Plymouth Arygle may sell off players to save club from winding up order

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Saturday, December 04, 2010
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This is Devon

SAVING Plymouth Argyle could require selling players, staving off creditors and multi-million-pound investment from bosses, The Herald understands.

Lawyers are still drafting the detailed "business plan" the Pilgrims will put before a High Court judge in just four days' time.

However, The Herald understands it could contain three key avenues to gaining a 56-day extension to its third winding up order from the tax-man.

The plan must prove the Pilgrims have plotted a credible path out of their current crisis if the judge is to grant the stay of execution and avoid liquidating the club.

Staff have still not been paid for November more than a week after their salaries were due, thanks to the club's bank account being frozen.

The Herald understands Argyle's total debt stands somewhere between £7million and £9million.

If Argyle survive Wednesday's crunch hearing, it is thought between £4-5million must be found by February 2 to attract fresh investment.

Well-placed sources said the plan, now hoped to be ready on Monday, could include raising part of that through the sale of players.

More could come as a result of discussions with creditors, with the remainder requiring a cash injection from directors.

That means pressure is growing on board members, who have been locked in crisis talks for more than a week.

It is thought Japanese director Yasuaki Kagami is aware of the urgency, with his business partner George Synan remaining at Home Park yesterday.

The pair are majority shareholders with 38 per cent, while chairman Sir Roy Gardner and Keith Todd together own 13 per cent. The remaining 49 per cent is split equally between deputy chairman Paul Stapleton and directors Robert Dennerly and Tony Wrathall, as well as about 1,000 smaller shareholders.

Any cash put into Argyle by one camp would need to be matched, it is understood.

Mr Synan travelled from Home Park to London yesterday, while Mr Todd had departed for the capital earlier. Former Leeds United and Cardiff City chairman Peter Ridsdale, who is advising the current board, was later driven to Plymouth City Airport by club manager Peter Reid.

None of the Argyle directors was available for comment yesterday.

The Football League has imposed a transfer embargo as a result of the looming High Court action, potentially posing a barrier to selling players during the January transfer window.

It will be lifted only if the unpaid tax bill of about £700,000 that triggered the latest winding-up petition, is settled.

But New Zealand international striker Rory Fallon is on loan to Championship side Ipswich Town until January 22, with a view to making the move permanent.

Three other senior players are also out on loan – record signing Steve MacLean at League Two outfit Oxford United until January 11; defender Marcel Seip at League One rivals Charlton Athletic until January 8; and experienced midfielder Damien Johnson at fellow League One club Huddersfield Town until the end of the season.

Meanwhile, Bradley Wright-Phillips, the division's top scorer, and in-form winger Craig Noone are likely to attract attention from other clubs should Argyle be able to enter the transfer market between the January 1 to 31 window.

Meanwhile, police have confirmed Argyle's scheduled League One clash with Exeter City on December 11 will be "policed in accordance to the risk assessment".

About 200 officers will be deployed for the Category C game, which it was feared would have to take place either behind closed doors or without away fans as a result of Argyle's ongoing inability to access its bank account.

Securi-Guard, which provides security at Home Park, would not comment on whether its contract is being fulfilled.

But the firm which installed the club's new state-of-the-art pitch, Inscapes, has already confirmed some of its staged payments are outstanding.

It signed a deal with Home Park Properties Ltd, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the club's holding company, but that company has also had its bank account suspended and faces a similar winding-up petition in London's High Court on Wednesday.

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22 Comments

  • Profile image for This is Devon

    by J, Plymouth

    Monday, December 06 2010, 10:21AM

    “Oh god, we are going back down to league 2...of we even have a club left by then.... This whole mess is just heart breaking. If we sell the only players anyone will be interested in, we cannot stay up. We are barely keeping out of the R zone at the moment, imagine if we lose our top scorer and our quick winger/captain...”

  • Profile image for This is Devon

    by rob5gt, plymouth

    Sunday, December 05 2010, 9:54PM

    “Nigel- Argyle went down due to poor results. You dont go down a league if you havent got much money. If they sell the players its the final straw with our club. Some are good but on the other hand maybe its time to start again? new squad, new times no fans left ! all I can say is I was there with the good times at argyle when we had Holloway and they are great times to look back on ! Lets remember you dont need money to get back into the championship or to be a good club you need a hard working squad who stick together and a solid manager.”

  • Profile image for This is Devon

    by St.George, England

    Sunday, December 05 2010, 2:55PM

    “ok we take Ronaldo, Beckam Rooney and whoever ya fancy on for a months free loan,,
    Its about time all football clubs showed comradeship and helped each other out specially the big boys,
    We play these free loan signings for a month or two, bringing in football fans from all over, and good gate reciepts.

    wait a min,, reaches for the bottle of glen fuddle malt..”

  • Profile image for This is Devon

    by nigel, cornwall

    Sunday, December 05 2010, 11:28AM

    “my feeling is plymouth went down from the championship cause they could't afford the wages, just as exeter and torquay went down in whatever division they were in. on a personal note they get paid quite enough not to worry about missing one month wages that i dont care”

  • Profile image for This is Devon

    by Jim, London

    Sunday, December 05 2010, 10:37AM

    “In striving to put their own interests first and foremost, the so called Directors seem to have created a financial mess that they themselves don't understand and can't figure out how to resolve. On one level it's a farce of high comic genius. On another it's a disgrace and they should all be ashamed of themselves. But clearly they don't understand the concept of shame either because none of them have resigned and Todd is still appearing on local TV jabbering away and as usual missing the point (Argyle is a football club) What do these people understand?”

  • Profile image for This is Devon

    by Dick, London

    Sunday, December 05 2010, 1:26AM

    “Sounds like a fabulous plan. No wonder club director and spokesman Synan is "personally not worried."

    But January is then and this is now.

    Who is personally worried about the club's staff? Who is going to pay them?

    They haven't been paid in almost seven weeks. How are these simple, dedicated, people, to pay their home rents or mortgages, car loans, utilities? How do they buy school lunches or Christmas presents?

    There has been talk about legal impediments to the directors paying the staff out of their own pockets whilst this mess gets sorted. That is rubbish of the lowest order.

    All they have to do is:

    1. Put some cash in an envelope
    2. Write the name of a staffer on it.
    3. Hand it to the staffer with a handshake and sincere apology for the trouble the directors have all caused the staff.
    4. Repeat until finished.

    Simple as.”

  • Profile image for This is Devon

    by Roger, Plympton

    Saturday, December 04 2010, 9:50PM

    “Dougie Fletcher could have brushed his hair - muppet”

  • Profile image for This is Devon

    by DAVID, Balckpool

    Saturday, December 04 2010, 9:24PM

    “I am a shareholder of PAFC and at the AGM earlier this year the shareholders voted to sell the ground to Home Park Properties Ltd for around seven and a half million pounds. (I wasw strongly against this personally and only lost by about 100,000 votes). Is it a coincidence that the current Board were the Directors of HPP Ltd and to the best of my knowledge this sale has not yet been completed - more than eight months later! If that money had been paid over it would pretty much clear the estimated debt. So, come on Gardner and co, let's see the colour of your money if you really want to save this club! My fear is that they will charge an exorbitant rent to the football club for use of the facilities.”

  • Profile image for This is Devon

    by Terry Hart, Plymouth

    Saturday, December 04 2010, 8:55PM

    “In that debt of £7 or 9 million there must be a considerable lump owed to Plymouth City Council as the club leases and rents large chunks of Central Park and is liable to council tax like the rest of us. We can be sure if they don't pay the taxman they won't be paying the Council. I wonder if Pengelly and her crowd will be as anxious to allow the club to develop whatever they want in Central Park now we all know the club is bankrupt and incapable of managing their own affairs?.
    Somehow I think that the development proposals put forward by the council for Central Park will become magically modified to include a lot of what the Club directors want. In the end the directors will continue to line thier own pockets at the expense of the taxpayers, people of Plymouth and the fans of Argyle.”

  • Profile image for This is Devon

    by Pete, Plymouth

    Saturday, December 04 2010, 8:32PM

    “Good picture of PR. Looks deep in thought. Probably thinking what on Earth have I done. Or words to that effect!”

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