5:11pm Monday 14th December 2009
By Frank Smith
Watford FC’s financial future remains uncertain going into its parent company’s AGM tomorrow.
Negotiations between major shareholders Lord Michael Ashcroft, Graham Simpson and Hornets’ chairman Jimmy Russo have been taking place over the past week but an agreement has yet to be reached.
Russo’s Valley Grown Salads company was forced to lend the club another £1m on November 26 but that sum will only last until December 22, by which point the club will no longer be able to meet its liabilities.
VGS has now lent the Hornets’ parent company Watford Leisure Plc £4.88m but another £5.5m still needs to be found before June next year.
In September, Watford hoped to raise the required capital by having a rights issue but negotiations between Lord Ashcroft and the club stalled until Russo put forward a rescue package this month.
Last Thursday Russo confirmed the different parties were in discussions once again and described the developments as a “100 per cent positive step”.
But speaking this afternoon, Russo confirmed: “No agreement has been met but it doesn’t need to be in place by tomorrow night, it needs to be by December 22.
“I want to have an agreement which is balanced and fair for all parties.”
Although the club’s financial situation looks bleak, Russo has been warmly welcomed by most fans since his return to the board in January.
Tough negotiating saw the Hornets receive decent sums for the likes of Tamas Priskin, Mike Williamson and former boss Brendan Rodgers and the club also saved more than £300,000 in compensation to former chief executive Mark Ashton.
But tomorrow Russo and the rest of the board face the possibility of being voted off by Lord Ashcroft and ex-Watford chairman Simpson, who own a 37 and 17 per cent share in Watford Leisure.
However, Russo insisted: “If I get voted off then fine but I think I should be judged by the job I have done.”
Should this happen though there could be dire consequences as the Watford Observer understands that if Russo and his brother Vince are voted off the board, then they may consider recalling the £4.88m loaned to the club with immediate effect.
Unless the money was then raised by the new board, the club could be faced with the threat of administration.
© Copyright 2001-2012 Newsquest Media Group
http://www.watfordobserver.co.uk/trade_directory/