Post by QPR Report on May 26, 2010 8:58:46 GMT
Guardian
Peter Ridsdale and the missing £500,000• Chairman will resign his directorships of Cardiff City this week • Unanswered questions over WH Sports Group
Matt Scott The Guardian, Wednesday 26 May 2010
As Peter Ridsdale prepares to stride away from Cardiff City and into the sunset tomorrow, fans may care to know how his other business affairs are faring. Not terribly well, by the look of it.
Ridsdale's only directorship, other than those that he will resign this week at Cardiff, is in the company he used to invoice the club for his services.
WH Sports Group's sole directors are Ridsdale and his wife, Sophie. The company had done very nicely out of Cardiff, taking £1,359,490 in "consultancy fees" between 2007 and 2008. According to its 2007 accounts, signed off (12 months late) by Ridsdale on 3 March 2009, it had made "fixed asset investments" of £500,000.
However, only a few weeks later, when the Ridsdales put the company into voluntary liquidation with debts of £373,555.20 to the taxman and £26,444.62 to Barclays bank, there was no sign of the fixed investments, only £20,000 in cash and a couple of grand in a loan account.
Even so, according to documents filed at Companies House last month, Ridsdale received £7,500 from that little pot for a "Statement of Affairs Fee".
Digger asked him yesterday what that related to, and he had no idea. "I've not received any money from that," he said. "Maybe it's an accounting thing – I've never been through this before."
He says all creditors will be paid their dues from the liquidation by the beginning of July, without specifying how much that would be. One thing is for sure: 12 months after it began, the liquidation process cannot yet be concluded.
The reason given by the liquidator? "Investigation in progress."
Trouble Looming
England fans who left Wembley on Monday clutching a commemorative T-shirt would have no reason to suspect the financial difficulties that have engulfed the Football Association since the collapse of Setanta last year. The FA paid for every seat to have a Fruit of the Loom T-shirt printed with the results of England's qualifying campaign, a promotion that is estimated to have cost in excess of £50,000. That expense certainly raised a few eyebrows among those who keep an eye on English football HQ's balance sheets. But the idea's defenders say it is small beer set against the success in having generated the new Wembley's best atmosphere to date – and one that might just encourage new fans to follow the national team in future.
Keegan confusion
Claims that Kevin Keegan is on his way to Hamburg have met with confusion at ESPN, where he will remain on their pundits' roster next season. Digger contacted the broadcaster and Keegan's agent on their views about his German alma mater's ambitions and was told categorically he will be part of its studio team next year. Meanwhile, Michael Vaughan has joined Five as a pundit for its highlights programme and – would you believe it? – he's always been a fan. "It's a programme I always watched as a player," he said.
www.guardian.co.uk/football/2010/may/26/peter-ridsdale-cardiff-city
Peter Ridsdale and the missing £500,000• Chairman will resign his directorships of Cardiff City this week • Unanswered questions over WH Sports Group
Matt Scott The Guardian, Wednesday 26 May 2010
As Peter Ridsdale prepares to stride away from Cardiff City and into the sunset tomorrow, fans may care to know how his other business affairs are faring. Not terribly well, by the look of it.
Ridsdale's only directorship, other than those that he will resign this week at Cardiff, is in the company he used to invoice the club for his services.
WH Sports Group's sole directors are Ridsdale and his wife, Sophie. The company had done very nicely out of Cardiff, taking £1,359,490 in "consultancy fees" between 2007 and 2008. According to its 2007 accounts, signed off (12 months late) by Ridsdale on 3 March 2009, it had made "fixed asset investments" of £500,000.
However, only a few weeks later, when the Ridsdales put the company into voluntary liquidation with debts of £373,555.20 to the taxman and £26,444.62 to Barclays bank, there was no sign of the fixed investments, only £20,000 in cash and a couple of grand in a loan account.
Even so, according to documents filed at Companies House last month, Ridsdale received £7,500 from that little pot for a "Statement of Affairs Fee".
Digger asked him yesterday what that related to, and he had no idea. "I've not received any money from that," he said. "Maybe it's an accounting thing – I've never been through this before."
He says all creditors will be paid their dues from the liquidation by the beginning of July, without specifying how much that would be. One thing is for sure: 12 months after it began, the liquidation process cannot yet be concluded.
The reason given by the liquidator? "Investigation in progress."
Trouble Looming
England fans who left Wembley on Monday clutching a commemorative T-shirt would have no reason to suspect the financial difficulties that have engulfed the Football Association since the collapse of Setanta last year. The FA paid for every seat to have a Fruit of the Loom T-shirt printed with the results of England's qualifying campaign, a promotion that is estimated to have cost in excess of £50,000. That expense certainly raised a few eyebrows among those who keep an eye on English football HQ's balance sheets. But the idea's defenders say it is small beer set against the success in having generated the new Wembley's best atmosphere to date – and one that might just encourage new fans to follow the national team in future.
Keegan confusion
Claims that Kevin Keegan is on his way to Hamburg have met with confusion at ESPN, where he will remain on their pundits' roster next season. Digger contacted the broadcaster and Keegan's agent on their views about his German alma mater's ambitions and was told categorically he will be part of its studio team next year. Meanwhile, Michael Vaughan has joined Five as a pundit for its highlights programme and – would you believe it? – he's always been a fan. "It's a programme I always watched as a player," he said.
www.guardian.co.uk/football/2010/may/26/peter-ridsdale-cardiff-city
