I will probably be banned for this but... Footie Thread

[555-04Q2]

As an Arsenal fan, I still think Barca will go through to the next round. That away goal may prove to be decisive.

[pino]

I am not too sure Barca will go through, Arsenal has a young and strong Team and they will fight til last blood at Camp Nou. For sure none wants to miss that match...it will be exciting

[62motorsport]

Arsenal didn't do to well at lowly Leyton Orient

[MrJan]

In even brighter news Argyle lost (again), so the ten point deduction that they'll get given if they go into administration (rumours are that it's more a case of 'when') is going to really hurt.

Like I said: http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/foot...le/9401625.stm

Been on the cards for a long time but will no doubt go unnoticed by the hoardes of clubs that overspend every year. It's quite a sad story for Plymouth as they threw a lot of money at the possibility of sustained Championship football (and even a run at the playoffs to reach the promised land), and also gambled heavily on England winning the World Cup bid and being selected as a host City. As it was the WC thing went tits up, and their supposedly rich Japanese investors turned out to have no real money to invest (and certainly didn't want to).

I genuinely hope they sort themselves out and don't head towards liquidation and oblivion. Much as the rivalry between our two clubs is quite heated (our game down there in November was the first time that I've been properly scared at a football match), the region needs to have football at a reasonable level and Exeter City need to have someone to dislike

[Alexamateo]

It sounds like over here when a company is at the point of bankruptcy, and is placed in receivership. So do clubs ever go bankrupt and just cease to exist?

[MrJan]

It sounds like over here when a company is at the point of bankruptcy, and is placed in receivership. So do clubs ever go bankrupt and just cease to exist?

I think that receivership and administration are just two names for the same thing

Bankruptcy (liquidation) has happened, but it's very rare. For the most part you usually get someone who will come in to invest and wipe out the debt. It's all very confusing but I think that you create a Creditors Volutary Agreement whereby all those owed money will agree to accept a certain percentage to wipe out the debt (it happened to Exeter and I believe we paid only 7%). This means that a £10m debt can be cut to under £1m, at which point some rich bloke comes in and pays a nominal fee (£1) for the club, wipes out the remaining debt and takes over (it's worth noting that the majority of money owed will probably be to the previous board of directors).

Recently Chester City were 'wound-up' and effectively disappeared http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chester_City_F.C.

However in cases like that it's common for a new team to form in their place (sometimes with same players, directors and everything else). Chester City FC were reformed as Chester FC and a similar case saw Halifax Town FC come back as FC Halifax Town. So technically the club ceases to exist, but in reality they've just changed name.

It's all stuff to really oodle your noodle though, nothing in football is straightforward. I've been reading a fair bit about it as I followed the Argyle story, but in truth I still can't get my head round it properly. You'll get even more confused if you start trying to work out how Plymouth Argyle Football Club Plc, is linked with Home Park Properties Limited (Home Park is the name of their stadium). As far as I can tell HPPL was a dummy company that was only dealing with the purchase of a new pitch.

Thankfully we don't get stories like this every week, in most cases someone comes in with a big lump of cash and sorts things out.

[GridGirl]

Football clubs at professional level at least are limited companies. Like any other company that can't pay its creditors if they fall into the financial difficulties they may be put into administration. Administration isn't the end for a club if they can find a new backer or reach a deal with their creditors. If the company or club were to going into liquidation that would mean the end of the club and it would technically cease to exist. It could form again I suppose but it would be thrown out of the league it was in and would have to start again at the very bottom.

Portsmouth F.C was probably the biggest club to almost be liquidated in recent times and that liquidation was being petitioned by the tax man. Portsmouth won the FA cup as recent as 2008. More often than not it is the tax man that is instigating the administration and winding up process. I used to be involved with a football club until recently and they had come to expect HMRC investigaions every couple of years. I recently dealt with the club in respect of a tax issue relating to a former player and have come to believe that HMRC are really cracking down on tax issues in respect of player image rights at the present time. I know the big tax bill the club got lumbered with so I'm pretty sure the player may have had an equally large one. I guestimate that it will put him of retirement for a few years anyway. Oh well.

[MrJan]

It could form again I suppose but it would be thrown out of the league it was in and would have to start again at the very bottom.

I think it depends on what league will accept them. In theory the football league might accept that they stay where they are, although in reality the league and the conference (including Div1 north & south) will probably say no.

[Brown, Jon Brow]

I'm enjoying winding up Preston North End fans in my area that they will be playing Carlisle United next season. It's quite funny because PNE fans believe that they are a big cub.

It is a possiblily that PNE could be playing Fleetwood Town in two seasons!

[MrJan]

Nothing wrong with playing Carlisle!!! We've got them away this evening :