LTFC CVA Update
As expected, and as you've no doubt heard, LTFC 2020's offer to
creditors was rejected at a meeting held on Friday 4th April.
On the face of it, this doesn't sound good news but it does, in fact,
give LTFC an opportunity to speed up the process of applying for the
'golden share' back from the Football League, thereby enabling the club
to come out of administration more quickly than was originally expected.
Applying for the 'golden share' is not a straightforward process (when
are things ever straightforward for LTFC?!!), so this may take a few
more days. Although it sounds a strange thing to say, it is a positive
that the offer was rejected straight away, rather than having the
process drag out for another month, as happened in the case of Leeds
United (who, of course, still ended up having their offer rejected).
It should also be said that LTFC2020 have assured us that their
contingencies and plans took into account this possibility.
The club will now have to apply for the 'golden share' under the
'exceptional circumstances' rule, which, again, in the case of Leeds,
resulted in a further 15 point deduction.
On this, we respectfully call on the Football League to:
a) give LTFC2020 the 'golden share' as soon as it is asked for, without
any delay and;
b) avoid handing out any further punishment against the club. Further
punishment will only result in hurting the fanbase - a fanbase, which
had absolutely no control over what was happening behind the scenes at
Luton Town FC in the run-up to the club being plunged into
administration.
The Trust's view is that the club has already suffered enough with an
extremely likely second successive relegation as a result of going into
administration, so taking more points away from the club (possibly at
the start of next season) will be punishing us twice for the same
'offence'. An 'offence' that was, of course, committed by people who
are no longer at the club. A question that we would ask the Football
League is 'why should the new custodians of the club be punished for the
actions of others?' It is obvious to us that the only people a further
punishment would hurt is the fans and the new owners, while the
individuals that steered Luton into this crisis get away scot free.
This, in our view, can not be right.
Whilst having sympathy with HMRC, we would urge them to, in future,
chase after those individuals who do not fulfil their tax
responsibilities whilst in charge at a football club, rather than look
to press the football club itself for recompense.
We feel guilty asking the fanbase to stay patient as patience is a
quality that we have all displayed in abundance down the years but your
continued understanding of the problems that 2020 face will be
appreciated. They haven't even taken over yet but have still
implemented positive changes that would never have happened under
previous regimes. They need time to clean up the mess that the club was
left in and, if LTFC encounters stumbling blocks along the way
(inevitable on a road to recovery), which may leave us feeling
frustrated, please remember who put us into this situation in the first
place. And also remember that those who have invested both time and
money under the 2020 banner, have been bold enough to put their heads
above the parapet during one of the darker times in the club's history,
to do all they can to bring back the better times, which we have no
doubt will be back.
Up the Hatters
Liam
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