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From Halifax Evening Courier:
As predicted on our website earlier today the Football Conference board has expelled the club.
"We feel that Halifax do not qualify," said conference general manager Dennis Strudwick.
"There will be correspondence to the club hopefully today or tomorrow."
Mr Strudwick said he had heard nothing from the administrators running the club since Friday when efforts to reach agreement with creditors failed.
He said a Halifax club would now have to be reformed from scratch and seek approval from the Football Association and then be allocated a league to play in.
Mike Appleby, league manager for the FA, said there would be a place for a Halifax team but the issue would be at what entry level.
"We will accommodate Halifax. We are not going to let football die in Halifax," he said.
The consortium and the Halifax Town Supporters' Trust have both indicated they were interested in running a club.
"We have had notice of intent but not the detail," said Mr Appleby.
The detail will now have to be worked up speedily but confusion surrounds the consortium's intent as it has been working behind the scenes leaving fans in the dark.
The trust is now split with some wanting to back the consortium - with its financial standing and business expertise - and others want the trust to run a members' club.
Mr Appleby said whichever group came forward to form a team it would have to prove security of lease.
A team playing at the Shay can expect to compete in the fourth tier of non-league football in the Northern Premier League Division One North (Unibond).
If games are not played at the Shay then the fifth tier Northern Counties East Football League is the likely scenario.
From Halifax Courier:
A preliminary announcement - from the Football Club and the Consortium
We hope you will appreciate, following the unexpected and devastating news of last Friday, 9th May, a huge number of Club matters have had to be dealt with.
The current position is that the Consortium, whilst certain discussions take place, are continuing to honour the guarantee made to the Administrators, Begbies Traynor and continuing to fund the ongoing running of the existing Company. This includes the payment of management, playing staff and running costs and represents a significant cost to prevent the Club from being liquidated, which would ordinarily have happened immediately after the events of Friday. This is to provide time for interested parties, including the Consortium, to explore opportunities for a 'reformation' of the existing Company, as near the top of the senior Football Pyramid as possible. These discussions will ultimately need to be concluded with Begbies-Traynor as current Administrators of the Club, with the FA giving approval for whatever offer of membership and approval may be given to join a nominated League, for the 'reformed' Club. We stress, this route is being used to try and retain as high a position up the pyramid as possible and to do this, a transfer from the previous Company is more favourable than a 'new' start. This must not be confused with any activities involving Halifax Town Supporters Trust members, who we understand are involved in their own separate plans for the restructure of the Club, in conjunction with Supporters Direct, within the Football Pyramid.
In having to discuss the various scenarios relating to the current Club, time has been of a premium. Discussions were taking place yesterday at the FA in London, relating to all the Leagues under the FA banner, which is normal procedure at this time of the year. Clubs have to submit 'expressions of interest' to take part in certain Leagues. This we have done and discussions are taking place as we speak.
The Consortium is still seeking to be involved if possible, in addition to another potential group. As mentioned previously, the Halifax Town Supporters Trust, is also taking their independent approach. It is hoped, within the next 48 hours, our position will be much clearer, once ongoing discussions have been completed. At that point, a decision will have to be taken as to which scheme, if in fact there is more than one scheme, goes forward to the FA for final consideration. The FA will not consider more than one option from the town of Halifax, no matter which League the proposals are intended for or under what name the Club is constituted.
We can only stress, the lack of immediate information, is due to re-organising after the failure to pass a CVA last Friday. Whatever the outcome, all the faithful fans of Halifax deserve the best possible outcome from the situation. That is what is trying to be achieved, but it will take a little time yet, from all perspectives.
We hope to provide a further statement, after we have dealt with the short term pressing deadlines, to help clarify the circumstances of Friday and correct some of the recently published inaccurate statements.
See also: Halifax Town Clockwatch
From Halifax Evening Courier:
Creditors yesterday rejected an offer of 2.5p in the pound to clear its outstanding debts.
Tomorrow the meeting will reconvene. If a compromise is not reached, the club faces liquidation.
Administrator Rob Sadler must now attempt to persuade the consortium who want to buy the club to part with four times the amount that is now on the table. This would take their outlay to £800,000.
Given the club is running losses of around £30,000 a month, that is asking a very great deal of anyone.
In this whole sorry state of affairs it is easy to be blinded by sentiment.
Football fans are fiercely loyal. Those who support Halifax Town are no different.
For them it is easy to overlook the fact some businesses have been badly scalded by Town's bad debt.
Roy Barnett, whose construction company was involved in building the half-finished East Stand and is owed £195,000, says: "It is a tragedy the club has been allowed to carry on trading as long as it has."
Ironically, this comes at a time when Calderdale Council has committed £2.7 million to finishing work on The Shay stadium.
When it comes down to it, nobody wants to see Halifax Town wiped off the football map.
We must hope - maybe pray - that something arrives to transform the club's fortunes at the very last minute.
From Evening Courier, by Brian Coates:
Businessmen David Bosom-worth and Bobby Ham have been involved behind the scenes at the club for 12 months with a view to taking it over but are still stalling over shareholding issues.
They have said they are prepared to clear the club's debts once they have a 75 per cent shareholding and lawyers on their behalf gave an undertaking to the court last month a deal would be concluded before yesterday.
But, as revealed on the Courier website, HM Revenue and the High Court reluctantly agreed a further reprieve until October 31.
The Halifax Town Supporters' Trust has expressed its concern but again pledged its support to the businessmen.
"The trust is relieved the court has given the club a further 28 days to settle the winding up order. We are, however, obviously concerned that this is the final adjournment the club may have," said spokesman Gavin Butler.
"It is therefore important that all the respective parties work together and support David Bosomworth and Bobby Ham in their takeover of the club to ensure Halifax Town continues to operate. Only then will the club have the opportunity of moving into a new and brighter era."
And Halifax Town Supporters' Club chairman Kit Walton said it was puzzling that the takeover was taking longer than those of major companies.
"I am quite happy to welcome the new people into the club but I can not understand why it has taken so long," he said.
"All the fans just want matters sorting out and the club stabilised because it will not be until the takeover is complete."
The businessmen have been keeping the club going financially but have refused to speak publicly about their involvement - there was no statement from the club in the run-up and following yesterday's hearing.
They have a majority shareholding but 75 per cent would give them more of a controlling interest in the club.
A former chairman, Bob Walker, has said he believed it would be very difficult to get hold of 75 per cent and previous directors had put money into the club with small shareholdings.
He hoped, if that was the case, the businessmen would take control with a majority shareholding and try to build on that.
If they walk away the likelihood is that the club would be wound-up following the next hearing on October 31.
The Shaymen face a winding-up order on Wednesday over unpaid taxes and talks with a consortium seeking to take them over appear to have run out of time.
MyFootballClub has enlisted over 50,000 members since May and is now collecting money to buy up a suitable club.
"I can confirm we have made an approach to MyFootballClub," said a spokesman for Halifax director Geoff Ralph.
"Having received no communication from the consortium's solicitors, and in the face of the winding-up petition which has been presented to the High Court, we have no alternative but to seek intervention from elsewhere."
Halifax owe more than £100,000 to the Inland Revenue and have been in takeover talks with the consortium since last year without reaching a resolution, despite the club saying last week that they were confident of agreeing a deal.
The MyFootballClub website launched in May seeking fans willing to invest £35 each to buy a team, with each member an equal partner.
The website received over £100,000 in its first six hours of collecting funds.
Members will have a vote on transfers as well as player selection and all major decisions affecting the club.
A lawyer for MyFootballClub said: "We are not privy to Halifax Town's internal financial dealings. However, the club is a popular choice among our members, so it is one we will consider.
"We're just four weeks into collecting funds and wish to explore all opportunities, so we welcome contact from any club that feels we can help."
Simon Denton, editor of the Shaymen Down South fanzine and website said: "Given the recent history of Halifax Town, one is left to wonder whether a club run and owned by 50,000 could be any worse than what we have experienced to date.
"After all, we already have a stadium owned by 200,000 citizens. I like the idea of people across the world getting enthusiastic about the club I love."
Richard Harris, board member of both the Supporters Trust and the Stadium Trust, added: "A club run by the fans for the fans is a tempting proposition. We have got Shaymen Down South, why can't we have them north, east and west as well.
"I concede that this model for running a football club has its problems, but the challenge of solving them puts a smile on my face."
See also: MyFootballClub
Halifax Town have announced that they are now out of administration after a court appearance on 28th March 2003.
This has been achieved due to a lot of hard work by the club, the directors and the Supporters Trust and most importantly the fans who rallied round to provide the funds to make this a possibility.
================= previously =====================
14 March 2003
Administrators have sent a warning to supporters of Halifax Town. Peter O'Hara has warned that if supporters cannot give more financial support to the club then it will cease to survive.
The club is due to come out of administration on Friday, this has now been put back to next Wednesday. O'Hara says that the club still has insufficient funds to come out of administration.
The Halifax Town Supporters trust are now holding a meeting on Tuesday night at the Civic Centre where club secretary Richard Groves will explain the situation. The meeting starts at 7.30
More information is available on the clubs official website.
================= Previously =================
Taken from HTST Web Site
After some discussion with various interested parties, including administrator Peter O'Hara, the Halifax Town Supporters' Trust is left in no doubt as to the seriousness of the current situation.
It is true that Halifax Town AFC have been accepted into the Conference for next season, but the fact remains as follows:
Administrator Peter O'Hara has only until the second week in July to show that Halifax Town has a future. If by then no funding can be guaranteed for next season, the Shaymen will cease to exist.
There appear to be only three options left:
The Irish Consortium. They are property developers who require substantial guarantees from both Calderdale MBC and the Halifax Blue Sox before any deal can be struck.
A consortium led by the Halifax Town Supporters' Trust.
Liquidation. While not the preferred choice by any means, the Trust will look to re-form Halifax Town as a community-owned club should this occur. The likelihood is that we would play in a league far below the Nationwide Conference at a venue other than the Shay Stadium. It would, in effect, be a case of starting again from scratch.
The Society Board of the Halifax Town Supporters' Trust are to enter into further discussions to see how viable option two is. However, this is not to be seen as a commitment to supporting only that option.
The major problem appears to be that the Inland Revenue would seek a substantial minimum payment up front before accepting a Creditor's Voluntary Agreement. Given that they are the major creditor their support would be essential if a CVA was to be granted.
The Halifax Town Supporters' Trust are committed to securing both the immediate and long-term future of the club. While in principle we support any plan that guarantee's the club's continuation, we would seek the backing of members before offering our full support.
Please be clear in your mind that the future of Halifax Town AFC hangs by a thread. This is as serious as it's ever been - and the clock is ticking.
====================== Previously ======================
The article below was sent to me by Paul Holroyd Chair Halifax Town Supporters Trust
Halifax Town recently sank into administration amid news of debts totalling around £400,000. Shortly after all but one of the senior squad were sacked which resulted in the PFA threatening to expel us from both the Football League and the Nationwide Conference. Upon being reminded that they didn't
have the authority to wield that sort of power, they reluctantly backed down.
While that could be classed as a small victory it's actually very little comfort considering we still need to sort out our debts and rebuild our squad in time for the new season.
Compared to other clubs, incredibly Halifax Town are in a relatively healthy position, but it remains a grim
situation for a club of our size.
Thankfully we have a chairman who accepts that the supporters are the future of the club and he has committed himself to helping the recently-established Supporters Trust take on more and more responsibility.
The future's not yet clear but at least we have a light at the end our tunnel.
Best wishes to the supporters of all the other clubs facing similar plights.
=================== Previously ===================
Bob Walker Halifax Town's chairman has admitted that the club could be put into administration in the next few days.
Walker said that going into administration could be the only option left to the club. 'At the moment it is a possibility,' he said. In this day and age of football we have to think in terms of existence and survival 'We spoke to the insolvency practitioners and they advised us that it was the way forward.
Walker said that Halifax's problems were not directly connected to ITV Digital going into administration.
He said the club was in serious trouble before the television deal hit problems, saying that the TV revenue represents only 8% of the clubs turnover
=================== Previously ===================
Halifax chairman Bob Walker is due to meet with two prospective buyers next week. Walker has said that the interested parties wish to remain anonymous, but one was a consortium led by a Halifax millionaire businessman and the other involved two men from Leeds.
No-one has come along yet and said `here is £400,000 to clear the club's debts' but I feel we are planting the seeds in some people's minds
Walker said: 'We've had about five or six calls from people during the week. 'But it is all very cloak and dagger with people not willing to say who they are or who they are representing. 'There are two meetings set up for next week, with one of them involving a local businessman which I'm pleased about as I would like to think we have pricked the conscience of the people in Halifax.'
==================== Previously ====================
The owners of Halifax Town have today put the club up for sale.
In a statement the directors of Halifax Town have said they are prepared to 'step aside' or work with any other parties who are prepared to inject cash into the club. The statement went on to say that the Directors HOPE to continue to fund the club untill the end of season but in the absence of any sale agreement in the near future they would have no alternative other than to seriously review the future of the club.
No comment was made for their plans regarding next season.
