Burgess Hill need your help

[Storer68]

press release from burgess hill town

PRESS RELEASE
Burgess Hill Town Football Club Limited
On Thursday 10 April Mid Sussex District Council served Notice on Burgess Hill Town Football Club to terminate the Club's Lease of the football ground at Leylands Park with effect from 13 October 2008. This Notice follows a short correspondence between the Council and the Football Club wherein the Council indicated that it proposed to take steps to forfeit the Club's Lease as a result of what the Council considered to be breaches of the terms of the Lease. Having taken legal advice on the matter the Club was satisfied that it would be entitled to relief against forfeiture on the basis of well established principles of law and the fact that certain statutory provisions for the protection of tenants would have been available to the Football Club.
However, rather than expose themselves to the risk of being challenged in Court, the Council have opted to exercise a clause in the Lease enabling the Council to bring the Lease to an end. The Football Club has always been aware of this clause and as long ago as October 2005 sought assurances from the Council that the clause would not be used to resolve essentially Landlord and Tenant matters. In a meeting between Gary Croydon, the Chief Executive of the Football Club, and the Club's Solicitor, Anne Halligey, who was then Corporate Strategic Director of the Council gave the Club assurances it was seeking stating that termination of the Football Club Lease would be "politically unacceptable".
We are advised that in reaching the decision to terminate the lease with such far reaching consequences there are a number of procedures which the Council, through their own policies and standing orders, should have complied with. This does not appear to have been the case here and the Club's lawyers are therefore have requested the Council to supply certain further information. Until that information has been received it would be inappropriate for the Club to comment further.

This website spoke to Gary Croydon after reading the above statement ....
"We are in total shock at the club, this has come as a bolt out of the blue"
"We don't understand why the Mid Sussex authority as taken this action"
"Based on their action the outlook looks bleak"

 

[Gully]

The club was there before the houses I'm certain. You would think that before buying a house in the vicinity of a football club you might have cause to think about the possible disruption before you handed over your money.

Exactly, my house is within a couple of minutes walk from a Premiership rugby ground...I certainly considered the possibility that parking might be an issue on matchdays, if you go out it just means making sure to either come back not less than an hour or so before kick-off or to come back after the game has finished...it was definitely a price worth paying to live in this part of town, save rugby days, it really is quiet and pleasant.

 

[Scarface]

Sort them out Kanu!

Way above my level unfortunately, sounds like they havent been paying the rent and they have lost patience with them.

 

[Blackadder]

I'm not sure to be honest. I feel strongly enough about it to give it a mention. As for starting a campaign about it, I don't know if that's a great idea tbh.

You could ask listeners for their views?

 

[JJ McClure]

Some of the local residents clearly have not thought through the implications of their petty moaning. What would they prefer, a nice local football team that provides facilities for the local area such as the club bar etc but happens to leave the lights on late once in a while, or months of building work, the loss of local green space, being over looked by new houses and a mass in flux of traffic.
I for one am happy to live near the football ground and hope it is there for sometime to come.

 

[Billy the Fish]

The people in the houses directly behind the stand have always had a problem with the club. One bloke in particular is a complete twat, and is very much the John Catt of Burgess Hill. My mate used to be ballboy there a few years ago and if the ball was kicked into this blokes garden he refused to give it back, I'm sure it was him that made a fuss about the floodlights aswell. It would be criminal if they built on those playing fields, I used to play for southdown, where the hell would they go?

 

[bright1064]

I think people have to look at it from both sides of the coin though.
I've been thinking about the situation quite a lot today, and if the Hillians really haven't been paying their rent then the council have to take action.

If you were a landlord, letting a property then you would need your money sooner or later.

Maybe the council have no choice? I don't know in truth, none of us know the financial situation.

 

[Since1982]

I think people have to look at it from both sides of the coin though.
I've been thinking about the situation quite a lot today, and if the Hillians really haven't been paying their rent then the council have to take action.

If you were a landlord, letting a property then you would need your money sooner or later.

Maybe the council have no choice? I don't know in truth, none of us know the financial situation.

Don't disagree about the rent. It needs to be paid but the timing of this intervention from MSDC is very unhelpful given league rules about groundsharing etc. Its also a bit rich of MSDC to be having a pop about financial mismanagement given that they wasted thousands (quarter of a mill?) on that festival in Haywards Heath last year - and then tried to cover up the losses.

 

[bright1064]

Don't disagree about the rent. It needs to be paid but the timing of this intervention from MSDC is very unhelpful given league rules about groundsharing etc. Its also a bit rich of MSDC to be having a pop about financial mismanagement given that they wasted thousands (quarter of a mill?) on that festival in Haywards Heath last year - and then tried to cover up the losses.

Don't get me wrong, the last thing I want to see is BHTFC go under. A few of my mates play for them, and I can't imagine how unsettling it must be for the team,

However we probably don't know the in's and out's of the whole affair. How do we know that the MSDC have only just decided to take this action?

It has only become public knowledge over the last few days via press releases etc. But behind the scenes the club may have been aware that this might happen for a long time.

 

[BensGrandad]

This has been going on for years the club have blatantly put 2 fingers up to the council and consider that they are bigger than the council. They had financial troubles because they over paid mediocre county league players to win them the county league title and basically have got too big for their boots. I do not want to see them go out of business but they need somebody to seriously look at their make up and advise them exactly what to do to work with the council rather than against it, because there will only be 1 winner and they do not play football.

 

[Scotty Mac]

the council have never exactly been welcoming to the club in the past. and they have said that if there wasnt a football club there then that land would be used for houses - make a bit of money out of selling the site, and they get a little bit closer to meeting the target for new houses

has it been said for certain that southdown will lose their pitches as well? if so, then that is a crime. myself and half of my friends played for southdown, and when you consider the fact that the town itself is shocking for activities for youngsters to do, making one of the popular clubs in the area homeless is a pretty silly idea

 

[sully]

The local plan shows the support of the council for the football club - there is nowhere allocated for them to have a permanent home. The land at Leylands Park has been in the local plan as being for housing for yonks.

The houses around the ground certainly arrived after the football club, but the floodlights are a later addition. I still can't believe that the local residents are really that inconvenienced by the floodlights. You'd think they'd be proud of their local club.

Hey ho. Another campaign must start. Bright, you must push for the survival of the club, even if you just search for the truth and expose the club where it is being intransigent. The council undoubtedly haven't done much to help the situation - see my first point.

My son plays for Southdown Athletic (the sister club of Rovers), and they are a well run club. If this whole sorry situation has any effect on them, it will be a travesty.

 

[Since1982]

Another campaign must start. Bright, you must push for the survival of the club, even if you just search for the truth and expose the club where it is being intransigent. The council undoubtedly haven't done much to help the situation - see my first point.

A point well made. If the current directors have been failing the club then they too must be bought to account. Local football is too important to be decided in a spat between those currently entrusted with the leadership of a club and those currently elected to represent the likes of you and me. Both are transitory.

 

[FalmerforAll!**]

Burgess Hill have been docked 8 points and given a £400 fine for fielding a player without an international clearence.

It gets better

 

[bhaexpress]

Are you sure the houses were there before the club? I was sure it was the other way around.

Some of them were certainly. However the club have regularly been late with the rent and also had the flood lights on late for training so I hear.

 

[bhaexpress]

This has been going on for years the club have blatantly put 2 fingers up to the council and consider that they are bigger than the council. They had financial troubles because they over paid mediocre county league players to win them the county league title and basically have got too big for their boots. I do not want to see them go out of business but they need somebody to seriously look at their make up and advise them exactly what to do to work with the council rather than against it, because there will only be 1 winner and they do not play football.

That's the way I've heard it too, well put.

 

[Deleted User X18H]

Share at Withers come one come all.

 

[BensGrandad]

When I had my pub in Burgess Hill a number of staunch supporters laid the blame at the feet of Gary Croydon and his reluctanmce to listen to anybody. It was his way or no way. Whether or not that is true I do not know, but what I do know is that they are being badly mislead into thinking that they will win. Late payment of rent in most businesses is adequate grounds for forfeiture of lease.

 

[bhaexpress]

When I had my pub in Burgess Hill a number of staunch supporters laid the blame at the feet of Gary Croydon and his reluctanmce to listen to anybody. It was his way or no way. Whether or not that is true I do not know, but what I do know is that they are being badly mislead into thinking that they will win. Late payment of rent in most businesses is adequate grounds for forfeiture of lease.

Again I've heard the same from ex players too, it's the club that is in the wrong I'm afraid.

 

[Scotty Mac]

When I had my pub in Burgess Hill a number of staunch supporters laid the blame at the feet of Gary Croydon and his reluctanmce to listen to anybody. It was his way or no way. Whether or not that is true I do not know, but what I do know is that they are being badly mislead into thinking that they will win. Late payment of rent in most businesses is adequate grounds for forfeiture of lease.

i had about three months at burgess hill as part of their youth set up, and he always struck me as a complete wanker - the fact that danny bloor won them the title and promotion, and then he decided to sack him and take charge of the first team himself just shows what an arrogant bloke he is