SUMMARY
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| Played | Won | Drawn | Lost | Ave Att: |
| 23 | 7 | 5 | 11 | 5,076 |
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Programme Style 2008/09
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This issue is for the Leicester game, (the first home match of the season in August 2008). It was the first time that Leicester had visited EP since September 1924, and they haven’t been back since! It is a salutary thought that within 7 years, as Leicester won the Premier League, there were 124 places between us in the football hierarchy!
Tommy Rowe who had emerged as a real talent in the second half of the 2007/08 season is featured on the cover. He left for £225,000 and transferred to Peterborough – the first action of the administrators, who moved in on 30th April.
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INTO THE ABYSS……
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After Norman Beverley vacated the Chairman’s seat in late 2008 Martin Reid came on to the Board. The owner of Egan Reid, a local stationery company, he certainly brought some financial acumen to the place. Little did he know what was to come as 2009 arrived. I always found him good to talk to, and what was more important, he was always willing to chat with fans in the stand before the games. And whilst he couldn’t divulge too much detail the tenor of those conversations pointed in only one direction.
The year was more about off field activities so a quick summary of the playing side of things shows that by the end of March 17 games had produced 5 wins, 4 draws and by definition 8 defeats. With the financial storm clouds gathering Anthony Pilkington, (to Huddersfield), and Jim McNulty, (to Brighton), had been sold. Chris O’Grady; Oli Johnson, (from non league outfit Nostell Miners Welfare), were brought in.
Jeff and I were at the Colchester Community Stadium in late February and in the midst of a truly desultory performance, the fairly sparse gathering of County fans, (no surprise on a Tuesday evening as I always regarded it as one of the most wearisome trips), were agog with the news that Gannon had met with Brighton and could well be off there. A potential change in the team managing affairs on the field was the last thing that was wanted, as tales of the off field travails were becoming more prevalent.
As it turned out Gannon decided to stay in SK3 – less than 3 months later he was no doubt wondering that had possessed him to make that decision. He was well aware of the financial situation, and had purportedly, with his training as an accountant, constructed a plan to try and address the crisis that was unfolding. What hearing these ideas received hasn’t been reported. Whether or not they were practical is also unknown, but events certainly moved on apace.
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MAGUIRE DEPARTS LEAVING REID TO TRY AND PICK UP THE PIECES
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This all came on top of the news, a few weeks earlier, that Maguire had left his post of Managing Director after informing the Club that outside investment was needed in order to survive and that he was looking to put together a consortium and buy out the trust. There was a clear conflict of interest.
Martin Reid had taken the Chairman’s role, (and was being aided by Chief Executive, Sean Connelly, formerly in the same role at the Football Association of Ireland), and in a revealing statement which appeared on the Club’s website he stated,
“Two months ago Mark approached the board and said that with the financial situation of the club, he thought the club needed a management buy out and a bid. Since then Mark has contacted people he knows and is putting a bid together. It was in the interests of the club and himself that he actually got on with this project and so really his position became untenable. But it also didn’t help that we were substantially over budget as well at the time“.
The admission was there – the Club was not living within its means – hardly surprising given that the deal the Trust struck with Kennedy was madness, providing next to no income stream, and from what income there was, (not least the 30% cut that Kennedy took from transfer fees), a fair degree of it never benefited the Club. Equally, Maguire had left a time-bomb that was ticking – the David Farms debenture.
The Inland Revenue were owed a significant sum. It had been approaching £1m a few months earlier, but had been reduced to less than half that, with a fair proportion of the Pilkington and McNulty cash being used there. But the Revenue is an unforgiving mistress, and it took a plea from local MP Ann Coffey to get a stay of execution from action to recover the balance. Reid worked tirelessly through all this, knowing that two groups were working towards a take-over.
Maguire’s was one and interestingly was said to have involved Caroline David, a director at David Farms. Make of that what you will. The other group was led by Lord Peter Snape, who had been on and off the County Board since what seemed time immemorial. He had long been vehemently opposed to Trust ownership, and was reported at the time as saying that “If the club had been run properly in the first place we wouldn’t be in this mess… the Trust should relinquish ownership and the board should resign”.
A peer of the realm, he had been an MP for donkeys years in West Bromwich, and in the time honoured manner of political parties of all hues, when a favourite of the leadership needed a safe seat, he had been bumped upstairs to make way for Tom Watson. It happened in my own constituency, Stalybridge and Hyde, when long standing Tom Pendry had to make way for up and coming James Purnell. But I’m afraid that membership of either the Commons or Lords does not convey ability, and Snape is more than adequate testimony of this. He did eventually become Chairman a couple of years later, and allowed himself to be inviegled by Fearn and McKnight, as Kalezic was brought in.
So from my position, and analysis, my Club was going down the pan financially, and something had to be done. Reid, together with Connelly, was trying more than his best to pull things together, but the two potential new owners did not inspire me. In fact I believed that both would be a disaster. But it all became irrelevant.
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THE FINANCIAL FIGHT IS LOST
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After a win at Carlisle in late February the clear uncertainty off the field was reflected in performances on it. 12 games brought 6 points, and a fall down the table. Josh Thompson had emerged. He had come through the youth set up, having arrived from Atherton Collieries, (as Pilkington had as well – the connection there was Alan Lord). An imposing centre back he played in the games in the run-in to the end of the season, and that was it. He went to Celtic in the summer, for £250k, as the administrators cashed in on any asset whatsover.
By the time the Yeovil game, in early April, arrived, the race was almost run. Reid had tried valiantly to drive cash into the business, (trading in sell-on clauses for immediate payment amongst other things). Arrangements had been made with other creditors, and it looked as though there might be a way out. Then the bombshell hit. Reid outlined things, “We have not saved County yet, we still have a long way to go. Only last Thursday I was very disappointed to hear our debenture holder Caroline David, who was working with one of the interested parties looking to purchase the club, has decided to seek full payment of their loan immediately.”. The “David Farms loan”, that Beverley and Maguire and engineered, was to prove the fatal blow.
By this point putting the club into administration was an inevitability. It was a case of when – knowing that there would be a 10 point deduction under FL rules, which would take us perilously close to the drop zone. It wasn’t until after a 4-3 win over Crewe, in the penultimate game, that it was absolutely certain that we wouldn’t be relegated. A few days later the inevitability came to fruition.
The Club announced that Leonard Curtis, an accountancy company, had been appointed as administrator with a view to finding a buyer for the Club. The last game of the season saw wild celebrations at the Withdean Stadium, but only from the home fans as they avoided the drop. The atmosphere in what was a decent County following was more akin to a wake. Conversation centred for the more optimistic on who the new owners might be and for the pessimists thoughts that this might be the last County game they ever saw. I suppose I was in the middle ground – desperately hoping something positive might happen, but well aware, with my business hat on, that a rocky road lay ahead. That proved to be an understatement.
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The die is cast
The official Companies House notice of the appointment of Leonard Curtis as administrator
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AN ADMINISTRATION BY A COMPANY NOT VERSED IN FOOTBALL
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The sorry tale of what unfolded in the ensuing months is far too complex; detailed and frankly appalling to include on a page which is largely about the year 2009. But it is a story which must be told. Accordingly I have written a series of pages which traces the debacle through to its sorry conclusion well over a year later. Check “Administration and Beyond 2009-14” if you have the stomach to face it.
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ABLETT TAKES CHARGE
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Off the field, things were a shambles as the Administrators sought a new owner, having placed Maguire back in the role of Acting MD to oversee day to day operations.. The were sufficiently enthused with the bid from the Melrose consortium that they gave him what seemed like carte blanche on the football side. Gary Ablett was brought in as manager, with no previous experience other than being in charge of Liverpool’s reserve team. He was aided by former Everton team mate, Paul Gerrard. Titley and Reeves held the purse strings tightly, as in deed was their legal responsibility, and tales floated round that Gerrard himself had to buy some training equipment.
In terms of the team, Rowe had gone to Peterborough and Josh Thompson to Celtic. The team that lined up on the opening day for the short trip to Boundary Park included only David Poole who had not been at EP the previous season, and he of course was not an unfamiliar face. The prospects for the campaign were more than gloomy.
And so it proved. Despite Carl Baker being in prime scoring form, (9 goals in five games starting with a hat-trick at Brighton), the 10 games to the end of September brought only 10 points. Loanees Liam Bridcutt, (from Chelsea); Nick Bignall, (Reading); and Paul Huntington, (Leeds), arrived but despite all showing up pretty well, the results failed to improve. A win at Prenton Park, (the last in the league for 4 months covering 18 games), provided the only points for the rest of 2009. A victory over Tooting in the Cup was followed by a humiliating exit at the hands of League 2 team Torquay. Humiliating not only in terms of the result but also because the game couldn’t be played at EP with the pitch totally unfit following the depradations of rugby.
It showed what a shambles the place was in. No ground to call our own; a pitch in a condition more redolent of parks football; a team hardly worth a light; and the administration process seemingly providing no solution. The fact that relegation was as good as nailed on, (rock bottom and 10 points from safety), was a virtual irrelevance. The whole future of the Club was in doubt. The fans finally rose in protest and the march to Leonard Curtis offices drew national attention.
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Back to 2008 Forward to 2010 Home Games Summary Page Away Games 2009..
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THE HOME GAMES I SAW THIS YEAR
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| Day | Date | Competition | Tier / Round | Opponents | Res | F | A | Crowd | Home Game |
| Sat | 17/01/09 (Highlights) | Coca-Cola Football League – League 1 | Tier 3 | Southend United | W | 3 | 1 | 5,762 | 835 |
| Sat | 31/01/09 (Highlights) | Coca-Cola Football League – League 1 | Tier 3 | Hereford United | W | 4 | 1 | 5,586 | 836 |
| Tue | 03/02/09 | Coca-Cola Football League – League 1 | Tier 3 | Milton Keynes Dons | L | 0 | 1 | 4,891 | 837 |
| Sat | 14/02/09 | Coca-Cola Football League – League 1 | Tier 3 | Millwall | D | 2 | 2 | 5,461 | 838 |
| Tue | 17/02/09 | Coca-Cola Football League – League 1 | Tier 3 | Cheltenham Town | W | 1 | 0 | 5,041 | 839 |
| Sat | 28/02/09 | Coca-Cola Football League – League 1 | Tier 3 | Huddersfield Town | D | 1 | 1 | 7,739 | 840 |
| Tue | 10/03/09 | Coca-Cola Football League – League 1 | Tier 3 | Hartlepool United | W | 2 | 1 | 4,790 | 841 |
| Sat | 14/03/09 | Coca-Cola Football League – League 1 | Tier 3 | Leyton Orient | L | 0 | 1 | 5,835 | 842 |
| Sat | 04/04/09 | Coca-Cola Football League – League 1 | Tier 3 | Yeovil Town | D | 0 | 0 | 5,664 | 843 |
| Mon | 13/04/09 | Coca-Cola Football League – League 1 | Tier 3 | Walsall | L | 1 | 2 | 5,274 | 844 |
| Fri | 24/04/09 (Highlights) | Coca-Cola Football League – League 1 | Tier 3 | Crewe Alexandra | W | 4 | 3 | 7,134 | 845 |
| Sat | 15/08/09 | Coca-Cola Football League – League 1 | Tier 3 | Bristol Rovers | L | 0 | 2 | 4,084 | 846 |
| Tue | 18/08/09 | Coca-Cola Football League – League 1 | Tier 3 | Carlisle United | L | 1 | 2 | 4,009 | 847 |
| Sat | 29/08/09 | Coca-Cola Football League – League 1 | Tier 3 | Southampton | D | 1 | 1 | 4,680 | 848 |
| Sat | 19/09/09 | Coca-Cola Football League – League 1 | Tier 3 | Leyton Orient | W | 2 | 1 | 4,091 | 849 |
| Tue | 29/09/09 (Highlights) | Coca-Cola Football League – League 1 | Tier 3 | Hartlepool United | D | 2 | 2 | 3,780 | 850 |
| Sat | 03/10/09 | Coca-Cola Football League – League 1 | Tier 3 | Southend United | L | 0 | 2 | 4,102 | 851 |
| Sat | 17/10/09 | Coca-Cola Football League – League 1 | Tier 3 | Millwall | L | 0 | 4 | 4,394 | 852 |
| Sat | 31/10/09 (Highlights) | Coca-Cola Football League – League 1 | Tier 3 | Norwich City | L | 1 | 3 | 5,218 | 853 |
| Sat | 07/11/09 | FA Cup | Round 1 | Tooting & Mitcham | W | 5 | 0 | 3,076 | 854 |
| Sat | 21/11/09 | Coca-Cola Football League – League 1 | Tier 3 | Exeter City | L | 1 | 3 | 4,101 | 855 |
| Sat | 12/12/09 (Highlights) | Coca-Cola Football League – League 1 | Tier 3 | Charlton Athletic | L | 1 | 2 | 4,277 | 856 |
| Mon | 28/12/09 (Highlights) | Coca-Cola Football League – League 1 | Tier 3 | Leeds United | L | 2 | 4 | 7,768 | 857 |
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