| External Links |
|---|
| Official Club Website |
| Supporters Trust |
| News? Updates? Corrections? |
| Please fill in the feedback form! |
From Northwich Guardian, By Andrew Simpson:
It is now scheduled to be heard on November 9.
We've got a range of options to pick from," he said.
"And hopefully we'll be able to decide on one of those in the next couple of days."
Officials from the Football Conference and the FA met with the consortium on Thursday to find out more about their plans for the club should the takeover be successful.
But Rushe was tight-lipped on how the meeting went.
Instead he encouraged Vics fans to be patient.
"We want to make sure we are happy with every detail," he added.
"Once we are then we can move on to the next stage."
For now Mike Connett, who watched the 2-0 reverse against Stevenage yesterday, remains at the helm at the Victoria Stadium.
He shook hands with Rushe on a deal to sell the club three weeks ago.
Since then the consortium, which also includes Northwich businessman Nick Bone, has been busy negotiating with HM Revenue and Customs to whom Vics owe £350,000.
A winding-up petition by the UK tax department to liquidate the club is due to be heard at the High Court in London on November 14, although could be withdrawn if Rushe and his colleagues are in charge by then.
From BBC Sport:
The Vics face a winding up petition from HM Revenue and Customs next week over an unpaid tax bill of over £350,000.
But a group of potential investors has come forward and met with supporters on Thursday night.
"We've shaken hands on a deal," group spokesman Jim Rush is reported to have told fans.
Rush added: "As long as he, (Mike) Connett, sticks to what he has said then we will go forward from here," reports the Northwich Guardian.
The winding up petition is due to be heard in court next Wednesday and any would-be saviours of the struggling Blue Square Premier club would have to satisfy the Revenue's demands to keep Northwich afloat.
Earlier Vics chairman Mike Connett had admitted that the club's finances are in a "desperate state" and claimed that a lack of support had taken its toll.
Connett said in a statement: "I have tried everything possible to keep this football club running over the last three years but every club needs supporters and, at present, Northwich simply does not have enough.
"In this division we need home attendances of 1,500 just to break even and we are well short of that.
"If Northwich wants a football club the local community needs to support it - and so do local businesses."
Connett added in his statement to the Northwich Guardian: "It is easy for people to criticise and over the last three years some of the personal abuse I have received has been sickening.
"Over the past few months I have been in discussions with various parties who have expressed an interest in buying the football club.
"You cannot run a business on fresh air and no one, to date, has been prepared to enter into a serious negotiation.
"I am told that the Supporters' Trust is trying to work out a rescue package. Let me state on the record that I would be more than willing to let the Supporters' Trust run the football club.
"The club's finances are in a desperate state. There is no disputing that. There are not enough people coming through the turnstiles. But if the Supporters' Trust - or anyone else - is serious about saving this football club the time for talking is over.
"It is time for action."
From Northwich Guardian, by Andrew Simpson:
Owner Mike Connett needs to find the money by next Wednesday, October 17, when he is due to appear at London's High Court of Justice.
"We see little hope of surviving without a financial miracle," said Peter Grimes, chairman of independent fan group Northwich Victoria Supporters' Trust.
"The club need to find hundreds of thousands of pounds in a week, it's a hopeless cause."
HM Revenue and Customs petitioned to wind up Northwich Victoria Football Club (2004) Ltd in July, but its request was only made public on Thursday.
advertisement
The company formed when the old one - Northwich Victoria Football Club Company Ltd - went out of business two years ago.
Mr Connett has been on holiday since Friday and had not returned at the time of going to press yesterday, Tuesday. Nobody else at the Victoria Stadium was prepared to comment.
Meanwhile Manchester corporate recovery specialist Begbies Traynor is trying to find a buyer for the struggling club.
"We have come in at the 11th hour to put together some form of rescue package," said spokesman Paul Stanley.
"Potential investors have been in touch but none has come up with a firm proposal."
Vics have no assets to help pay their debt because their ground and the surrounding land are owned by another of Mr Connett's companies, Beaconet.
If nobody comes forward the club will be liquidated and kicked out of the Blue Square Premier - the top tier of non-league football in England.
Officials at HM Revenue and Customs and the Football Conference, the company that runs the Blue Square Premier, declined to comment ahead of next week's scheduled court hearing.
From Northwich Guardian, by Andrew Simpson:
"It appears to be the only realistic option in front of us," said trust chairman Peter Grimes tonight, Friday.
advertisement
"If Northwich Victoria Football Club (2004) Limited is liquidated then the club ceases to exist in every way.
"The only way to keep it alive would be to restart at a lower level, much in the same way as AFC Telford United have done."
The Guardian reported earlier today that the club could go out of business in the next fortnight over an unpaid tax bill.
HM Revenue and Customs have set an October 17 deadline for the struggling Blue Square Premier club to come up with the money.
Mr Grimes revealed the trust had been in contact with individuals interested in investing in the club, but their optimism drained when they discovered how perilous the club's current financial status is.
All enquiries to the club are now being directed to Manchester corporate recovery specialists Begbies Traynor.
They are expected to issue a statement at the beginning of next week.
See also: Supporters Trust News
