Post
by Big E » Mon Jan 07, 2013 12:38 pm
An excellent piece from Ralph in NZ for those who don't get his newsletter..
On Sunday night, Barrow AFC chairman Brian Keen admitted that the club is subject to transfer embargo imposed by the FA because of outstanding tax bill, and this is the reason why Danny O'Donnell's move from Stockport County fell through, and the Evening Mail reports: "He (Keen) has, however, moved to ease supporters' concerns by saying that the unpaid National Insurance bill will "be sorted in the morning (Monday)." Keen said he didn't know about the embargo until Saturday evening. Centre-half Tom Anderson and striker Joe Jackson will both see their current loan spells from parent club Burnley come to an end tomorrow".
I think we can infer from this whilst Brian Keen didn't know about the embargo, there's no reason to doubt him here. However, we can infer that he knew about the outstanding tax bill (if he didn't, then that raises even more interesting questions, he is the chairman after all), but perhaps knew either the club couldn't pay it in time or believed the matter had been sorted (it could have been compounded by Russell Dodd being ill).
So, we have been told, but in a way which perhaps does leave a sour(ish) taste in the mouth, as the club have only come clean after the information came into the public domain from other sources. Let us go back twelve months, the club were late paying December 2011's National Insurance (NI) tax bill which led to a winding-up order petition being laid, but, we have to remember HMRC now take immediate action if a football club's payment for VAT or NI (both now paid monthly) is missed. The bill was paid, but as proceedings were launched against the club (back in January 2012), the first time they could be halted when was the matter appeared in court (late 2012) and was dismissed by the judge.
Here we have a quandary. Do the club admit to supporters that they are unable to pay the VAT or NI tax bill and are due in court or face a transfer embargo and perhaps encourage other creditors to seek payment immediately, rather (for example) than at the end of the month, or do the club hope no-one will notice and they can wing it?
Perhaps the answer's somewhere in the middle.
Of course, paying the bills on time is the answer, but there are times when, for whatever reason, that isn't possible. Bearing in mind our average home attendance of 939 is well down on the break-even figure (back in October, Brian Keen said it was 1250 to 1300), the difference will soon add up, remember we five months into the season
Barrow AFC will have looked at trimming the expenditure as much as possible, and we haven't been signing players left, right and centre, have we? But I assume, as with a household budget, there are things that have to be paid, and sooner or later there's no more fat to trim.
It's not a nice position to be in, and I think most people would have experienced something similar at one time in their life, but we have come through it, eventually. In the meantime, Barrow AFC are a club that must keep playing and more importantly paying the wages, the electricity bill and everything else.
And let's not forget we don't have a home game now until Tuesday 22 January when we entertain Barrow v Stockport County. It could be a long few weeks.
My advice? Stick with the Board of Directors, give them our support (they have steered the good ship Barrow AFC through choppier waters than these before), wait until the AGM and see if they can help fill in the gaps, hope for a victory in the FA Trophy against Gateshead and a home time in the next
(Fourth) Round on Saturday 26 January, otherwise we are away to Dartford.
What else? Oh, yes, we travel to Luton Town on Tuesday night for a League game.
How did they get on in their last game?
Beat Wolverhampton Wanderers in the FA Cup?
Oh, no pressure then . . . .
Oh, yes, remember, a football club is for life, not just for Christmas, imagine where we would be if people had given up on Barrow AFC back in June
1972 when we lost our Football League status?
