by Stranded »
29 Feb 2024 14:28
The Royal Forester OLLIE KEARNS Stranded
Well, they may not expel us at that point but if there is doubt about us as a going concern they will want to avoid the situation they had with Bury where they had to suspend their first 6 games as they didn't want them playing any games until proof was given that creditors could be paid off. When the takeover fell through, the EFL pulled the plug as their owner couldn't give assurances that he could fund the club.
We are in a slightly different position in that we don't really have external creditors however, if we are stuck with Dai there is no way, in my mind, they will let us go into another campaign where there is a very high risk of the club/owner not meeting their obligations. They will demand Dai puts aside the 125% of wages and proof that funds will be available to pay all liabilities on time. If that cannot be provided, and Dai has pretty much made it clear that he has no intention of producing such proof then there has to be a very strong chance that without a takeover (or one being close to complete) that we start next season as an EFL club - in fact, it is likely we aren't playing anywhere next season in that scenario.
To my mind they could expel us as early as end of April. Owner doesn’t pay fines after 35 days = owner barred and given 28 days to sell the club. Owner doesn’t sell the club = club expelled from the EFL.
The EFL will want us gone long before fixtures are published because of the added complications of who would be playing in which league. Hope I’m wrong but it seems to now be a game of brinkmanship with end of April being the deadline.
I don’t really blame the EFL for this but they should cut out the nonsense that they are supposedly trying to support the club.
I don't see why we would have to be expelled before the fixture list is published. All it needs is for whichever division we are due to be play in would have only 23 teams. meaning the club we were due to play would have a day free of a fixture This has happened before, so I cannot see it causing any problems doing it this way.
But they will want to avoid that if at all possible, so will be looking for guarantees before the fixtures are out that we are going to be around and can meet obligations etc.
If we were to be expelled after fixtures are out it opens up a number of problems. Firstly, each side will now then have 1 less home game - could cause issues in terms of ST prices - loss of income etc.
Secondly, one side will finish their season before everyone else. Now the likelihood is that will have minimal impact but you could equally end up with a situation where 2 sides are playing each other on the last day knowing a draw keeps them both up at the expense of the side who finished the week before.
Again, the EFL will want to avoid anything that could lead to such a scenario. So any deadlines will likely be early - say end of April, so that they can reprieve or promote a replacement side.