FCHT directors view re. shay

Quote: 'alifax "Yes we can, opinions vary.. Some people think your a new club, formed after the old club borrowed money it couldn't pay back, other people like me think you're the same old club who cheated your way back into the football league structure by filing for bankruptcy, and stealing from the companies you owed money too. You boast about being in the black yet I wonder if some of the companies YOUR club stole from can say the same. You should still be held accountable for the debts you incurred. Once the £2m's paid back, come back on here and talk to us about our arrears.'"

To quote Hoddie from theshaymen.net

Quote: 'alifax ""They're listing the old club's debts on the Fax forum as though that somehow justifies their lack of payment of the rent. They clearly don't understand how such things work. A massive chunk of the debt was owed to directors and related companies, as would be normal for any company trying to engineer a positive CVA vote, another massive chunk was in relation to the redevelopment and is purely because the Blue Frocks didn't stump up the cash as promised, and most of the rest is tax and National Insurance, and most of that constitutes penalties and interest charged because of an error of judgement in not paying off the old CVA before seeking a new one (something which I personally think DB should apologise for but let's not get into that).

In particular they harp on about the SST going bust, but I'm reasonably sure it was wound-up having met all its liabilities, including giving both clubs and the Trusts back the money they provided for start-up capital. The debt owed by Halifax Town to the SST, as well as most of the smaller debts owed to local businesses, accrued while the club was in administration and those running the club would have had no choice in the matter. It was down to the administrator to decide what little money there was went to who. What I do know for a fact is that the rugby club were in arrears with their rent for the whole period I was on the SST board as the HTST rep, so this is hardly a new thing for them.

Both clubs have an incredibly similar recent financial history. Both received approx. £1.5m in capital during the late 1990s, and both wasted golden opportunities to build on solid foundations. The football club ed their chance away by spending too much money gunning for short-term success, and the rest (and more) was poured into the black hole that was the east stand redevelopment, something the club didn't even need. The rugby club spent their inheritance from Thrum Hall on historical debts, only to be on the verge of liquidation anyway only 8 years later. If it wasn't for Posner they would have gone bust a season or two before Halifax Town actually did.

I don't think any of us can be proud about the debts that the directors of Halifax Town ran up, me more than most probably has always argued that the club should live within its means. But I think the Frocks fans are taking the pulling this out of their while at the same time justifying their own club's 6-figure debt as being "normal".

At the end of the day the rugby club appear to be in financial trouble. Abbot was hoping to pull a rabbit out of the hat by getting the Shay cheaply, thus securing his position as the saviour of Halifax RLFC. That now looks unlikely so something else needs to happen to secure the club's immediate future. With all this attention on the arrears, even if the council doesn't pull the trigger, other more nervous creditors could have been alerted to the precarious nature of the club's finances, and could be about to pull the rug from under them.

Remember that Halifax Town's house of cards ultimately collapsed because one individual petitioned for a winding-up order over a 5-figure debt.'"

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