[Archived] Leeds

[den]

Link

[den]

It really does sound serious.

[stuwilky]

I am told that HMRC are likely to make a winding up order within a week or so.

[den]

I am told that HMRC are likely to make a winding up order within a week or so.

That Wilkywagon certainly knows it's way around.

[daren]

I thought the club claimed to have cleared their debts around Christmas. But the shadiness going on around the buy-back was, and is, ridiculous! Bates puts the club in Administration, forms a company, and buys it back for 1p in the share? And then offers the IRS 77,000 out of 7.7 million (upped to 616,000 later on fear of the challenge).

The whole thing looks like a not-very-subtle attempt to clear the debt by writing it off without the agreement of the creditors while leaving ownership in Bates' hands.

[stuwilky]

That Wilkywagon certainly knows it's way around.

Court appearance set for Friday alledgedly.

[philipl]

Is the nearest Premiership football ground to Leeds at Ewood Park?

The old Leeds City folded back in the '20s so Leeds United could go the same way now. My guess is that what Ken Bates did just stuck in the craw of too many people. 1p in the £1 to a new set-up but not give it back to the guys who took it under. With such a high profile case I would expect the Revenue feel obliged to challenge Bates regaining control for anything significantly under 50p in the £1.

[stuwilky]

He made it worse yesterday IMHO by upping the offer to 8p in the pound. I suspect his blabbering about transfer funds being made available should it be accepted hasnt gone down especially well.

[American]

I thought a rival group tried to make an offer but were told that Bates' was final.

They should put the club up for auction...

[Billy Castell]

That would be an interesting Bargain Hunt. The way in which Master Bates elbowed the rival bidders out the way, so he could effectively sell it to himself and keep control was plain dodgy. I guess his ego couldn't allow him to admit he was a failure and leave. Anyway, I don't like Leeds, so I don't care how this goes. I wonder if Leeds Athletic will be facing Scarborough Athletic in the Pride of Bridlington Chipshop League next season.

A bad day for Yorkshire football

[Ben-2000]

I Don't like Leeds either or their fans... If it was any other team I might feel a tinge of sadness but not with them.

[1864roverite]

Marching on together............lalalalalalalalala na na na na na na na na na na na na......

The youth team is ripe for picking, go get them now before its too late and some other club pick them up.

Couldnt have happened to a bigger club. I wonder if we will see the young lad yelling his eyes out following relegation sitting on the steps of the Leeds kop committing football suicide ?????

The story will run and run, the blame will be passed around and the club will disappear without trace.

Manchester City, are you watching ??

[daren]

They can't buy or sell players while this goes unresolved. They're boned.

[USABlue]

They all really really screwed that one up. I do feel for Leeds, not all their fans are mindless yobs, I'd feel for any footy club to go under, mostly cos of what the fans lose. (Clarrots excepted)

Jeez, just a few years ago who'd of thunk it. A grim reminder that Rovers must get the sale of the club absolutely spot on.

[philipl]

This Guardian article puts things in context.

Looks like the overseas company creditors (Ken?) put themselves into a position where they could scupper other deals. Now the Revenue have done for Ken's scheme, I would say that Leeds will be auctioned off again and Ken will lose out.

[Claytons Left Boot]

Poor Leeds - my heart has started bleeding. Poor little things. I've said this before but I remember the one minutes silence for Sir Matt Busby at Ewood a few years back when, to a man, the whole Leeds section were cat calling, booing and singing about Don Revie whilst the rest of the ground stood in complete silence. Utter untermensch and I know there must be some decent Leeds supporters but what the heck.

[den]

Leeds keeping the season ticket money seperate, so that if they cannot start the season, they can pay back the supporters.

[philipl]

Leeds keeping the season ticket money seperate, so that if they cannot start the season, they can pay back the supporters.

Seeing that statement on the Leeds web site chilled me so what it must be doing to Leeds supporters is anybody's guess. That really looks bad, very bad.

Peter Risdale and Ken Bates- what a combination!!!!!

[Tris]

Are they in enough sh** yet that they could cop another 10 point deduction??

That would be marvellous - almost poetic - justice.

[mike at picture]

Are they in enough sh** yet that they could cop another 10 point deduction??

That would be marvellous - almost poetic - justice.

F**** sake Tris! Do you mean that?

[broadsword]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=niUtGcyf4Jw

[lockers]

i dont think that anything will come of this, bates will just have to pay a bit extra to creditors, leeds wont be wound up

the liquidation was handled by kpmg, who arent the sort of company to do anything shady and put their reputation at risk

[philipl]

The CVA was handled by KPMG- they did not do anything wrong as they are piggy in the middle.

The company passed to them when Ken put it into administration and its up to them to get the best deal for all the creditors. Bates came along with a deal saying he could guarrantee 40% of all creditors (a bunch of ocverseas cos which may or may not be linked to him) would vote for.

KPMG talked to other bidders but could not get the required votes for them (the overseas co creditors surprise surprise voting against the non-Bates deals) so the bid with the most realistic chance of being accepted was Bates.

That was until Phil Wllis MP (LD Harrogate) asked a bunch of questions in Parliament which he could use Parliamentary Privilege to avoid Bates suing to shut him up. Two more MPs got interested, asked more questions which lead to the Revenue saying they would not accept the Bates deal. Bates upped the payment from 1p to 8p in the pound but the Revenue alerted to this probably being a closed loop deal with a company trying to avoid its creditors legally with no effective change of ownership put their foot down.

Now KPMG have to get the best for the creditors (including Rovers who stand to lose some football protected payments in all this remember). If the Revenue won't accept Bates' offer and the offshore cos continue to block offers by other consortia which the Revenue might accept then there is nothing for it but KPMG having to liquidate ie shut down the club and sell it off piecemeal. In those circumstances the football-protected creditors (the ones who get paid in full to enable Leeds to continue as a football club) get reduced to the level of ordinary creditors and the whole pie gets cut up evenly.

There will be a lot of football interest in forcing Ken to relent which of course he won't. He is famously stubborn.

At this stage, Leeds and a few hundred thousands Rovers thought were coming their way are both history as I see it.

There are solutions which would save the club but the personality mix involved probably will scuttle them as nobody will blink. The offshore companies will probably be better off if the football creditors go unpaid in full- so will the Revenue. Nobody with skin in the game has much interest in Leeds remaining a football club apart from the football creditors whose exceptionally priviledged position effectively invalidates their voice.

Incidentally, I think another 10 points cannot be deducted as technically Leeds never came out of CVA to go back into it.

[Fife Rover]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=niUtGcyf4Jw

Oh boy that really took me back! I must admit to being quite moist eyed listening to that. Oh the memories of 1976/77....sigh!

[they_think_its_all_rover]

That would be an interesting Bargain Hunt. The way in which Master Bates elbowed the rival bidders out the way, so he could effectively sell it to himself and keep control was plain dodgy. I guess his ego couldn't allow him to admit he was a failure and leave. Anyway, I don't like Leeds, so I don't care how this goes. I wonder if Leeds Athletic will be facing Scarborough Athletic in the Pride of Bridlington Chipshop League next season.

A bad day for Yorkshire football

I remember the days of Leeds shirts in Burtons in Brid

Leeds annoy the hell outta me... being from the Hull area n' going to uni in west Yorkshire, where there is loads of leeds fans about... all giving me stick about how they're the better and greater club, and how they were staying up an Hull were going back to were they originally came from!

theres still Leeds fans on all Hull forums now saying how they're still a massive club and the best around

it felt extra great when Leeds went down and Hull stayed up all down to the man they hate the most too... Dean Windass

Felt sorry for Scarborough though... I remember seeing them play Cardiff when I was younger... look how far apart they are now... football as a business is a scary thing when you think about it, isnt it?

Lets just hope Daniel Williams is a true Rovers fan like he says he is!