Survival chances get more desperate every day

Last updated : 17 June 2003 By The Chairman

Athletics hopes of survival as a football team are becoming more and more desperate as each day goes by. There is no income, their bank accounts are frozen and the Pimpernel, Chris Moore, is nowhere to be seen fuelling speculation that he still can’t agree terms with any potential backers. Moore is due back from holiday in another week. Creditors will soon be in a position to begin compulsory winding-up orders due to non-payment of debts.

Manager Iain Dowie continues to fight the battle but his players are understandably unsure of their future. There is the possibility of them not being paid this month and unless Athletic can strike a financial rescue deal before 27th. June the club looks doomed. The suspension of the Starline lottery is a real concern for investors as it is supposed to be run independently of the other club finances.

The vultures are circling over Dowie’s impressive young crop of players and he hit out at the wages being paid out at the club as the main reason for the crisis when he said, “I feel badly let down because there’s no doubt things have been poorly handled. I’ve never gone overboard with contracts, but other wages I had no influence over were injudicious. I’m fire-fighting to keep everything together and this is a soul-destroying situation. We are talking about a massive club steeped in history. It’s terrible that we’ve reached this stage, so we’ll just have to keep hoping."

"Even winning promotion wouldn’t have made much difference because all this would have happened anyway. Going up might have bought us a couple of months, but the fact is that Chris Moore doesn’t want to put in the same money. The players helped by producing a season which can act as the incentive for people coming in. But the fans have spent good money on season tickets and my other concern is for players who might be too late to find a club."

"I’ve got one lad, Tony Carss, who was offered a longer deal elsewhere but wants to stay and learn because he feels this team could be something special. That’s the kind of mood we’ve created, but what are they supposed to think now?”