It has now been a week since the Trust passed on news that the deal to secure the finance for the take-over of Notts County has been signed. As a consequence of this, the Trust was informed that the take-over process should be completed by today (Wednesday) at the latest.

Ahead of this latest deadline, the Trust has today been active in contacting key players in the take-over process to establish whether the deadline will be met and the uncertainty for supporters will finally come to an end.

From our discussions, we believe the current situation to be as follows;

1. We believe that the take-over will not now be completed until Friday 1st August at the earliest.

2. We are told that the take-over completion process has started and that the City Council has received the agreed lease back from the Bhatia/Strang consortium.

3. We are told that great efforts are being made to conclude the take-over as quickly as possible.

The Trust is extremely disappointed that another deadline has not been able to be met. Trust members fully understand the complicated and involved nature of the take-over process and accept that unforseen delays are bound to happen along the way. However, this understanding is not unlimited and, as the start of the new season draws ever closer, the need to finalise the future of our Club becomes more and more urgent.

With the deadline shifting to Friday 1st August at the earliest, the Trust has today raised the issue of the early purchase discounts for season tickets with the prospective new owners. Should the take-over not be completed by Friday, Trust members who are waiting for the take-over to be completed before purchasing their season tickets will miss out on the discounts. The Trust have asked for this to be considered by Bhatia/Strang as a matter of urgency and we will report back on this to Trust members tomorrow (Thursday).

The Trust has also been in contact with the Football League about the current situation at the Club and their response is expected to be available for posting on the Trust website tomorrow (Thursday).

The Trust will also continue to contact key players in the take-over process over the coming days in order to keep members informed of the latest developments.

Whilst a delay of a few more days in the take-over may not in itself be critical, the Trust calls on the Bhatia/Strang consortium to do everything possible to bring this protracted process to conclusion as quickly as possible. Crucially, over the next few days,supporters deserve to be kept fully informed of the situation concerning their football club and we have made this point strongly to the prospective new owners.

The Trust will be posting another update for members on this bulletin board tomorrow.


Keri Usherwood
NCST Vice-Chair