Hey
Firstly, my apologies for spamming across different areas of these forums. I just wanted to post a link to a petition aimed at improving the survival prospects of Scarborough FC.
It won't let me put an URL so its .gopetition.com/online/10254.html with www in front of it!
With crippling debts approaching £2million, our only chance of survival is to sell off our town centre ground for housing for about £4million, and build a new stadium out of town for about £2million, paying off the debts with the remaining money. This will allow us to start afresh, with new non-football related revenue streams such as conference rooms, offices, restaurants, six-a-side pitches etc.
However, there is a covenant placed on the current McCain Stadium, saying it can only be used as a sports stadium. This is to protect the club, but is in fact hindering it. If we cannot guarantee that we can pay off our debts, we will be wound up and the ground sold by the administrators, leaving us with no club and no ground.
Scarborough FC’s proposal needs Scarborough Borough Council to guarantee that, in theory, once a new ground is built, the covenant will be moved from the old ground to the new stadium. With this guarantee, a down payment from the housing developers would be on the table, thus allowing us to start work on a new ground. With these assurances in place, the creditors (Inland Revenue etc) would be satisfied they would get their money, and thus would allow us more time.
However, Scarborough Borough Council have again delayed their decision as to whether they would in principal lift the covenenant once a new ground was built, stating that they are unsatisfied that there would still be enough money available to build a new stadium after the debts had been cleared. However, their own commissioned report states that it is a viable option. They chose to ingnore this and go along with hearsay and rumour from the old guard of local businessmen. The covenant aimed at preserving football in Scarborough is shooting us in the foot.
The council will meet again on the 17th December. However, Scarborough FC have a meeting with the creditors on 1st December, and with the council yet to make a decision, it is likely the creditors may wind up the business.
We need the council to prioritise the future of Scarborough Football Club, and as such urge everyone to sign this petition and help save one of the country’s oldest football clubs. Local teams are at the centre of their communities, and grassroots football should be preserved everywhere.
After support from Sky Sports News and John Barnes’ Football Night, the petition is in a healthy state, but of course more signitures woul be gratefully received by Seadog’s everywhere.
Please sign. Thank you very much for your time.
Sheffield Seadog.
