How not to run a club
A press interview (1) given by manager Paul Hart reveals the level of communications which can be expected form Portsmouth’s new owners.  Following a meeting with their representatives (he has yet to meet Al Faraj some seven weeks after the takeover), Hart revealed: “There have been discussions. They were preliminary talks which will lead to others. ‘The detail wasn’t great so there needs to be more said.

Why Weymouth should be worried
Just how brazen can you get in flouting the Fit and Proper Person test?  See my last posting for some suggestions.  There is however a new contender. Latest on the takeover at Weymouth from the Dorset Echo includes the following gem: ““We are on course to fulfil our due diligence and will make a full statement on Monday on our decision, which is to carry on and take the club on,” said …” (1) The na

Should Steven Vaughan be worried?
Well, obviously he should about the future of Chester City, but I was thinking rather more of the implications of his signing an undertaking banning him from acting as a company director until the year 2020 (1).  The specific implication is that “may no longer act as either an active or inactive director, or exercise control over an individual who is a director, of any company” according to Companies House. Although Vaughan had been a directo

St Modwen v. Swindon Town
Swindon Town have one of the worst financial records among English league clubs.  They last turned a profit in 1996/97, and have been into Administration in February 2000 with debts of £3.5m, and again in March 2002 with debts of £1.8m. Following the second Administration, they did not emerge from a CVA until the end of May 2008.  Their financial instability has been compounded by their lack of stability in the pyramid, having been as low as the current League 2 following a single season in the Premier League in 1993/94. A report in The Guardian (1) that they are once more in financial trouble, under threat of a winding-up order to be serve by property deve

Insolvency overview
Three weeks is a long time in football management – it was only on 25 October that I posted my last overview.  Previous ‘overviews’ can be accessed by clicking on the ‘Overviews’ tag at the top of the page. With a number of clubs things have become clearer, but for many the confusion has just changed to a new confusion. Accrington Stanley The absurd brinkmanship that saw the club rescued on the footsteps of a court has seen Ilyas Khan come in as non-executive Chairman, but with ex-Chairman Dave O’Neill effectively in day-to-day control as Managing Director and Head of Op