Chasing The Deadly Dream

Barely a year after a takeover, Dagenham and Redbridge are the latest in a suddenly large list of National League clubs that are struggling for funds.

It has been little more than ten years since the ambitious Daggers ditched their 'owned by members' model to become the limited company that Football League rules demanded. Promotion to the fourth tier followed and a nine year stay followed. Relegation in 2016 sent them back and began their money troubles.

A consortium sealed a takeover in January 2017, coupled with a £1.3million injection, after the members turned shareholders voted in favour of the deal. That cash ran out early in the current season with chief funder Glyn Hopkin resigning his Board position and ceasing further cash injections at the end of 2017.

Hopkin blamed, in part, a campaign by supporters to oust the club's Managing Director, with a string of flags - including a North Korean one - displayed at games to infer the official's running of the club was akin to the secretive state.

On the pitch the club are five points short of the play-offs, having failed in last season's lottery to regain a spot among the 92. Out of both the FA Cup and Trophy at the first hurdle, the club have now circulated to clubs that they have 'a number of players' available for transfer. With no names listed, it usually means they will listen to any offers. First out the door was England C striker Morgan Ferrier back to old club Boreham Wood, while Sam Ling joined Leyton Orient. Both within 24 hours of the circular.

However Dagenham are far from the only club in trouble. Chester and Hartlepool have had their problems highlighted in recent weeks, while the mistrust over Torquay's owners continue and Woking's long awaited takeover leaves them in mid-table obscurity.

A step lower in the pyramid, Telford are only in existence due to the generosity of Wolves and their use of the ground for second string fixtures, while York City are claimed to need further seven-figure funding to secure their future before a move into the new stadium that was first due for completion in 2010 but has barely begun construction. Their long time majority owner, Jason McGill, has set an ultimatum to the minority owner, the Supporters Trust, to hand over their shares to ensure he continues to fund the sixth tier side, having needed to put in £90,000 last month to cover the wage bill.

Chasing the Football League prize is beginning to look like a very deadly dream.

The Russian Football Debacle

So, this isn't going to be necessarily true.

My parents ran the British Embassy bar in Moscow for a number of years during the Cold War. Both served in the Forces, and got married specifically to take the posting in Moscow in the late 1960s. They spent several years in Moscow running a bar and providing alcohol to functions hosted at the Embassy up to the end of 1971.

This is a story recounted by my father. He died in 1993. But, with the World Cup due to take place in Russia, it's probably apt that this story gets aired one more time. It's the only football related story of their time there.

Northern Ireland were set to play a match in Moscow. George Best, then given the unofficial title of the World's best footballer, was going to be in Moscow. It was 1969, and the two teams had just had a goalless draw in Belfast before a rematch barely a month later.

George Best played in the first game, but not the second. So I can't confirm whether George Best actually appeared. There seems to be no proof, no photographic evidence I can find. Just the anecdote.

The Russians were pleased to be hosting the greatest footballer in the world, and wanted to mark the occasion with something special. That was a large bottle of Vodka, presented before the game.

And, by large, it varied from being a metre tall to being as big as George Best himself depending on the retelling. This wasn't the Vodka of norm either. This was special Russian Vodka. Way over the ABV of that sold in the UK. Apparently.

The Northern Ireland team played in front of over 100,000 people that day and lost. They wanted to drown their sorrows. The problem was, this was a Police state. There were few bars that could host them.

So, off to the Embassy they went.

First the pints were poured, then the shorts, then the huge bottle of Vodka was opened. The team and the associated entourage drank everything in sight. And, as the son of Irish immigrants himself, my father joined them.

The only problem was that the bar operated under UK licencing laws. Back then it had to shut in the afternoon, and come 11pm the bar had to shut entirely. The on-site Police made sure of it. The visiting footballers asked if there was another - friendly - bar they could go to. There was. And it was open 24 hours.

They apparently wrecked the US Embassy bar and had to be escorted back to their hotel in the early hours by armed guard. Whether much of it is true is open to debate. History only records the 2-0 loss and not the post-match antics.

But, you'd like to hope it is true.

The Song Remains The Same

A new HUFC but the same crisis. Hartlepool United face an incredibly similar situation to Hereford United with a looming set of bills threatening their existence.

Both HUFCs were in Council-owned grounds, had a lengthy period of financial stability under owners that didn't necessarily have universal backing, and came to a financial meltdown in a hasty way following relegation.

While the Hereford United collapse took four years from the transfer of ownership from good to bad, it was in the Court facing a winding-up petition within two and a half. Hartlepool have reached crisis in similar time. In both cases the alarm bells really sounded after the loss of Football League status.

This week's stark calls for £200,000 in fourteen days to keep the club afloat come after a series of disastrous Boardroom appointments. The original bidders, Stephen Murrall and Peter Harris, were eventually convicted of fraud over their bid for the club, having helped themselves to gate receipts they weren't entitled to.

Their replacement, Gary Coxall, was declared bankrupt shortly after his tenure ended in May leaving Sage Investments holding the incredibly cash hungry baby that slipped out of the Football League shortly after Coxall's resignation. From stability in 2015 under the less than popular Ken Hodcroft to owing a reported £1.8million - mostly to Sage Investments - and needing a further six-figure sum in short order just two and a half years later.

The Supporters Trust have kept their powder dry so far, going only so far as to back supporters fundraising efforts. £11,000 and counting has been donated to a Just Giving page, with Middlesborough fans - mindful of their 1986 eviction and the assistance they had from Hartlepool while they were locked out of Ayresome Park - donating generously.

Sage Investments are reported to be looking for some of their debt to be returned with the club up for sale. Any bidder with good intentions for the club will demand every penny be written off. No sane businessman would buy a cash burning machine with debt already attached and, with both reported interested parties outside the UK, the likelihood of a millionaire fan making an altrusitic gesture is incredibly slim. We've been there.

The fans of the club may have to come to a realisation - that the club will only lurch from crisis to crisis without substantial investment over the next six months. There may well be no saviour that will throw sufficient money into the hole to plug it up. The debts will keep on coming into the summer as the players remain contracted to the club, so there's probably another £1million needed there. We've been there.

Administration isn't an option, not in the National League with their debt repayment rules. It'll buy time but will not reduce the sums owed. Agree with creditors to slash debts - or reach no deal at all - and the club will be demoted to Step 3. We've been there.

It is an unfortunate situation, not of the fans making, and there is an unfortunate outcome that will see the company die. But the club - the fans - will live on in the Council owned ground with a sensible business plan.

We've been there.

Pompey Agree To Eisner Deal

Billionaire Michael Eisner is set to become Portsmouth's new owner after the majority shareholders agreed to sell to the former Disney man.

Over 75% of the shareholders, including the Supporters Trust and the 'Pompey Presidents', voted in favour of the move meaning Eisner will now effectively repay shareholders their original investment and put a further £10million into the club whose Fratton Park stadium requires substantial repair.

80% of Trust members voted in favour, as did 75% of the Presidents with 81.4% of the total shareholding backing the move.

For some, like former Supporters Direct stalwart Kevin Rye, the decision is a dark day and - with nearly 20% of the shareholding against the proposal - that is significant opposition to selling to a scenario that previously saw the club plunge into peril. Eisner, and his Tornante vehicle, has set out a vision that will do to Portsmouth FC what Eisner did to Disney - commercialise the business to the further possible degree - but that he will protect the 'heritage' of the club.

The supporters of Portsmouth are in for interesting times. The EFL had already announced that most - if not all - games would be streamed live to a global audience for an estimated £110 a season per club and Eisner is likely to be keen to promote the Portsmouth 'brand' and 'heritage' outside the traditional area.

He will undoubtedly bring innovations in marketing previously unseen in football. Whether the traditional supporter will agree with them is another matter.

Full Time For Part Time

National League side Aldershot are now offering 52 week contracts to players in a bid stop them being poached by other sides. They say the move is a 'calculated risk' in adding a further eight weeks of pay to the existing 44 week schedule that National League sides usually offer.

With the administrative 'season' ending on June 30th, usually National League sides would sign players from July 1st through to the end of the playing season in early May, but the Shots will now go through to June 30th to match deals offered in the Football League.

The move is a further step towards the National League ending being a part time competition. Chester boss Jon McCarthy says that only his side may be part time next season:

“Next season, you could argue that there will only be Chester that are part time. I know you have the likes of a Dover that will stay part time, but in terms of finances and the way that they work things they are very much full time.

“I think it could be that next season is the last ever season where there is a part time element to the National League. It is turning into the old Fourth Division, which I did play in, and this is League Two standard."

Trouble Up North

A trio of National North sides are undergoing ownership issues.

Telford's second attempt at selling shares in the club has been 'disappointing' according to the club.

Just £17,700 of additional shares were purchased in the second window, and no major investor stepped forward following the abolition of ownership limits. Around 65% of the shares still remain unsold and, although technically not currently on sale, the club's Board will consider approaches.

The Board itself has advertised for reinforcements, in a week that has seen club General Manager Sharon Bowyer step down from her role due to family commitments after beginning work for the club when it was reformed.

The Shropshire side say the lack of share sales won't affect next season's budget.

Meanwhile newly relegated Southport have announced a six figure investment from an accountant and a financial advisor, both businessmen in the town. The investment comes as a second businessman claims his offer for the club was totally ignored, while the club's Board went through an unpleasant series of appointments and departures.

Former manager Liam Watson was only recently appointed to the Board but saw his appointment, and that of two others, thrown out due to limitations on the size of the Board in the club's constitution. Watson was subsequently made redundant, with current manager Andy Preece told to re-apply for his job.

Long serving chairman Charlie Clapham will step down from the club, having been a polarising figure among supporters.

Elsewhere, a surprising figure is riding to Darlington's aid.

Raj Singh, previously the chairman and owner of the liquidated Darlington club, has offered £40,000 towards next season's budget in exchange for shares in the club. The move, announced yesterday, will have to go to a vote of shareholders and has already met significant opposition due to Singh's involvement in the collapse five years ago.

A fourth National North side, newly relegated York City, have also released financial results for their final season in the Football League which report a £300,000 loss. A further similar loss is expected for the 16/17 season despite them falling straight through the fifth tier, and the club continues to rely on owner Jason McGill.

McGill's firm, JM Packaging, is now owed over £4,7million, repayable when the club's long delayed move to a new stadium - that remain in planning hell - is finally completed.

A Rare Glimpse Of Real Life

In a week when the EFL deliberately and willfully agreed to lie to supporters it has finally admitted what has been blatantly obvious for some time.

The EFL says it made a 'difficult decision' in allowing supporters to be lied to about the abandonment of a match, between Leyton Orient and Colchester, but admitted that it was powerless to stop rogue owners. Their own statement notes 'the decision was taken by the EFL to announce the abandonment of the game to clear the pitch and when it was safe, allow the players to return to complete the fixture.'

The statement also states that the EFL wants to protect the legitimacy of the competition which, in a season when teams have been fined for fielding reserve sides against Academy sides from higher grade teams (effectively a third string XI), and now sees honest paying customers fail to watch the match they forked out money to see, legitimate is no longer a word that can be used to describe the EFL.

The only decent thing the EFL have done is acknowledge what everyone knew. That their limited rules on owners were unenforceable and they were powerless to prevent rogue club owners. All the stern words, the threats, and the false hopes over the past years amounted to not one iota of real action. It was nothing more than the illusion of power.

Since their rebranding from the Football League last summer, the EFL has been massively devalued in terms of the integrity that it wishes to protect. Chief Executive Shaun Harvey has repeatedly enraged supporters, who he appears to care little about, with a series of ridiculous ideas that has seen the Checkatrade Trophy turn into the Mickey Mouse cup that many fans jokingly referred to it as - even going as far as bending the rules of the competition to suit the bigger sides.

The actions at Brisbane Road last Saturday should have the FA demand answers from the EFL and Harvey as to why the lifeblood of the game was treated with such utter contempt.

But, in a world of inaction, I won't be holding my breath.