Plymouth Argyle in discussions with League

by

Plymouth Argyle in discussions with League Discussions between the Football League and the club over Peter Ridsdale’s takeover have begun, says the administrator of Plymouth Argyle. The ex-Chairman of Leeds United last week completed a deal to buy the club. Bishop International, another company will purchase the land around the park as well as Home Park, thus clearing off any of Argyle’s debts.

As the club prepares for the upcoming season, this deal means their survival the administrator of the club Brendan Guilfoyle told the club’s website. There are still concerns about the deal since Kevin Heaney non-league Truro City’s chairman is involved with Bishop International. League rules state no one can be involved with the running of two different clubs.

Football League officials will have to make that decision but the takeover will not be completed until Ridsdale has the right to own the team which will not happen until it is ratified by league officials. While other fans may have wanted another deal, the timeframe does not allow for that said Guilfoyle.

Craig Thomson gets the boot after all

by

Craig Thomson gets the boot after all Craig Thomson, the 20-year-old defender for Heart of Midlothian football club who was convicted last month of sexual misconduct on the internet, will not be playing again for the Scottish Premier League.

According to the announcement on Hearts website, Thomson’s suspension on June 28th will be permanent.  This decision is an about-face from the club’s original statement of support for the offender, reportedly following a meeting between owner Vladimir Romanov and Thomson’s family.

When the scandal first reached the media in June, Thomson’s behavior was put down to “outside influences” and underplayed by club spokespersons as a sort of youthful indiscretion.  However after the young man pleaded guilty to charges of “lewd, libidinous and indecent” contact with two underage girls in internet chat rooms, both the public and the team’s sponsors raised an outraged protest.

The outcry was enough to cause Romanov to retract or at least modify his former tirade against those he claimed were conspiring against the club.  Former Hearts player Alan McLaren was quoted as saying he hoped Thomson would never play for the club again, and one major sponsor, MacB Water, has withdrawn its support, with others likely to follow suit.

Liverpool still battling for a bigger ground

by

Liverpool still battling for a bigger ground Managing director of the Liverpool Football Club, Ian Ayre, said in a statement this week that the new infrastructure needed by the club is facing major challenges in its realization.  Liverpool needs significantly greater capacity for its fans in order to compete with Arsenal and Manchester United, whose gameday revenues are much higher.  However, Ayre said, there are so many problems with land  acquisition and planning and environmental regulations that the process is painfully slow.

Over the past few months it has become apparent that the expansion of Liverpool’s existing Anfield stadium to a 60,000 capacity would be preferable both in terms of cost and in long-term benefit to fans and players compared to the option of a new stadium to be built at Stanley Park.  Unfortunately, this course of action presents an array of difficulties, for reasons that some feel are just bureaucratic maneuverings.

The fact is that refurbishing and enlarging Anfield would involve a temporary reduction of facilities during the process, as well as costs for acquiring rights to the surrounding property and conforming to many of the City Council’s requirements for such construction.  If Liverpool could make a deal such as the one Manchester just announced with Etihad Airways, which is reported to be worth around £150m over the next 10 years, it would enable them to go with a new stadium.

Mr. Ayre has noted that Liverpool is in discussion with several brands about naming rights for a new stadium, but so far there has been no inclination to rename the old one.  At present the decision about which way to go on the issue has not been made, but the club is under pressure to make a committment one way or the other.  Ayre insisted in his recent statement that the goal is to find the “best possible long-term solution” for the team and its supporters.

Rushden & Diamonds FC Limited goes into administration

by
Rushden & Diamonds FC Limited goes into administration

Rushden & Diamonds FC Limited goes into administration

Troubled football club Rushden & Diamonds FC was yesterday placed into administration at the High Court. The Northamptonshire club has failed in its bid to attract new investors in the wake of it expulsion last month from the Football Conference. A last ditch attempt to secure investment from a property company in Japan failed on Sunday and the supporters group Save RDFC has also failed to raise the funds necessary.

Gary Carter, from the insolvency practitioners Carter Clark said afterwards that it was with great sadness that Rushden & Diamonds had had to be placed into administration by its secure creditor. He added that it was very sad that such a popular club had been unable to attract the funds that it needed to continue.  He concluded that his thought were with the fans who had tried so hard to save their club.

The debenture holder has appointed Alan Clark of Carter Clark as the administrator. He is not in a position to carry on trading as Rushden & Diamonds.

Formal notice of the appointment, together with a proof of debt form enabling creditors to lodge claims in the administration, are available from the insolvency notices section of Carter Clark’s website.

The club played in the Blue Square Bet Premier league in the 2010-2011 season.
For further details see www.thediamondsfc.com or fans website www.saverdfc.com. The fans forum is atwww.thediamondsforum.co.uk.

The FA were the failures in World Cup bid

by

The FA were the failures in World Cup bid The Football Association failed to learn its lesson from previous attempts says a report from MPs about the failed bid to host the World Cup in 2018. The Cup was awarded to Russia as England only could muster two votes. A number of necessary components seemed to be missing from England’s bid the report said. It criticises FIFA’s respond to their trouble with bribery claims and said the FA should hold a review.

England was knocked out in the first round even though they had the help of David Beckham and Prince William as their figureheads of their December presentation in Zurich.

The culture, media and sport committee released the report and stated that it appeared lessons were not learned with regard to unity and composition of the bid team and what it needed to project. The FA responded by saying that were already working on issues that were related to the report.

An FA spokesperson said the FA made their position clear for the need of reform within FIFA at a recent congress held by FIFA and they welcome the committees shared views in this regard. The FA’s present focus is on working harder to become stronger with all football clubs in order to build more enduring and stronger international relationships.

The MPs also supported the decision of BBC to screen a documentary by Panorama with regard to corruption allegations within FIFA in the same week votes were submitted. Allegations into the unethical behavior made by the leader of the former England 2018 bid Lord Triesman towards four FIFA members which eventually lead to the FA commissioning James Dingemas to investigate the matter further.