United face new crisis

9:30pm Monday 22nd September 2008

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Oxford United was facing a new crisis amid reports the club was battling to stay out of administration.

As rumours spread on fans' internet forums and speculation about the club's financial position grew, bosses declined to make a statement last night.

To add to the club's woes, its poor performances on the pitch has led to calls for manager Darren Patterson to be sacked. His fate may well be sealed tonight if the U's fail to beat Cambridge United in their home Blue Square Premier match.

The U's latest crisis is believed to have been sparked by a combination of factors: *The inability to agree a deal to buy the stadium from former owner Firoz Kassam. As tenants, they pay Kassam's stadium company an estimated £400,000 a year in rent and take no revenue from the conference and catering facilities. A series of negotiations have broken down, reportedly over the asking price for the stadium.

*The credit crunch has hit tickets and merchandise sales, and the club's major backers — Merry and chief investor Ian Lenagan — may be reviewing their own financial contributions as the economy worsens.

*The club's expected return to league football has not materialised and instead they are stuck in the lower reaches of the Blue Square Premier. Attendances have suffered as a result and revenue has plummeted.

The team have won just two of 10 league games so far this season and entertain Cambridge United tonight in a game televised live on Setanta.

While internet forums buzzed with gossip about the club going into administration, chairman Nick Merry resisted calls to make a statement and would not confirm what talks, if any, were going on behind the scenes.

More problems await United at the Kassam Stadium tonight as it is believed some supporters will call for manager Darren Patterson to be sacked during the Cambridge game.

Trevor Lambert, chairman of supporters' trust Ox Vox, said: "We're back to the 'rumour thrives in a vacuum' type of comment.

"If the chairman and directors come forward and say 'the club is struggling, but we are continuing and this is how we see next season and the years after that', I think people will appreciate that.

"If it's necessary to say 'look, chaps, we have lost money and it's not going to be easy' people will be prepared to listen. But when it's silence, that's when the rumours get going."

Mr Lambert said he had heard no substantial evidence to suggest the club was heading for administration — and added that such a move would not help Mr Merry or Mr Lenagan as they appeared to have shouldered the debts themselves.

He said: "The thing that drives a club into administration is when its creditors get together and try to force it to pay the money it owes.

"From what we have been told, through various assurances, the debts have been funded by Woodstock Partners Ltd (the company which owns Oxford United — 50 per cent is held by Mr Lenagan and 50 per cent by Mr Merry).

"What they're saying is that there's no outside organisation that needs paying. If they (Woodstock Partners) do that (put the club into administration) then they stand to lose a lot of money."

Martin Brodetsky, editor of fan website Rage Online, said: "It is very difficult, without having any hard facts, to know what to think.

"What we really need is the club to scotch the circulation of rumours or give us an understanding of what is going on.

"We need more than just bland platitudes and for them to treat us with respect and give us proper facts and figures.

"Without that, we do not know whether to be worried or not."

Mr Brodetsky said it was too early in the season to change the manager, but admitted Patterson — who replaced Jim Smith after a run of poor results last season — had not been the "miracle worker" fans had hoped for.

He added: "It is not just coincidence that we are failing on the pitch and are possibly in trouble off it."

Season-ticket holder George Dugdale, from Horspath, said: "The situation is obviously worrying. People say no news is good news but the lack of communication suggests there's something a bit more troublesome going on.

"The financial situation isn't helping us and without owning the ground we're not getting as much income."