The absolute deadline for a deal to be completed for the sale of Plymouth Argyle Football Club was Friday 26th August and that deadline has seemingly been ignored by administrators P&A Partnership. Lead administrator Brendan Guilfoyle had approved the deal on 26th but as yet; five days later no money has been forthcoming from what we can see; no word has come from Kevin Heaney (representing Bishop Intl), administrator Guilfoyle or acting chairman Peter Ridsdale. The administrator has effectively taken away any deadline by approving the deal, on the so called ‘proof’ of funding, we are now at the end of the month and the wage deferral has expired, money is due to the players and backroom staff; I’m betting they’ll be asked to sign another deferral.
There is a contingency plan in place led by local businessman James Brent which has been shunned again by Guilfoyle’s insistence on sticking with Heaney/BIL despite no money being handed over. Guilfoyle had previously said that if the Heaney/BIL deal was not completed by the 26th he would talk with James Brent about taking over the club, which completely failed to happen. It really seems to me that Guilfoyle has been setting these deadlines to appease the fans who are baying for blood at this point, with myself being one of them. This deal was announced way back on May 6th and so far only £300,000 has been paid in exclusivity payments, some £700,000 short of what was promised in summer funding to keep the club running; with six million still to be paid to complete the sale. The other stumbling block is the Football League sanctioning the deal; giving the new owner(s) the golden share to allow the club to play in the Football League. There are two problems for the Football League; (1) Kevin Heaney’s involvement; he already owns Truro City FC and Football League rules prohibit ownership of more than one club; and (2) Peter Ridsdale who has fraud accusations levelled against him in relation to his former ownership of Cardiff City!
On the field; things aren’t any better; Argyle slumped to a fifth consecutive defeat since the start of the season being knocked out of the Johnstone Paint Trophy by local rivals Exeter, losing 3 – 0 on penalties after the scoreline being 1 – 1 after full time. It was a better performance from the young Argyle squad but still not good enough, especially missing three penalties in the shootout, handing Exeter a 3 – 0 penalties win. Cup competitions should not be the priority for Argyle; remaining a Football League club is the only priority at this stage, forget promotion this season, it’s not going to happen this year. Peter Reid has attempted to strengthen his squad with two month long loan signings, Ipswich Town midfielder Jamie Griffiths and Gillingham defender Simon King, what impact these two players will have is anyone’s guess but it can’t get much worse!