Chris Moore and Athletic’s potential new owners are in the midst of a major disagreement after Mr. Moore pulled out of the agreed deal and demanded a change which protected his own interests and left club staff unpaid. Moore denied that a deal was ever agreed and claimed he is being held to ransom. The consortium however claim that Mr. Moore wanted £160,000 of new investment to go to a PFA loan instead of for wages.
An angry Moore said, “The claims coming out of the club are absolute rubbish. We discussed options on Friday but no papers I agreed with fully were ever drawn up. Basically, they want me to pay the wages again, but where has all the money gone from the last few days? The Football League has handed over at least £100,000 from Chris Armstrong’s move, the Supporters’ Trust raised £100,000 from Saturday, the club is about to get over £250,000 from Fitz Hall and there is at least £150,000 from the advisory group. The immediate need is to pay staff, and there’s plenty in the pot to do so. I was even willing to put in up to £200,000 of my own as a personal gesture, but now I’m very reluctant to deal with this buy-out.”
Delegation heads for Oxford
This latest blow is a serious threat to Athletic’s existence and a delegation of staff headed to Oxford today (Tuesday) for a surprise face to face showdown at Torex. They hope to shame the multi-millionaire into doing the right thing and
handing over control of the club. Sean Jarvis and Neil Joy are the only staff staying at Boundary Park in case of further developments. Non playing staff haven’t receive their salaries are now using their life savings to pay bills or buy food. Only a handful of staff have left during the crisis.