Have Cardiff paid in full for Parry

The financial plight of Cardiff City is well documented in an article in this mornings Independent by David Conn. The author takes a close look at chairman, Sam Hammam, and his business dealings including his time at Wimbledon. Although not mentioned by name, there could now be some doubt as to whether Hereford United have been paid in full for Paul Parry.

When Hammam arrived four-and-a-half years ago, the club was on its knees, relegated to the Third Division, with debts of £1.5m, ongoing losses close to £1m and a crumbling Ninian Park. "Sam the Man" brought with him the aura of Wimbledon.

Cardiff fans, feasting on long-yearned-for success and improvements to Ninian Park pending the construction of their new super-stadium, would hear nothing of that history, until doubts seeped in at the beginning of this season. After finishing 13th last term, Cardiff sold Earnshaw to West Bromwich Albion for £3.5m, while McAnuff, a former Wimbledon midfielder, was signed from West Ham for £250,000.

It then emerged that staff and players had not been paid, McAnuff has not been paid for in full, and Ernst and Young were picking over the financial morass. The club is due to file accounts at the end of this month, but Hammam's company, Rudgwick, which now owns Cardiff, published group accounts last November. They were horrible, showing a loss of £8.6m, although Hammam was still paid £235,000 in dividends.

The cost of financing a team to win promotion to the Premier League is more expensive now than it was when he had Wimbledon. The wage bill in the year to May 2003 was £160,000 a week, £8.4m altogether, almost £1m greater than the company's whole turnover. A short-term loan from Citibank was up to £18m; there was a further £6m of debt, and last September, Rudgwick borrowed £24m in a new seven-year facility, to repay the bank and other loans. That is before a penny is borrowed to finance the stadium.

It is thought that the original payment for Paul Parry was settled close to the transfer date, but it is not yet known whether all the "add-on" money has been settled. The revelation that some of the money for McAnuff is still owing, will raise questions.

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