Town Take Over Almost Done

Town Take Over Almost Done

The consortium led by David Cairns and Adie Hall is 99 percent certain of being completed by the end of the week which will mean the club can then move forward in re-building the club ready for the start of the season in August.

On another positive note, Cairns has also revealed that they have struck a deal with Town's major shareholder, David Greenwood, which would see the East stand being completed before Christmas (which Christmas they means is unknown).

It seems that it is all down to the taxman agreeing to the terms of the proposals which would then get the consortium the 75% of the creditors onside to take the club into a CVA.

Unfortunately the consortium does not have any millionaire's involved in their group, but the people involved do have the clubs best interests at heart.

The consortium is made up of 7 parties. Obviously Hall and Cairns are leading the group, but they are not willing to name names as yet to the other 5. It was on the HTST website last week about their intentions to support this consortium. But until they receive permission from the members they will not be able to hand any money over.

It does seem their intentions are honest. Hall and Cairns have over 60 years of support for the Shaymen between them which shows that they are loyal fans.

But what will all this mean for the long term plans for the club?

Are we going to end up in this same position in the future?

They were quoted in the Evening Courier as saying:

"We will need to stabilise the club and we must stick to the budget regardless."

So hopefully this will mean they will only spend what is earned and stick to realistic budgets instead of budgeting for crowds of 3200 which proved to be the main reason we are in this mess today.

The main income for the club apart from the match income will be the facility of the East stand. Once completed it is suggested that it will bring in revenue of up to £250,000 a year. This would be a massive boost to the coffers of not just Halifax Town but also the Halifax Blue Sox.

But it is well documented that the Blue Sox owe Halifax Town a figure of up to £48,000 and there needs to be some kind of deal made to see the repayments of this. The rugby club are in dire straights like ourselves and are still waiting to hear back from the Thurm Hall Trustees about the release of further monies to pay their debts.

Any money released by the Trustees is supposed to go into the East stand development, but the Trustees have stalled on their decision and the odds are leaning in favour of the Blue Sox receiving money for debts rather than the money going into the building work.

This problem needs to be close to the top of the new owners priorities. We are in no position to be messed about, especially when agreements have been made about the money. We need to start looking after ourselves, and if that means taking legal action against the Blue Sox then so be it.

So, what about the Gameplan bid led by Michael Lloyd with the backing of ex-Chairman Bob Walker and the other directors?

It seems now that their bid is a lost cause. It is unsure whether the administrator ever actually received their proposals. It is still unclear as to what their intentions were, and if they actually did ever instead to pump the promised million pounds into the club. They had promised a finished stadium, but there was no doubt that they would be benefiting from the income instead of it going directly to the two clubs who share the Shay.

This will probably see the end of the Bob Walker chapter at Halifax Town. I personally do think he has put a lot of work into Halifax Town, and his intentions have been of the decent nature during his time as Chairman. There are reasons as to why Bob Walker backed the Gameplan bid, but it is hopefully time to put this chapter away and look forward to the future for the best of the club.

Whatever happens, we all know that the rollercoaster ride that is Halifax Town will continue to drag us through all the emotions, but at least come August, we are going to have a team to support. That is a miracle in itself!