Monday looks like D-Day

The Trust has held discussions today with a number of key players in the take-over process including the spokesperson for the Bhatia/Strang consortium and a representative of the Football League. From these discussions, it's now clear that Monday 4th August will be a critical day for supporters of Notts County Football Club.

The next meeting of the Football League will take place on Monday 4th August. The Trust have learned that the Football League have told the prospective new owners that everything must be in place and on the table for this meeting to enable the formal transfer of the share (membership in the League) to take place. If this deadline is not met, the Football League may have some flexibility, but we would stress the word may and this is not in any way guaranteed. All supporters of Notts County are aware that the Club has now been in administration for around 14 months. There will be a limit to the patience of the Football League who have recently expressed their concerns about Football Clubs in administration and their determination to do something about it.

We have been assured that the Bhatia/Strang consortium are working flat out to ensure that everything will be in place for the meeting on Monday. We have been told that the valuation on the ground which will be used to support the finance for the take-over has been completed and is now in the hands of the funders. We have been told that meetings have been taking place today and will continue throughout tomorrow and beyond if necessary, to put the final parts of the take-over process together. The Trust also understands that there will be coverage in the local media about the situation tomorrow (Friday).

The Trust will be contacting the key players again tomorrow to try to find out anything new. Failure to meet the deadline could be very bad news indeed for our Football Club. The Trust will be ready to act if our worst fears turn to reality. However, Monday may also see the end to the uncertainty and allow us to look forward to the coming season at last. Whatever happens, it will be a nail-biting weekend for us all!

The Trust has also received a response to our request to extend the early purchase discount deadline for season tickets. Whilst the deadline has been slightly extended to 8.00pm tomorrow night, we have not been successful in getting the deadline extended until after the take-over is completed. The Trust has been told that season ticket sales are close to matching the number sold last season.

We will try to post another update here tomorrow (Friday)

Keri Usherwood
NCST Vice-Chair