Burnley AGM Round-Up

By TheLongside.co.uk
December 21 2004

Last night Burnley held their annual AGM at Turf Moor. TheLongside.co.uk provides a brief summary of what went on and are looking for your views.

Last year the club found themselves looking at a £600,000 gap to fill and were facing the prospect of administration. 12 months on the club are in a much better league position and following many successful campaigns are also much better off financially. The club also has a low wage bill and will be looking at youth development. Something that was touched on last year.

These points were something Dave Edmundson kicked the meeting off with before the formal section of the meeting began. The first points were changes to the board:

• Bob Blakeborough has decided not to stand for re-election to the board. Barry Kilby thanked him for the work put in over the past 18 years.
• John Turkington was re-elected to the board
• Two new members, Jon Wilkinson and John Sullivan were elected to the board.

The big talking point of the meeting was the proposed sale and leaseback of Turf Moor and Gawthorpe for £3 Million. This money would then be used to pay off the clubs debts.

The sale would be to a company called Longside Properties Ltd. Barry Kilby holds 51 per cent share in the company, John Sullivan has a 25 per cent share and Magenta Holdings with a 24 per cent share.

The facilities would then be leased back to the club over 99 years, ensuring that Burnley FC wouldn't lose the ground. Instead of paying off debts the club would be making a considerable saving with lease repayments.

Kilby said on the deal:

"We have been trying for 10 months to put a deal together and let me make one thing clear - I don't want to do this.

"It is not a great deal for my company and if someone else could step in and put the money up on the same terms, I would be absolutely delighted and I would give them £5,000 to put them on their way.

"If we had to pay the existing capital back to the banks in such a short period of time it would be possible, but only with really savage cost-cutting.

"This is a way to gain breathing space before hopefully getting the ground back and, believe me, the board of directors have carefully considered this and decided it is the best way forward."

A unanimous majority YES vote on the deal brought the meeting towards a close.

We would like your comments on the deal: let us know using the form below. Adding an e-mail address on the form is optional.