Silkmen in Dire Straits!

[TerryintheWest]

The FA sh!t On Macc

By Gary J
Date: 19/12/2005

Sorry about the language in the heading but that is what they have well and
truly done. The club need to find £300,000 in six weeks. For a club of our
size and with our attendances the FA have well and truly shafted us BIG
STYLE.

I spoke to a representative of the club after the fine had been handed out
and the club are not happy at all. This could see the end of us. The owners
won't want to pay that fine for something they weren't involved in. Who
would want to pay that fine? Its an absolute joke.
A team in the Premier$hite would be unhappy with a fine of that amount never
mind us.
Here is the statement that was put on the official site a short while ago:
FA casts doubt on the survival of Macclesfield Town Football Club

The Macclesfield Town delegation was given a long hearing today as the FA
Disciplinary Tribunal considered four charges associated with the building
of the McAlpine Stand in 2000/2001.

Club representatives, who presented evidence in defence and in mitigation of
the charges, were devastated by the outcome.

The total of fines, costs and compensation to the Football Foundation will
approximately amount to a staggering £300,000 to be paid within six weeks.

The current major shareholders have always been committed to the original
plans of Macclesfield Town FC but do not feel it appropriate, or fair, for
them to pay for the alleged mistakes of a previous regime by meeting these
new and draconian cash demands.


As a result of the FA Tribunal's decision the Club will need to raise
£300,000 by the end of January 2006 in order to avoid insolvency.

Arrangements will be made for a Fans and Shareholders meeting to be held at
the Moss Rose on Wednesday evening at 7pm to review the implications of
today's decision.

 

[Guest]

They're pretty much screwed by the sounds of it. Good luck to them, however, in their battle to survive. Just another example of how the FA doesn't seem to care about the clubs it deems to govern.

 

[SUFCFARAWAY]

This is sickening. If we were hit by the same amount we would struggle as well! I feel sorry for Maccs. It seems the lower down the league you are the bigger the fines are. How can a small club like Maccs find the money to get themselves out of this? The only way is to sell players. But it goes into one viscious circle. You get into debt, you sell your best players, the club slides down the tabel, attendances drop, you go out of the footballing league becauseyour team isn't good enough coz you sold all your best players, you get into more debt because of the lost of revenue not being in the football leagues. Its a viscious circle! And one that the FA should help with in order to preserve the lower league clubs and not to destroy them!

 

[Shrimper2thecore]

The level of fines makes no sense when you think back to Ashley Cole V Chelsea saga, and the minor fines handed out there!!

This would see the end of Macc, which would mean another league ground i have been to not being a league ground anymore!!

 

[Fish]

It's unrealistic of the FA to be a body that, by definition, supports football in the UK yet seems to give a disproportionate punishment to a club they must know can't afford it.

However, why don't the current shareholders sue those responsible for the actions the club is being fined for? It's the current shareholders who are being hit in the pocket as owners of the club, and, whether they like it or not, it's their responsibillity to take legal ownership of the clubs legacy. In becoming shareholders, they take on responsibility for everything at the club, past and present. If they didn't wasnt to get hit by a possible fine, they shouldn't have bought the club in the first place.

 

[RobM.]

Have I missed something? What are they being fined for?

 

[Upminster Blue]

Er, I think we're missing something here. Macclesfield FRAUDULENTLY obtained an additional c£200k in grants for their new stand four or five years ago. The FA are, not unreasonably, asking for this back (without interest is my understanding). The fine is only c£100k.

Whilst I feel sorry for their fans, the bottom line is that Macc have acted illegally and, quite frankly, they are getting off quite lightly. If you or I obtained £200k fraudulently I think we'd be looking at a lengthy prison sentence.

Also, supposing they'd been promoted last season ahead of us on the basis that this fraud had freed up an extra £200k to spend on players (which it effectively did - they made a lot of big money signings last season)? How would we have felt then?

Cheats don't prosper is the bottom line.

 

[RobM.]

Oh right - didn't know that. Seems harsh that the current board are being penalised for the previous board's misdemeanour. It's like getting a parking ticket that your new girlfriend's ex was guilty for!