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Kaiser_Sauzee
10-03-2010, 02:36 PM
£26,000 unpaid tax bill. 125 year history.

Sad.

lyonhibs
10-03-2010, 02:40 PM
Them's the breaks though.

Spend unsustainably outwith your means, face the consequences.

Shame for the fans though.

truehibernian
10-03-2010, 02:44 PM
They've still got Hollyoaks :greengrin

--------
10-03-2010, 02:45 PM
Them's the breaks though.

Spend unsustainably outwith your means, face the consequences.

Shame for the fans though.


Thing is, there are loads of bigger clubs being far more reckless and irresponsible than Chester, and getting away with it.

We should be very grateful for Sir Tom and Rod Petrie at ER.

HIBERNIAN-0762
10-03-2010, 02:46 PM
Very sad for the fans, but how come those trumpets up the road get away with their spiralling debt is anybodys guess

tick tock...

:bye:

Andy74
10-03-2010, 03:09 PM
Very sad for the fans, but how come those trumpets up the road get away with their spiralling debt is anybodys guess

tick tock...

:bye:

The time will come when payments need to be made and no more external funding is made available. When that day comes it will be farewell.

Gatecrasher
10-03-2010, 03:13 PM
:******: will happen in the summer for some clubs IMO

lapsedhibee
10-03-2010, 03:13 PM
Them's the breaks though.

Spend unsustainably outwith your means, face the consequences.

Shame for the fans though.

:tsk tsk: Fans were reported to be whooping in court because the verdict means that they can begin to rebuild the club themselves, starting now, from a few leagues further down the pyramid.

Andy74
10-03-2010, 03:16 PM
Did Yantorno end up there? Is that Gretna and Chester he has now seen off??

Hibs Class
10-03-2010, 04:07 PM
Both Cardiff and Southend narrowly avoided being wound up this week as well, both in relation to outstanding tax bills.

Phil D. Rolls
10-03-2010, 04:09 PM
So farewell then Chester City
Ian Rush played for us
Or was it John Aldridge
Yes that was your catchphrase
Don't spend money you don't have
That is ours

--------
10-03-2010, 04:10 PM
Did Yantorno end up there? Is that Gretna and Chester he has now seen off??


:agree:

We had a narrow escape there, methinks....

The_Todd
10-03-2010, 04:10 PM
A shame considering some of the unpaid tax bills certain other clubs have mounted (and I mean Pompey here) but if you spend what you can't afford then it'll always end in tears.

Antifa Hibs
10-03-2010, 04:12 PM
Who cares, as long as there is £2billion getting pumped into the premier league and the top 4 can still spend 100k on a player when they are anything from £200-700m in debt that is all that matters. The sooner the bubbled bursts the better, then fitba can become fitba again.

truehibernian
10-03-2010, 04:44 PM
Disastrous day for Chester all round given that now (according to AOL) Hollyoaks are axing 11 characters as well. Better be the blokes and not the lickety splits. Can their day get any worse :boo hoo:

CropleyWasGod
10-03-2010, 05:10 PM
:tsk tsk: Fans were reported to be whooping in court because the verdict means that they can begin to rebuild the club themselves, starting now, from a few leagues further down the pyramid.

TBF, you can understand that. The opportunity to start from scratch again, with no debt, but still in possession of the spirit of the club.

Phil D. Rolls
10-03-2010, 05:13 PM
TBF, you can understand that. The opportunity to start from scratch again, with no debt, but still in possession of the spirit of the club.

I think it is a modicum of hope for fans of any team that lives beyond their means. Of course the fans have to realise that they are no longer a big team, and have to build the club from nothing.

CropleyWasGod
10-03-2010, 05:27 PM
I think it is a modicum of hope for fans of any team that lives beyond their means. Of course the fans have to realise that they are no longer a big team, and have to build the club from nothing.

You can be such a bitch sometimes. :bitchy:

:greengrin

Latapy1911
10-03-2010, 05:44 PM
15 % of John Terrys Weekly wage.

erin-go-bragh87
10-03-2010, 05:44 PM
T first I thought; Ah who cares. But then you think about what it would be like to lose the club you love and how hard that would be. Thank god we've got Rod!!

Sas_The_Hibby
10-03-2010, 06:26 PM
Did Yantorno end up there? Is that Gretna and Chester he has now seen off??

He's just been practising for his move to Hearts..................

sahib
10-03-2010, 06:27 PM
Who cares, as long as there is £2billion getting pumped into the premier league and the top 4 can still spend 100k on a player when they are anything from £200-700m in debt that is all that matters. The sooner the bubbled bursts the better, then fitba can become fitba again.

When was that then?

Phil D. Rolls
10-03-2010, 06:33 PM
When was that then?

In the days before publicans sponsored teams by giving them strips as long as they came back to their pub. I believe this started around about 1868.

the_ginger_hibee
10-03-2010, 07:24 PM
Who cares, as long as there is £2billion getting pumped into the premier league and the top 4 can still spend 100k on a player when they are anything from £200-700m in debt that is all that matters. The sooner the bubbled bursts the better, then fitba can become fitba again.

The bubble defiantly needs burst. Unfortunate if a few small clubs have to go first, but hopefully the £100,000 a week mobs are next.

macca70
10-03-2010, 07:36 PM
Pompey have made 85 staff redundant, these are punters are earning £15k a year, the same as 1 player earns in 3 days.

Sell 2 players and keep these 85 employed, shimples.

HibeeUnderwood
10-03-2010, 08:42 PM
Both Cardiff and Southend narrowly avoided being wound up this week as well, both in relation to outstanding tax bills.

Its still not over for those 2 clubs, winding up orders have been postponed for another month, hopefully they'll both get through it all, especially the latter :wink::boo hoo:

Many other clubs are still in or at risk of being in trouble, i.e. Crystal Palace, Bournemouth etc

heidtheba
10-03-2010, 08:56 PM
Sad to see another club go down. Totally agree with everyone that a 25k unpaid tax bill gets them squashed when we've got hunners of millions of pounds debt for 'the big clubs', many more with millions debt...
Hope they can start again and make it work.
Wasn't it CC that we got Donaldson from?
Where is he now anyway?

surreyhibbie
10-03-2010, 08:57 PM
Seems a shame for 26K though. But I suppose that's not their total debt.

Any bets on how many clubs will join them by Christmas?

The_Todd
10-03-2010, 09:29 PM
Sad to see another club go down. Totally agree with everyone that a 25k unpaid tax bill gets them squashed when we've got hunners of millions of pounds debt for 'the big clubs', many more with millions debt...
Hope they can start again and make it work.
Wasn't it CC that we got Donaldson from?
Where is he now anyway?

Clayts came from York, and I'm still of the opinion he never got a fair crack of the whip here.

Aubenas
10-03-2010, 09:34 PM
Though today's Chester is a very different outfit, I think this tale is relevant. Back in the 60s, as a teenager, I lived in Southport for ten years, and, while still a Hibee, supported the local team. In 1966, they were second in the Fourth Division and set fair for promotion for the first time in their history. On Boxing Day, after a bumper 7000 crowd v Wrexham, the wooden main stand - similar to the infamous one at Valley Parade, Bradford - burned to the ground. Thank God it was in the early hours and the ground was deserted. But as I stood there next morning, 14 years old, tears in my eyes surrounded by a bed of smouldering ash, I thought it was the end of the team. Apart from a giant safe that contained the players' contacts and was fused shut with the heat, nothing remained above ground, the club had lost literally everything. They had a fixture to fulfill in three days time and if they didn't turn up, they'd be out the league.

Then Chester FC sent Southport a set of kit, some balls and equipment, and the team survived, and won promotion. When we visited their old ground at Sealand Rd, their supporters held a collection for Southport and cheered the team on to the pitch.

It was one of the most impressive gestures I've come across in 50 years of supporting football - and I wonder if it could or would happen today.

So, though the most recent owners may have got it wrong, I can't help but feel for the supporters and I'll never forget that act of solidarity. I'll always have a soft spot for Chester and their fans, and I hope they can come back somehow.

weecounty hibby
10-03-2010, 09:35 PM
I have been to see Chester playing as I used to see a girl who was a Chester fan. Seems a shame but as I have said in relation to Portsmouth, Cardiff etc etc. Tough ****. Spend more than you earn and you deserve to go tits up. I agree with Antifa, I really hope that some of the bigger guns start to get dragged into this. Clubs with debts nudging a billion pounds is disgusting and feels a bit immoral to me when some of their fans are earning minimum wage.

blackpoolhibs
10-03-2010, 09:41 PM
More clubs need to go tits up for the game to survive. As long as its not hibs.:wink:

Sir David Gray
10-03-2010, 11:19 PM
Sad to see another club go down. Totally agree with everyone that a 25k unpaid tax bill gets them squashed when we've got hunners of millions of pounds debt for 'the big clubs', many more with millions debt...
Hope they can start again and make it work.
Wasn't it CC that we got Donaldson from?
Where is he now anyway?

The mighty Crewe Alexandra of League Two. He scored last night against Grimsby.

Jonnyboy
10-03-2010, 11:23 PM
Though today's Chester is a very different outfit, I think this tale is relevant. Back in the 60s, as a teenager, I lived in Southport for ten years, and, while still a Hibee, supported the local team. In 1966, they were second in the Fourth Division and set fair for promotion for the first time in their history. On Boxing Day, after a bumper 7000 crowd v Wrexham, the wooden main stand - similar to the infamous one at Valley Parade, Bradford - burned to the ground. Thank God it was in the early hours and the ground was deserted. But as I stood there next morning, 14 years old, tears in my eyes surrounded by a bed of smouldering ash, I thought it was the end of the team. Apart from a giant safe that contained the players' contacts and was fused shut with the heat, nothing remained above ground, the club had lost literally everything. They had a fixture to fulfill in three days time and if they didn't turn up, they'd be out the league.

Then Chester FC sent Southport a set of kit, some balls and equipment, and the team survived, and won promotion. When we visited their old ground at Sealand Rd, their supporters held a collection for Southport and cheered the team on to the pitch.

It was one of the most impressive gestures I've come across in 50 years of supporting football - and I wonder if it could or would happen today.

So, though the most recent owners may have got it wrong, I can't help but feel for the supporters and I'll never forget that act of solidarity. I'll always have a soft spot for Chester and their fans, and I hope they can come back somehow.

What a great wee story :thumbsup:

BTW didn't Bobby Williamson manage Chester for a wee while?

Iain G
10-03-2010, 11:30 PM
Clayts came from York, and I'm still of the opinion he never got a fair crack of the whip here.

Yup happy to agree with that, knew where the back of the net was, just a big step up in terms of the rest of his game, under somone like Yogi could have flourished...oh well!

Ed De Gramo
10-03-2010, 11:35 PM
What a great wee story :thumbsup:

BTW didn't Bobby Williamson manage Chester for a wee while?

That rings a bell....sure he replaced Mark Wright, dragged Chester down the league, sacked....replaced by Mark Wright :faf:

Sad to hear about Chester's death :boo hoo: ...hopefully the yam fudleys next!

Fantic
10-03-2010, 11:45 PM
More clubs need to go tits up for the game to survive. As long as its not hibs.:wink:

Hopefully Hearts :wink:

NOLA
11-03-2010, 12:37 PM
More clubs need to go tits up for the game to survive. As long as its not hibs.:wink:

Totally agree, especially in Scotland, I don't understand how some clubs are still in business, if you look to the central belt for example, albion rovers/clyde/airdrie/dumbarton/morton, even hamilton, they must be running at a loss every season so why bother?

Scouse Hibee
11-03-2010, 12:42 PM
The latter part of the twentieth century and into the twenty-first saw dramatic changes in English Football. Historically and for very many years, all games kicked off at 3.00pm on Saturday afternoons. It was tradition. Immovable. Families and friends built their social lives around it. Then 'big money' started to influence and very quickly dominate the national game that had, for generations, been the preserve of the supporters.
Today, Saturday afternoon matches are mainly reserved for lower league clubs. The Premier League has sold its soul to the television companies. Supporters have become secondary, sidelined, manipulated, utilised. As a result of television revenues salaries have rapidly spiraled out of control, £20,000 a week, £50,000, £100,000, £150,000. How can this be justified economically or morally, when the average person in Britain earns considerably less than that in a working year, in several working years.
It wasn't so long ago when the vast majority of teams in the Football League fielded all English players, certainly all British. In the first year of the Premiership there were less than twenty foreign players, today that figure is over 60%. Nobody denies people the right to ply their trade wherever they can, to seek to better themselves, to support their families but haven't we overstepped the mark? The influx of foreign players may well have enhanced the game, increasing world-wide demand for televised matches - and fuelling spiralling wage demands - but at what costs?
Whether the national team has been disadvantaged thus far is open to question but there can be little doubt that stifling opportunity and development at the grass roots level will, eventually, have an adverse effect on England's performances.
However, there is a more immediate problem. Britain is just emerging from the deepest recession for decades yet millions and millions of pounds that is being earned by British football supporters is not being utilised to help the economy. Instead it is being channelled abroad through the bulging bank accounts of imported players. This makes no sense whatsoever.
The influx of foreign players is being matched by foreign coaches, particularly at the highest level, including the national team. The country is losing its footballing identity. Nobody is immune from those with vast wealth who use the national game to further their own financial fortunes. Foreign ownership of clubs is on the increase Manchester United, once the richest club in the world, now have debts of over £700m, Liverpool over £200m. Both are owned by American businessmen...
The consolation is that they will survive by virtue of their huge world-wide support and extensive commercial revenues. Others will not be so fortunate. Perhaps the biggest surprise to date is how so many clubs have managed to survive so long as the life blood is being drained from the sport.
We all recognise that progress is inevitable but progress needs to be managed, for the good of the game and especially for the good of the supporters without whom there would be no professional football. The major surprise and disappointment amid this revolution is why the football authorities seemingly stand transfixed, failing to regulate the game effectively, failing to give a strong lead, failing to take responsibility.
Amazingly, almost every English club spends beyond their means. The top clubs account for a staggering 56% of European top clubs' debt.
An increasing number of smaller clubs, and now Portsmouth in the Premier League, are incurring the wrath of the tax man for unpaid bills. Administration leaves creditors to suffer as a result, to have their own businesses put at risk. This is inexcusable. Why do football clubs consider themselves unique amongst all commercial organisations in spending more than they earn? Why do they believe that commonsense and business acumen are not applicable to them?
There is no excuse for any club to spend beyond their means but surely it cannot be beyond the collective power and reasoning of the authorities to realise that football is heading for the precipice, that decisive action is required to avert a catastrophe. At the very least they should be offering specialist advice and guidance before clubs are forced into the arms of the administrator.
The only action they take is to deduct points from those smaller clubs who can no longer sustain their debt levels, punishing the fans not those responsible for the maladministration, maladministration driven by the need to survive, to compete, to bridge the ever-widening gulf between top and bottom. Driven by the desperate search for the holy grail of success and glory that will refill the dwindling coffers.
This period is likely to be remembered as a watershed for the beautiful game. Let us hope it's not also remembered as the beginning of the end for English football.

--------
11-03-2010, 12:45 PM
Though today's Chester is a very different outfit, I think this tale is relevant. Back in the 60s, as a teenager, I lived in Southport for ten years, and, while still a Hibee, supported the local team. In 1966, they were second in the Fourth Division and set fair for promotion for the first time in their history. On Boxing Day, after a bumper 7000 crowd v Wrexham, the wooden main stand - similar to the infamous one at Valley Parade, Bradford - burned to the ground. Thank God it was in the early hours and the ground was deserted. But as I stood there next morning, 14 years old, tears in my eyes surrounded by a bed of smouldering ash, I thought it was the end of the team. Apart from a giant safe that contained the players' contacts and was fused shut with the heat, nothing remained above ground, the club had lost literally everything. They had a fixture to fulfill in three days time and if they didn't turn up, they'd be out the league.

Then Chester FC sent Southport a set of kit, some balls and equipment, and the team survived, and won promotion. When we visited their old ground at Sealand Rd, their supporters held a collection for Southport and cheered the team on to the pitch.

It was one of the most impressive gestures I've come across in 50 years of supporting football - and I wonder if it could or would happen today.

So, though the most recent owners may have got it wrong, I can't help but feel for the supporters and I'll never forget that act of solidarity. I'll always have a soft spot for Chester and their fans, and I hope they can come back somehow.


Thanks for that, mate. Great story. :thumbsup:

The_Todd
11-03-2010, 12:45 PM
Totally agree, especially in Scotland, I don't understand how some clubs are still in business, if you look to the central belt for example, albion rovers/clyde/airdrie/dumbarton/morton, even hamilton, they must be running at a loss every season so why bother?

That's a bit harsh. There's nothing wrong with these teams, I wished more local people would support them than the OF.

Now if the OF went bust, that would be nice.

An Leargaidh
11-03-2010, 12:49 PM
...We should be very grateful for Sir Tom and Rod Petrie at ER.

I totally agree mate. The Tash gets a lot of slagging, some of it in "good jest" (I think) but with the latest English club going to the wall, we should thank those in charge at ER :agree:

The_Todd
11-03-2010, 12:57 PM
The English house of cards looks like it may now all come tumbling down - Chester, Cardiff, Southend, Pompey.... and hopefully the "best league in the world" (copyright every English journalist 1992-Present) is going to come crashing down too.

Stick that in your pipe, Rodney "Scottish Football is Total Dross" Marsh.

--------
11-03-2010, 01:51 PM
Totally agree, especially in Scotland, I don't understand how some clubs are still in business, if you look to the central belt for example, albion rovers/clyde/airdrie/dumbarton/morton, even hamilton, they must be running at a loss every season so why bother?


Don't think so. I know Clyde have had problems, perhaps because they don't own the ground they play at, perhaps because they started paying too much.

Airdrie Utd have had to rebuild from scratch after Airdrieonians went bust and haven't been helped by the fact that they keep getting tangled up in other teams' problems. Two seasons recently they've been relegated, then reinstated because someone else has been put into admin or gone bust. They need to go down, sort themselves out in a division where they're competitive, and then they might have a chance of coming back up stronger.

Albion Rovers, Morton and Dumbarton live within their means and hurt no one as far as I can see. I think Accies run a pretty tight ship too, but I'm open to correction by someone with definite info.

The team in Lanarkshire deserving of real condemnation is Motherwell. They're challenging for a Europa place. They've spent nothing on their stadium in years. Everything goes to the team, which occupies a higher league position than teams who've worked hard to improve their facilities like Falkirk and Accies and the two Saints.

Their stadium is a shambles - even the newest stand is badly designed so that you can't see properly from the top tier, the main stand extends only 3'4 of the way down the pitch so that a lot of the folks sitting in it can't see one of the goals, and the other two are rabbit-hutches as bad or worse than the shed we've just pulled down.

Their pitch is a swamp and should be condemned before someone gets seriously hurt. If they DO make Europe, they'll almost certainly end up playing at Airdrie's stadium, which is about the same as if Hearts were told the Pigsty wasn't fit for purpose, and they came to play at ER.

AS said - the problem IMO isn't the wee clubs who pay their bills (mostly) and hurt no one. It's the OF who suck the game in Scotland dry, and the chancers like Motherwell, Hearts, the Sheep and (to a lesser extent perhaps) the Arabs who are incapable of long-term planning and whose facilities are grossly sub-standard for the 21st century.

NOLA
11-03-2010, 09:25 PM
That's a bit harsh. There's nothing wrong with these teams, I wished more local people would support them than the OF.

Now if the OF went bust, that would be nice.

I agree theres nothing wrong with these clubs, i was just picking names from a hat, my point is there is too many teams in Scotland for a country of our size surely?

Hainan Hibs
11-03-2010, 09:37 PM
The English house of cards looks like it may now all come tumbling down - Chester, Cardiff, Southend, Pompey.... and hopefully the "best league in the world" (copyright every English journalist 1992-Present) is going to come crashing down too.

Stick that in your pipe, Rodney "Scottish Football is Total Dross" Marsh.

:top marks

Dashing Bob S
11-03-2010, 09:38 PM
R.I.P Chester City, who gave the world Ian Rush.

Always sad to see a non-West Edinburgh club fall into the dark, snarling jaws of oblivion.