Creditors rock Terras
By Ky Capel

Monday 8th June 2009

WEYMOUTH Football Club has been dealt a new blow in its bid to recover from the financial meltdown that threatened the Terras’ very existence earlier this year.

Creditors Barclays Bank have requested repayment on money owed to them just when the club’s board of directors thought they were beginning to make headway.

However, despite the news, the Terras’ directors are confident that the club will survive.

A statement issued to Echosport reads: “The problem is not the longer term but the here and now. Over the summer, the club is experiencing cash-flow problems that it is seeking to address but life has been made very difficult for us, sadly, in the past week.

“One big issue is that Barclays Bank have decided to foreclose on us, requiring that we pay off our overdraft with them very soon.

“This has come as a serious and unexpected blow just at a time when we hoped our creditors were giving us some leeway, with the Inland Revenue having agreed a payment plan.

“The new board has always wanted to do the honourable thing and pay the club’s creditors, rather than default. We also do not want to have to have to suffer any punishment, from points deduction to expulsion from the Blue Square Conference, should we be forced into any insolvency action.

“We are working tirelessly to find new sponsors and investors to avoid such action and have had countless meetings over countless hours to keep the club afloat thus far. The meetings will continue this week.

“One problem is that we no longer have any collateral to borrow against because of the sale of the land surrounding the Wessex Stadium.

“In the meantime, we will keep seeking help as we try to raise the money that will keep the wolves from the door this summer. It is not helping that certain concerns who owe the club money are not paying their own debts.

“One initiative we hope to put in place is the launch of a new mobile phone texting helpline in the next week which should yield us some revenue as we hope people respond with donations.

“We also hope that those people who a month or two back were willing to save the club and pledged to buy shares, but have since not followed through their support, will now step forward.

“The club will survive and will start next season no matter what, we are sure. We must, however, quickly find the necessary funds to continue to repair the damage suffered by the club.”

The board also claims that former chairman Malcolm Curtis is demanding repayment of some of the money he believes he is owed by the club.

However, Curtis insists that this far from the case. He said: “I’ve not made any statutory demands. When the board took over they signed an agreement that £20,000 of money owed to me, which I put into the club before Christmas, would be paid back at £500 a month.

“However, no payment has been made at all – I’ve not received a penny. I’ve had no contact from the club to clarify their position so all I want is clarification.

“I’m not going to wind the club up as I have no intentions of doing that. They signed a legal agreement with me and I just want clarification on the situation so we can move forward.”

Curtis, who relinquished his majority shareholding in January, agreed that repayments on “the majority of the loans” owed to him – around £220,00 in total – would be frozen for up to five years when the new board arrived in March.

Meanwhile, the Terras have completed the signing of former Weston-super-Mare keeper Ryan Harrison - manager Matty Hale's fifth signing since taking charge last month.