Football finance crisis strikes Oldham
Second division football club, Oldham Athletic, has been placed into administration, joining a long list of football league clubs in trouble due to cash flow problems.
Link: Oldham FC breaches Revenue deadline
Philip Long and Jon Newell of PKF have been appointed as joint administrators by the High Court and will manage the affairs of the club, trading it as normal until September, when they hope to secure new investors.
What they will be looking for is an investor with minimum funding of £1.5m to get the club through to the end of the 2004/2005 season.
This will allow the club to trade at breakeven point as 17 players contracts will expire between now and 2005.
Philip Long said: ‘Football is an emotive business – Oldham has a loyal fan base and there has been a lot of interest in the club. We hope for a speedy and positive recovery to ensure that football remains in Oldham.’
Recently, the Accountancy Age/PKF second annual football finance survey showed that only 24% of football clubs expect to make a profit at year end with clubs outside the Premiership forced to reinvent their business models or face extinction.