes are wearing out fast

[Exile on Spencer St]

As with the Pals, the club is being led by buffoons.

[Redash]

Originally Posted by lancsdave

I think Redash needs to get up to the club as soon as possible with one of his big diggers. The spades curently being used for digging holes are wearing out fast

The holes dug by the directors are far too deep, even for a JCB.
It's probably in the best interests of the club to stop digging, open up and allow us all, to back-fill the holes, before we can move on.

[lochlan000]

I have to say after following the goings on through twitter I am saddened by all the goings on....But sadly hace seen this before I started following ur plight after going to a carling cup match I am a QPR supporter and have followed them for years and after attending the cup match against accy I started following your results the supporters are great and have to say you pushed us all the way.....and knowing what you are going through after the club I love most being put into administration and being run into the ground yes we are now the richest club but it still needs to run the right way otherwise with a click of the fingers you are back in trouble..... i hope this mess is sorted out and soon i do believe though it will take a clean sweep of the board and a good clear out to get things back in order....