The spectre of St Marys could mean death knell for Saints
Troubled Championship club Southampton have seen their holding company put into administration today but have said it will not affect the Football Club at this stage.
Southampton Leisure Holdings had suspended trading on the stock exchange this week after the company failed to renegotiate borrowings with it’s bankers and was unable to attract further funding from alternative sources. The clubs chief executive and former chairman Rupert Lowe, current chairman Michael Wilde and director Andrew Cowen have all resigned their posts with the holding company.
Mark Fry one of the joint administrators appointed says that they will try to find a buyer for the company but the directors have been looking to sell or attract investment to the business for sometime already, which they have been unsuccessful in doing and so the chances are pretty slim.
The holding company has debts of £27.5m and the administrators say that the future of the club is in serious jeopardy, given that the finances are interlinked and the football club is, as such an asset of the holding company.
It is unclear whether putting the holding company into administration will save Southampton from a ten point deduction in the Championship, the standard punishment from the Football League for a club going into receivership. They are currently second from bottom of the division and losing a further ten points would mean certain relegation.
The administrators have stated that despite the circumstances the club ‘could be an extremely attractive investment for the right buyer.’
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