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NEWS
THE SENTINEL Thursday March 1, 2012
SEN-eO1-S2 [P]
SAVE THE VALE
What you’ve had to say online... NEWS of the winding up petition has sparked fierce debate on www.thisisstaff ordshire.co.uk and social networking site Twitter. “Just been reading about my old club Port Vale on the verge of admin. Such a shame but fingers crossed a positive solution can be found. #pvfc” Marc Bridge-Wilkinson “Robbie Williams Port Vale need you.........” @Tony T “Painful day to be a Vale fan. Thoughts to those players and staff at the club who have not been paid. #savethevale” @BoultonMatt: “Hopefully soon the players and the fans will have the club we deserve. The players and Micky are a real credit to the club.” @Adam Dixon “That’s what happens when you don't run your club within your means.” David Gallagher “Time for the fans to #SaveTheVale” @TSB_Butterbean: “PVFC staring down the barrel of the administration gun! Would be catastrophic if they entered administration and ended any play off hopes!” Glenn Jonesatron “Gutting news about Port Vale. Having been professional Stokie for a few years it's a club I had an affinity with. Hope it gets sorted. #pvfc” Graeme Brown “I have complete sympathy for Port Vale. It's a terrible time but league clubs always pull through. #KeepTheFaith” Andy Kilgour “All these Port Vale fans in and around Stoke moaning at the state of their club yet never go and watch them?” Pug Jordan “I hate Port Vale with a passion. But hope to God they don't fold. Genuine supporters.” Nathan W Smith
Council in favour of supporting club but hesitates over reaction
Vale waits on £300k funding decision BY ALEX CAMPBELL alex.campbell@thesentinel.co.uk
CITY council bosses will decide within days whether to bail out Port Vale with additional funding and steer the club into administration. The Labour-run council is likely to decide before the end of the week whether to put the club into administration to avoid it being wound up – and whether to hand over more money to help the club stay afloat. Club officials have asked the authority for more than £300,000 to keep operating until the end of the season. The council is still owed more than £1.8 million of the £2.25 million it loaned Port Vale in 2006. The Sentinel has learned the ruling Labour group decided earlier this week that it is in favour of supporting the club to avoid liquidation by entering it into administration and beginning the search for a buyer. But the award of further cash to the club would prove contentious in the wake of £24 million budget cuts, hitting services across the city, and a 3.49 per cent tax rise. Council chief executive John van de Laarschot and legal chief Paul Hackney spent yesterday in talks over the council’s next move. Councillor Mohammed Pervez, below, the authority’s leader, said: “We are very concerned with the recent developments at Port Vale Football Club. “We’re in discussions with the club and we are taking specialist advice in respect of our position as a secured creditor. “Our objectives have always been to protect the public purse and safeguard football at Vale Park. “The council is aware of the pressure on the club from fans, players and other stakeholders, but it is important that we collectively gather and consider all the relevant facts in order to understand the options for both the taxpayer and the club.” Sarah Hill, cabinet member for finance, said: “We are taking advice from people with the right professional expertise. We have to make sure any decisions are made with our eyes wide open. “But decisions will have to be made quickly. There is no other option but to make a decision quickly.” A Labour group source said: “It is a no-win situation, because the council wants its loan repaid and wants to keep the club afloat. “But it also has to look after its own money and be fair to the people who are losing out in budget savings. “The group did not want to see the club go into liquidation.” HM Revenue yesterday moved to issue a winding up petition against the club over its unpaid tax bill. If the courts decide Port Vale is insolvent and unable to pay it will face liquidation – the end of the company. That would
Mick Owen, aged 48, who runs a butchers shop in High Street, Biddulph, said: “Although this has been coming for a long time, I am still totally gutted to hear the news. “It’s a massive shock and I’m devastated. Bill Bratt tried to keep the club on an even keel, but these new people have been a disaster. “The decline has been so swift as it doesn’t seem long since we were pushing for the play-offs to get into the top flight.” Endon vet Clive Curry, aged 50, has had a season ticket for 10 years but boycotted games this term in protest at last year’s departure of manager Micky Adams to Sheffield Utd. He said: “I’ve been expecting this for some time, but it’s such a shame for the ordinary supporter. We should have accepted Mo Chaudry’s offer as at least he would have run the club on business lines. “But the real chance we missed was when we said no to Mr Paladini a few years ago. Look where QPR are now, so we can assume we would have at least been half way in the Championship.”
ANXIOUS TIMES: Vale fans waiting for news outside Vale Park yesterday. mean receivers selling off all remaining club assets and using the proceeds to begin paying creditors in a strict order of priority. Entering administration would keep the club in existence, but it still would mean administrators taking over the running of the club with the purpose of raising as much money as possible to pay off debts and balance the books. Because the council is a secured creditor, with the cash it is owed being secured against key club assets, it would be at the front of the queue for payments made to creditors by administrators.
Picture: Steve Bould
Finance expert Sam Corcoran said: “An administrator will look for a buyer. A liquidator will nearly always look to close the business down. “As a secured creditor the council would have priority for payments in either case.” A spokesman for the city council said: “We are continuing to talk with the club on a daily basis, and they are keeping us aware of their financial position.”
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thesentinel.co.uk
‘Deep down people knew something like this would happen’ SUPPORTERS gathered outside Vale Park yesterday spoke of their fears for the future of the club. The winding up petition, which is due to be served by HM Revenue and Customs, raises further questions about the club’s future. Former Vale striker and chief scout Ray Williams, of Congleton, who left the club after 39 years last year, criticised
‘It’s been coming for a long time but I’m gutted’
bosses for failing to take action. The 65-year-old said: “I feel really frustrated because we had an opportunity to avoid this situation and did nothing about it and now people are putting their heads in the sand. “The lessons have been learned too late and I just hope it’s not the end.” Mike Lakin, aged 59, of Clayton, has supported Port Vale for over 50 years.
He said: “I’m very confused. I’m feeling a mix of emotions, sadness, worry and a bit of happiness, as odd as it seems, because at least it’s out in the open. “Deep down people knew something like this was going to happen and we will probably go into administration, but it doesn’t take the shock away.” John Amos, aged 57, of Trent Vale, said: “Nobody is very happy at the
moment. All of the fans have been saying this day is going to come for over 18 months, but the directors wouldn’t do the decent thing and sell the club.” John Williams, aged 38, of Newcastle, said: “We all knew what was going to happen it was just a matter of when. The club hasn’t listened to the fans, the shareholders and those who have supported the team for years.”
Simon Threadgold, aged 47, who owns Mr S Barbers in Hamil Road, Burslem, and sponsors a box at the ground, said: “I had been wishing for this for some time so we can have a fresh start but now it’s here, I have started to flap because suppose no-one comes in for us now. This could have all been avoided and I blame Bill Bratt for refusing to accept Mike Newton’s £500,000 offer to become chairman and then not even talking to Mo Chaudry, who would have brought some badly-needed business sense to the club.”
HAVE YOUR SAY!
Email us at letters@ thesentinel.co.uk
>>> ■ PLAYERS AND SUPPORTERS HAVE THEIR SAY: PAGES 48&49 ■ WHEN THE DREAM TURNED INTO A NIGHTMARE: PAGES 50&51