Conference Board Asks Wrexham FC For £250,000.
The Conference board has demanded that Wrexham FC pays a bond or bank guarantee of £250,000 to satisfy the board that the club can meet its legal and financial obligations for the coming season.
The demands have come after club officials went before an an independent panel of the Football Conference yesterday “to account for the serious financial situation at the football club.”
In a statement released on the conference website the board said: “It was crucial, with the season due to commence, to establish, how best to protect not only the integrity of the competition but importantly to safeguard the interest of member clubs.”
They continued by stating the obligations which the club must satisfy before starting the season, stating: “Wrexham Football Club shall by 5pm on Monday, 8th August undertake to the Football Conference Ltd:-
1. Deposit a bond or bank guarantee of £250,000 into the competitions accounts.
2. Proof of payment to all outstanding football creditors, including staff and players wages.
3. Lodge a signed lease, acceptable to the Football Conference, as to where the club intends to play its home fixtures for season 2011/12.
4. Submit a detailed business plan and revised budget for the coming season”
The conference board said that measures were needed to determine the club’s ability to fulfill their fixtures and meet creditors’ demands.
The news will no doubt raise huge fears for the future of the club, and Wrexham FC owner Geoff Moss also told fans gathered to collect their season tickets following last night’s friendly that the players were still owed £20,000 in wages. He said: “There is still a twenty thousand pound gap in the players’ wage bill despite the money raised by fans.”
Geoff Moss spoke to fans who were gathered to collect their season tickets last night.
However, Mr Moss went on to say that the bill would be paid once money from the sale of the Racecourse Ground, believed to be in the region of £2million, came into the club’s accounts and that a tax bill due in the near future would also be paid using the money. When asked why he wouldn’t pay the bill himself he said: “I simply cannot afford to.”
Worryingly though, at that point, he appeared unaware of what had been decided at the conference board meeting which was attended by the club’s commercial director Jon Harris, Mr Moss said that he had not had time to speak to him as of last night.
Over 700 people attended last night’s game with £2,153 being raised by donations for the Wrexham Supporters Federation and a further £1,500 was donated by fan site Red Passion, taking the site’s total donations to £4,500.
When questioned on the progress of sale talks between himself and the Wrexham Supporters Trust Mr Moss said that the trust were currently in dialogue with Glyndwr University regarding a lease stating that he believed the talks “went well.”
However, he also urged the WST to speed up their negotiations and claimed that he had yet to receive any heads of terms from them, adding that there was still a danger of administration if the situation was not sorted.
Time will clearly be off the essence if the club are to satisfy the conference board’s demands and be able to start the new season.
Spotted something? Got a story? Email [email protected]
