Revenue dashes Wimbledon FC hopes
Wimbledon Football Club fans have seen a bid to save the club from liquidation snatched from the jaws of victory by the Inland Revenue.
Link: Liquidation threat hangs over Wimbledon FC
The taxman launched a challenge to Wimbledon’s Company Voluntary Arrangement at the eleventh hour, meaning the future of the club could now be decided in the High Court.
Wimbledon agreed its CVA last month, after administrators from Grant Thornton warned that liquidation was inevitable if the deal was rejected.
The club will now remain in administration and face the added financial problems associated with their recent relegation to the second division.
A takeover bid by music entrepreneur Pete Winkelman looked almost certain to go ahead as the final 24 hours of a 28-day period in which creditors could challenge Wimbledon’s CVA ticked down. Then came the taxman’s challenge.
The Revenue, which is owed £1m out of the club’s total debts of £25m, was the only major creditor to vote against the CVA when it was agreed last month. But yesterday’s move has shocked the club.
Stuart Murdoch, the Wimbledon’s manager, said he was devastated but continued to hope it could come out of administration soon.