Local authority joins creditors in seeking to wind up football club

Herefordshire Council has joined creditors seeking to wind up Hereford’s football club, although it will defer payment if it can take over responsibility for redevelopment of its ground.

The move came after the High Court gave Hereford United an additional 42 days to pay off debts that are the subject of a winding-up order.

Herefordshire said it hoped to see football continue in the town but “must balance this wish with its responsibility to recover the outstanding monies”.

It would discuss deferring payment with Hereford United Football Club (1939) Limited if the council assumed responsibility for the redevelopment of the ground, a council statement said. The ground sits in a major regeneration area adjacent to the city centre.

Three leases have been issued this year by the council, which owns the land, running until 2044 covering the ground and two stands, The club pays £10,000 a year in rent.

The council had previously kept out of legal proceedings brought by others creditors, since it said the £65,000 it was owed in rent arrears, business rates and legal fees, “would not affect the financial viability of the local authority”.

According to the BBC, HM Revenue and Customs is still owed £116,000 by the club, and is now pursuing the petition alone having originally brought it with the club’s former manager Martin Foyle and his assistant Andy Porter.

HMRC rejected a proposal for a company voluntary arrangement.

The club plays in Southern League, though spent some 30 years in the Football League until relegation in 2011.

A statement issued by club chairman Andy Lonsdale said: “With the debts to one side, working with the current situation, we are reducing our overheads at the club, the level they were at last season could not be sustained.”

He continued: “We face an on-going issue with the winding up order, in that the amount needing to be paid can change; this is exactly what has happened. So we clear one amount and another came along, yes it is a setback but the time allows us to adjust our finances then settle what is owed. We will keep ploughing forward, the club will continue.”

A separate issue arose in early August over the ground’s general safety certificate, which led to the first games of this season being played in front of only a maximum of 1,000 spectators, instead of the normal capacity of more than 5,000.

Mark Smulian