STATEMENT FROM CLACHNACUDDIN FOOTBALL CLUB
The Directors of Clachnacuddin Football Club with great regret announce this evening that the club will enter administration tomorrow morning (October 27th).
This step is a result of requirements placed upon us by Highland Council in relation to the repayment of our debt to the Inverness Common Good Fund. As a result of the manner in which this issue has unfolded, we have also resolved to write to the First Minister requesting an investigation into Highland Council’s handling of the matter of this debt.
The extremely serious step of seeking administration follows a letter received last week from Mr David Haas of Highland Council demanding that our monthly repayment of £400 must increase by 850% to £3800 per month. The letter also requests yet another business plan to be submitted by the November 2nd. This deadline was then brought forward by his colleague William Gilfillan to October 23rd, making an already difficult task impossible.
It was this e-mail which was the final straw and led us to seek insolvency advice.
This latest move by the Council is particularly disappointing because an outline plan is in place to sell the Clachnacuddin Social Club to William Gray Construction for a sum that would ensure every creditor, not only Highland Council, is paid and that the club could continue. This proposal was included in our business plan along with detailed profit & loss forecasts & cash flow projections for the next 2 years. All these documents were submitted to Mr Haas on Friday August 28th and the same documents where also submitted to the club’s two main creditors, Carlsberg and The Royal Bank of Scotland. They were also discussed with the Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs.
All the creditors were completely behind the proposal with the sole exception of the Highland Council who have hence forced the club into administration. The irony here is that by taking this action the Council, as an unsecured creditor, will now almost certainly receive none of the money due to them and have also caused a number of small creditors to lose out.
Clach have never at any point abdicated responsibility for what is due to Highland Council. Recent monthly payments, none of which has been missed, have seen the overall debt to the council steadily drop. Clach have also been active in promoting an all weather pitch at Grant Street Park, an idea that has now been taken up by our local councillor, and a ground share with Inverness City FC who still have no regular home pitch for part of their season.
Apart from the danger now of Clachnacuddin FC going out of business and Highland League football therefore disappearing from Inverness, there is also a threat to our Youth teams. These teams make a massive contribution to the local community which includes one of the most economically deprived areas in Scotland. We currently make provision for over 200 young players who train and play with these teams. We therefore can only wonder how it can be for the “Common Good” of Inverness if the club fold completely at such social cost and with no more of the outstanding debt paid back to Highland Council as a direct result of the club being forced out of existence.
It is this particular aspect that leads us to write to the First Minister asking him to investigate the matter. Our Chairman David Dowling met with him recently and he has always been strong in supporting an organisation which promote exactly the values that our coaches instil into our youth players. Surely the City of Inverness needs the sort of facility we provide.
Despite being forced to take this step which places the club in serious danger of going out of business mid season we can, however, confirm that our Lily Lotto will not be affected by administration since it is a separate company, independent for these purposes of Clachnacuddin FC.
We very much regret having been forced to take a step which could have such drastic consequences for so many people but, given the circumstances described above, this is now the only one left to us.
Issued by the Directors of Clachnacuddin Football Club. 26.10.09.
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