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FOUL meeting with Keith Cox, Nick Harris, Geoff Coppock, Mick Brown and Ian Davies
Oxford & County Newspapers (OCN) Libel Action
Keith Cox stated that he received £15,000 in damages and OCN had to pay in excess of £100,000 costs. He stated that currently he was not in a position to make this money available for the club's use. He explained that the action and settlement were about far more than what was said at the first open meeting.
History of stadium development
OUFC went into deal with Taylor Woodrow(TW) who through Cornhill Commercial Services (CCS) agreed to ensure finance was raised to build the stadium. Cornhill had previously done this for Middlesbrough, Sunderland, Stoke and Derby.
CCS introduced a company called Stadivarios to OUFC.(who appeared to have a working record with companies such as Coca-Cola/Adidas in World Cup/Olympics marketing/sponsorship deals).
FOUL were given copies of letters sent from Taylor Woodrow and Cornhill Commercial Services to Oxford City Council stating that they were confident that full funding would be in place for the completion of the project.
OUFC believed Stadivarios would put in £8 million as part of a stadium business partner program. Additional funding was to come from the sale of the manor ground and the Football Trust.
Stadivarious failed to meet their commitments. OUFC had nothing legally binding, just reassurances from TW and Cornhill.
Keith Cox quote "You can accuse me of incompetence for not having a contingency plan in place if the finance deal didn't work out, but not of misleading people about it" He also said that "99 percent of people would have also relied on TW and Cornhill as the "experts"."
The stadium land was originally purchased by the council for £40,000 from Thames Water. OUFC have paid £100,000 to the council already and have another £900,000 payment overdue. The balance of the £2 million asking price will be paid in the form of a rent to Oxford City Council.
Present club finances
Club owes over £5 million to Herd,Corbett and Lloyds bank. Split as follows:
These debts are secured on the Manor ground which is expected to have a value of £6 million with residential planning permission. (£4 million without planning permission)
The recent sale of players means that the cash flow position of the club is greatly improved. If a similar cash crisis was to come about in the future then the first course of action would be to seek a PFA loan rather than the immediate sale of another player. Because of this any future player sales are expected to be at full market value and not due to immediate cash pressures.
Grenoble Consortium
Agreement has been reached with Herd, Corbett and TW. At present they are negotiating to buy additional land from the Council for specific leisure development (believed to be a multiplex cinema). Once agreement is reached with the council the consortium will be in a position to proceed. At present they are syndicating finance for £22 million needed to complete the deal. This is expected to be available by mid to late January.
OUFC are concerned that the council will go out to tender for the sale of this land which will cause a delay that would almost certainly mean the death of the football club. Another concern is the fact that planning permission for a multiplex cinema complex at Minchery Farm is currently linked to the decision on the Ox Pens site near the city centre. A resolution for the council to remove this linkage is believed to be under consideration. This would also remove a potential delay in completing the deal with Grenoble.
Why the Secrecy from Grenoble?
Keith Cox sais that the investors don't want to be faced with a barrage of questions until the deal is in place. Geoff Coppock and Nick Harris have met with the major players and confidently support them. The consortium plans to sell overseas OUFC television rights to a market where the city of Oxford has a high value and level of interest.
London Irish deal
At present LIRFC are carrying out 'due diligence' procedures with view to making an offer. They are believed to have funding in place to build a 12,000 seater stadium which together with proceeds from the sale of their main stadium at Sunbury would provide enough to finance the stadium and leisure development project at Minchery Farm.
Several of their directors and a lot of their supporters live closer to Oxford than Sunbury They believe that they have a better chance of attracting the required level of support in Oxford than in Middlesex. LIRFC don't want to run a football club, but will need a co-user of the stadium. Cox believes a community club would be of interest to them.
Keith Cox's employment status
He Provides services to OUFC for which he receives payment. He works for OUFC and not Robin Herd. He is owed sums of money and so is also a creditor. He feels if the Grenoble deal proceeds he will have no role in future management of the club but has discussed the possibility of other consultancy projects with them. If LIRFC goes through he may stay involved with a community club.
Open Meeting
Keith Cox agreed to attend a FOUL open meeting in January. He suggested late January as both potential bids will be clarified by the third week of January.
Contingency plans for next season
The Manor will have a maximum capacity of 2,500 next season whichever league we are in without making any major capital investments.. The Football League no longer allows clubs to groundshare outside their own conurbation (since Brighton) so we couldn't play at Wycombe, Reading or Swindon.
For the club to survive next season we will need either:
a) new ground to be underway with a definite finish date and a league/taylor report exemption until this date to allow playing at the Manor unmodified. (This is the club strategy).
Or,
b) persuade league to change rules on groundshare for an interim period.
Administration or Receivership
Keith Cox believes receivership would be the result and that would prove terminal for OUFC. Staff would be laid off and players contracts would be sold at well below their market value. The most likely outcome of this would be liquidation of OUFC.
Additional comment
Keith Cox explained he believed that a vendetta was being waged against him and the club which could prove detrimental to the survival of the club.
These are the views stated by Keith Cox on the subjects covered. He was supported by Nick Harris, Geoff Coppock, Mick Brown and Ian Davies.
At present the FOUL committee keeps an open mind on what was said (we have no alternative evidence at present).
Thanks to Mark M for the information
