CVA payments in arrears at the Shay

Hailfax Town may be having quite a good season on the pitch so far (they defeated Hereford United two weeks ago), but off it there appear to be problems with their CVA.

ShaymenOnline has been trying to ascertain how bad the position is.

With all the recent murmurings about the club once again sliding towards financial crisis we here at ShaymenOnline emailed the Administrator O'Hara & Co. We asked for an update on the clubs current position with the repayment of the Company Voluntary Arrangement.

Whilst nobody from O'Hara & Co got back in touch, a letter dated 29th September has been sent out to all creditors with an update on the situation. The following is taken from the letter:

I have now received contributions from the Company in the sum of £205,000, leaving a balance due from the Company of £145,000 to be paid over the remaining two and a half years of the scheme. The company is in arrears with its contributions insofar as the total contributions to date should total £220,000.

The seriousness of this situation cannot be underestimated given that a CVA is by all means the final chance for a company that has hit hard times. It is glaringly obvious that the club has once again put together a budget that cannot be realistically met.

Also in the letter Mr O'Hara informs us that the club will be making additional payments "until the arrears have been discharged". Currently the club pays, or should have been paying £4,000 each month. These payments are to be continued whilst additional contributions of £1,000 will be made after each home league and cup game.

The £15k arrears do make you worry. If something as serious as the CVA repayments have been missed, what other debts has the club incurred? Is the Tax Man being paid? How about player's wages? What about the stadium rent?

In our email to O'Hara & Co, we asked whether the club was solvent or not. I think we have our answer.

---