Notts County on final warning

[Yorkie]

From the BBC websiteMagpies face final deadline


Time and patience is running out for Notts County
Notts County administrator Paul Finnity will get a sharp reminder the Football League's patience is running out.
Finnity is due to deliver a progress report on the club's financial position. and the progress of the Blenheim consortium's £3m buy-out.

The Magpies have been given until 9 December to emerge from the administration they have been in for a record 17 months.


Finnity is due to meet League officials on Wednesday where they will be keen to know the progress of the porposed takeover.

If they do not come out of administration by December 9, they will be out of the League

Football League spokesman

The buy-out was expected to have been completed by the end of October.

But the deal has not yet been finalised and a League spokesman said: "In a very short time we will be approaching the absolute final deadline and Notts County.

"The oldest professional club in the world, could be taking its last breath if they do not come out of administration.

"There have been numerous deadlines which have come and gone but this is the final deadline and time is marching on.

"If they do not come out of administration by December 9, they will be out of the League."

 

[Soton Seagull]

Very sad. Their decline has even stopped me hating them from the 91 Play Off final (still hate Tommy Johnson though). Hope they survive, especially if we win on 22nd.

 

[Simster]

On the positive side, there could be some new seats at rock bottom prices for Dick Knight to buy very soon. Of course, the lettering on the seats are wrong as we are the Seagulls, not the Magpies.

But even here there is an up side - rearrange "MAGPIES" and you get "SEAG****" with spare "M", "P" and "I" which I'm sure could easily be rearranged to spell "ULL" somehow. We'll have to save up for the final "S".

 

[Beach Hut]

This looks very ominous to me, I hope there is a silver lining somewhere but it's hard to see how they will get out of this.

 

[Kenhead]

when we go there at the end of this month i reckon some collection should be sorted, i'm sure evryone could spare one of two quid for 3 points!! that could help us on the way to promotion

 

[attila]

THE REAL SHAME

A team full of strikers - each one a left winger!
Not sure if they’d win but it would be exciting
New Labour is supine, the TUC spineless
But Beckham and Owen are coming out fighting...
Of course it was hot air and quickly deflated
And for many fans it was too much to take
But it’s the FA who are really the culprits -
An overreaction to one man’s mistake.

When small clubs need help then they really are useless
Their message is clear - stand on your own two feet
The rich just get richer, the poor just get poorer
And all the FA care about is the elite.
Now Rio was stupid, but he’s not the problem.
It’s not drugs, but greed, that’s the scourge of our game.
Why don’t the FA help the likes of Notts County?
For me, and for millions, that’s the real shame.

 

[ben andrews' girlfriend]

how come chelsea didnt give them all the gate reciepts - its not like they need the money

 

[Harty]

Wise words great mate.
Me and Duffy met Dave Bartram lead singer of Showaddywaddy at Peterboro and although he hadn't heard of you he said he'd bear you mind as support act for their upcoming Uk tour.

 

[woodster]

a sad irony dont you think that the oldest club could possibly be the first to disappear.
surely someone will save them?

 

[ben andrews' girlfriend]

someone should - but it seems like this is the first to suffer from itv digital, cant itv give a hand?

 

[Lush]

On the positive side, there could be some new seats at rock bottom prices for Dick Knight to buy very soon. Of course, the lettering on the seats are wrong as we are the Seagulls, not the Magpies.

But even here there is an up side - rearrange "MAGPIES" and you get "SEAG****" with spare "M", "P" and "I" which I'm sure could easily be rearranged to spell "ULL" somehow. We'll have to save up for the final "S".

Noooooooo! You want a load of seats that spell SEAGIMP

 

[Reading Posh]

How much did the FA fine Arsenal recently, something like £175K?

Why don't they use all these fines to bail out clubs on their last legs?

 

[seagull over sevenoaks]

because if they do keep bailing these clubs out there is no incentive to manage them properly.

Simple rule of business - you spend more money than you make you will go bust.

Sad but true

 

[attila]

Football is more than business. It is our culture and our heritage. To allow Notts County to go bust while Murdoch and Abramovitch have free range to flaunt their wealth would be contemptible.

 

[Safeway]

Football is more than business.

True, but Seagull over Sevenoaks is right with what he says. ALL businesses, and that includes football clubs, have a responsibilty to run themselves properly.

If the Football League or anyone else bailed a club out everytime they got into financial difficulty then they'd all be doing it and the bottom would fall out of the game completely.

 

[stratford seagull]

Can't say I've any special soft spot for Notts County (that was never a corner before their first goal in the Play Off final), but I would hate to see any club with their tradition cease to exist.

At least we have a chance to help in some small way though. I don't know what the ticketing arrangements are for Nov 22nd, but lets see if we can take a huge following to the game. The extra gate receipts may help them and, with our awesome away support in full voice, we may get the points.

The Forest game last year was one of the most memorable away trips of the season, so come on everyone - if you only go to one away game all season, make it Notts County.

 

[Reading Posh]

because if they do keep bailing these clubs out there is no incentive to manage them properly.

Agree 100% with this. But we're talking about a club that has been in administration for 17 months and is about to be closed.

What's the difference between passing a bucket round Meadow Lane, turning up en masse to show your support for a fellow club and the FA providing funds from its 'Fines Pool'?

 

[seagull over sevenoaks]

no difference really, we have had this debate before.. someone will post on here "xxxx club will go out of business on Friday unless £x million is found" how many of these clubs go out of business??

The best example of this is Leicester, go into administration, feck off all your creditors and then get promotion to the premiershite - sparking 15 odd new signings cos they're getting all the TV money. Its almost as bad as cheating.

I would never wish for any club to go out of business, some people love these clubs with a passion and as attila says they are our culture and Notts C are our heritage, BUT they are a business and they have been badly run at some point - something needs to stop clubs taking a gamble like leeds did to buy success on the never never. The money you borrow needs to be paid back and it soon comes round to bite you on the arse.

The FA can't bail these clubs out - where would it stop.

 

[Brovion]

Totally agree SOS. I am quite happy to stand idly by and watch Notts County PLC go out of business rather than put my hand in my pocket (again) to help bail out a badly-run business. I've said it before 'Notts County' won't die all the while the fans want the club to survive. They'll have to follow the example of Accrington, Aldershot , Bradford etc - reform and start at the bottom. It's NOT the end of the world, or the end of Notts County. Simply bailing clubs out time after time is not addressing the real problems of football, which as Attila points out is sheer greed.

If Oldham went bust we'd lose three points so I hope they can struggle on until the summer.

 

[Simster]

SoS, it's interesting you point out the case of Leeds. I for one cannot understand how a PLC can let its board of directors run up such horrific debts. If they go down (and I reckon they must be 50-50 to do so at best) I'd say they were more likely to go bust than Notts County.

Like most posts since attilla's, I agree than the main problem in football is greed, or more specifically that the wrong sort of people (greedy, egocentric people) seem to be able to walk in and buy a football club, no questions asked. And too many people see relegation as the end of the world which it most certainly isn't - West Brom and Bolton are testament to that.

Something has to be done to curb wage costs, but the answer is hard to find.