Just another day in the High Court: 'The financial position of Southend United is extraordinary'

09 July 2010 17:17
After another great escape on Thursday the taxman was confident in making it's argument that the Shrimpers should be placed into administration even if they clear their current tax debt of £238k! Ron insists that funds to pay the Cretian cheesemaker are securedAnd so it goes on!As chairman Ron Martin puts on the sun creme, not a good image, Her Majesty's taxman, taxlady actually, was telling the judge we were insolvent and that latest debt was for PAYE and national insurance contributions for April and May, but the club were also now late for June. Oh and she threw in for good measure there was further money owed after the club failed to file their May VAT return by the final deadline on Wednesday!HMRC told the court: "We would make this application even if this sum had all been fully discharged today in cleared funds.This is a company which is demonstrably insolvent, both on a cash flow and balance sheet basis. This is in effect the third set of insolvency proceedings in the space of 12 months. Even if it was all paid today in cleared funds we would be back again in two or three months"Though the money to clear the debt had been transferred to a solicitor by a third party as the club had told us, permission had not yet been given to release it to customs, which rather destroys the point!She concluded: "The financial position of the company is extraordinary"There was mention of the other winding-up order and the consortium willing to take it all on for £1 but the judge, Mr Justice Newey, still gave us another chance, with a fortnight to show we can pay up, and the 'final' decision to take place on August 2nd.Southend United amazingly didn't have a lawyer in court but turned to Nigel Brunning, the club's finance director, and he made the bold statement that Sainsbury's will keep bailing out the Shrimpers over their growing debt debts until Fossetts Farm is built.Ron, holidaying in Crete, has told Nigel that a deal has been struck, I just hope the supermarket giant know about it!Mr. Brunning said: "The club chairman has agreed with Sainsbury's for it to provide support for the club to go forward. Fossetts Farm is such a complex deal it is taking a long time to conclude."He even brought up the Bailey payback dosh, blimey we're be celebrating if Hooper goes to Celtic for a couple of million!Brunning then turned tough, insisting those nasty taxmen were trying to recover it's money through the courts, rather than by having tea and cakes around Ron's and had the cheek to slap on an extra £20K on the current debt just hours before yesterday's court case.The fact that SUFC had been able to pay off long standing debts of £2.6 million following loans form Sainsbury's in the past year meant it could not be described as insolvent.He added: "We have always met what is due to creditors albeit late.I have only been here for a year and a half, but in that time we have taken 2 million off the budget and if not for the relegation we would be in a break even position next year. It is not at all in the interests of creditors for the club to go into administration." When wil it ever end, well maybe Monday, August the 2nd.

Source: FOOTYMAD