11 October 2012

Truro City likely to avoid Football Conference expulsion

Source:  BBC Sport at 18:02 today BBC By Brett Pilnick

The Football Conference are hopeful that cash-strapped Truro City will not be expelled from Blue Square Bet South.

The club faced a deadline of 17:00 BST to pay a bond to cover the travel expenses of clubs going to Truro should the side fold in the future.

"We're hopeful that they will have," Football Conference spokesman Colin Peake told BBC South West Sport.

"We're waiting on confirmation from our bankers that the club have deposited the bond through their administrators."

The administrators' lawyer, James Moore, told BBC Radio Cornwall that Cornwall Council has put up £10,000 as a bond to the Conference to cover the club's next 10 games, taking them up to 15 December.

Cornwall Council have yet to confirm whether they have paid the money to the league or not, but issued a statement earlier in the day:

"Cornwall Council has been talking to the administrators about how the Council may possibly assist Truro City Football Club and is currently considering their formal request outlining what kind of support they want the Council to provide. "

But the club's manager says there is still no guarantee that the scheduled game with Dover Athletic on Saturday will go ahead.

Lee Hodges told BBC South West Sport that his players, who are owed three months' wages, are waiting for a payment of half a month's money from the administrators:

"We just don't know what's going on at the moment.

"We all agreed on everything and the administrators agreed on it as well.

"With no-one in charge at the club and no money at the club there'll be no way the club can go forward.

"We're owed nearly three months' money at the moment we're looking at 50% of a month's wages.

"We're not asking for it all, we just want a little bit of money as people are struggling at home."

City entered administration after owner and chairman Kevin Heaney was declared bankrupt and left the club.

Former Truro manager Steve Massey decided to drop a bid for the club last week saying "as a business proposition you'd walk away from it, it just doesn't make sense."

The club had risen from playing local league football to two divisions off the Football league after five promotions in six years following funding from Heaney.

But the club were served with a winding-up petition by HM Revenue and Customs in September last year over an unpaid tax bill and faced a debt claim of £700,000.

After entering administration in August, the Football Conference gave City the 11 October takeover deadline at the end of last month to agree to a sale or face expulsion.

Truro City financial timeline

  • September 2011 - Truro face winding-up order for unpaid taxes
  • June 2012 - High Court told debts total more than £700,000
  • August 2012 - Truro players threaten to quit after not getting wages
  • August 2012 - Owner Kevin Heaney declared bankrupt
  • August 2012 - Truro enter administration
  • September 2012 - Players set 2 October deadline and Football Conference sets one for nine days later for takeover
  • September 2012 - Football Conference set 11 October deadline for takeover
  • 3 October 2012 - Players agree to stay on until 11 October
  • 11 October 2012 - Conference say Truro have made deadline



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