PRESS RELEASE MON 2nd June
STATEMENT BY THE BOARD OFDIRECTORS NUNEATON BOROUGH FC 2.00PM MONDAY JUNE 2ND 2008
The new Board of Directors of Nuneaton Borough Football Club wishes to announce that due to the club’s serious financial problems the decision has been taken to take the club into Liquidation. The Directors have spent several weeks exploring every option available to them but have accepted professional advice from insolvency experts that there is no alternative but to liquidate the club’s assets. This decision has not been taken lightly and the board wishes to stress that had this route not been taken there was every likelihood that the club could have folded and there was a serious prospect of Nuneaton losing its football club. We did explore the possibility of going down the route of Administration of a CVA (Compulsory Voluntary Arrangement) but this would have involved going before a judge with our insolvency expert and, as there were no funds, our application simply wouldn’t stack up so Liquidation was the second option. Detailed discussions have been ongoing with the Football Association to determine the future of the club. We are still awaiting clarification as to which league Nuneaton Borough will be playing in next season but it is likely that we will be dropping two divisions and will be members of the Football Association Southern League Midlands Division. We have no choice but to move out of the Football Conference. Their regulations stipulate expulsion from their leagues whether a club goes into Administration, a CVA or Liquidation. The Football Association rules state that clubs in our position will be relegated by a minimum of two divisions. We did put two proposals to the FA in the hope we could go into the Southern League Premiership Division rather than the Midlands Division. If we had agreed with the 14 shareholders and the creditors with substantial debt we could have gone down the route of Administration or CVA and gone into the Southern League Premiership but we could not reach agreement with them. We will have the FA’s final decision on June 9th but our expectation is that we are likely to go down two divisions. This will not be the news that the club’s fans will want to hear and the position is not popular with the board, senior management or players who wear the shirt of Nuneaton Borough Football Club with pride. However, we have to realise and accept that we are in a serious financial predicament. A predicament that we have inherited and now have to deal with in the best possible interests of the future of the club. If we drop two divisions so be it. We have to draw a line in the sand, move on and create a new future for this club. We also have to be positive. We must look to a new chapter, a new era for ‘the Boro’! I have been personally working night and day to resolve this situation. I have not only put in many days and hours of my time, my company has guaranteed the players wages and we are now committed to investing in excess of £1 million in order to get the club back on its feet, develop new facilities, build the new stand and help the manager develop the playing side of the club. We have to manage this club as a business. As I have said many times before, the fundamental problem has been that too much money has been going out and not enough revenue coming in. That is a recipe for financial disaster and is the reason why Nuneaton Borough Football Club is in the position it is in today. The former Board of Directors has no further involvement with the club. That said I am totally confident and committed to the future of this club so much so that, after considerable thought, I have accepted the Boards invitation to become the club’s Chairman. I trust the fans will accept that by becoming Chairman I am personally giving my 100 per cent commitment to the future of Nuneaton Borough FC. The club is in safe hands. I am Nuneaton born and bred and have the interests of the club and town at heart. Today is a historic day albeit not a popular one for the fans. It is a milestone and the beginning of a journey to get this club back to where it belongs, challenging for honours and chasing dreams such as the FA Cup ties we had against Middlesbrough. That is what football is all about and where Nuneaton Borough must be again. I can assure the fans as Chairman I will do everything in my power to bring the good times back. But first we must lay new foundations, rebuild and create a sustainable business. It will not be an overnight job – we have a long journey ahead and the fans must be patient. Together we can take this club forward to a great future. And I stress together as it will be a team effort – from the fans and the Chairman including my Vice Chairman Paul Roberts and director Ian Brown. This will be the new board which will take the club forward. We want to bury all the bad news today and now move on to a new future. And I sincerely believe it will progressively be an exciting future with our new board, a committed manager and some exiting news which will hopefully be able to announce later in the week.
Ian Neale
Posted June 2nd 2008 15:00
i bet nunny wished they only had our problems. good luck to them.
now who is next?.
