Doesn't seem that it has.

1 only if the landlord carries the debt on. If they just wipe it each year it just appears as a 0 expense.

And from IMG point of view, they are looking at last year not this year.
It'll affect them on the next audit, which is more important to them.

The debt hasn't been written off its still standing but underwritten by the council, so is owed to the council not the landlord (for the moment) the debt has accumulated since they defaulted on the CVA (which I think was back in 2017) so for the last 3 years that IMG were looking at, it has existed and increased each year


The question is, did they reveal this debt in their IMG submission or did IMG choose to ignore it?

Thanks for clarifying.

The debt is still just part of the finance section though.
There is no pre-requisite as far as I can see. They just have a weak balance sheet so don't get those points.

Unless they receive financial penalties which cost them 0.25 points
or an 'insolvency event' - which would downgrade them a level. So if they are a B they become a C

I'm going from personal recollections, so I might be wrong, but this is how I see it.

They were persuaded to leave Salford to play in Eccles as a new stadium would be built and Salford Council wanted to ensure the survival of rugby league in the Salford area. As the stadium was being finished, blue seats started to appear, and it became apparent that Sale Sharks would also be playing there. In reality, therefore, Salford were not even co-tenants, but just lodgers, as someone else played there and someone else was paying the rent.

I get the increased impression that what is wanted at the stadium is a nice shiny home for the only high-level rugger club in the rugby league heartlands, and Salford RLFC is just there to add increased revenue.

I feel for them, because the fans went along with a very inconvenient move because of the promises made, and for the club because they were sold the same but it hasn't been delivered.

It is being reported nationally that councils are falling short of their budgets. I suspect the council now regard the club as a burden they wish they hadn't taken on (and to be fair, as might many local council tax payers).

They should get in touch with Gary Neville and come to a shared agreement with the Salford FC ground. Have a real Salford identity in a ground that will be filled when there is a league game on.

As for us, it shows how we are in a much better position. We own the ground. We get the finance streams. Rather in our position than theirs. We have the foundations. All they have is the roof.

From the Red Devils Forum:
"FWIW, just been sent a what's app message involving a current Councillor stating the council are absolutely 100% committed to the club and are currently buying out Peel's half of the stadium."

The use of the word "committed" is always troubling from a politician. It usually means, "we'd really like to, in an ideal world, but sorry guys"

They had to sell off The Willows to pay off debts. They were fortunate enough to have a new ground offered.

Like an ex-parrot then.



PS - Feel for the fans, who as usual are left in the lurch.

yes he really cleared the decks and left our saviour with over 5 million of debt, absolutely splendid.

and he got an asset worth over £10m on the balance sheet

How many times do we have to explain this to you Mopsey? I'm not sure why you don't get it.

Technically Mopsey is right and the club has a debt higher than it ever has before however it also has assets worth more than it ever has before. Can we just agree that you are both right and crack on haha

The Asset outweighs the debt....
.....But only by £5M.....

Can we stop all this back stabing , When the loan is paid off to the council we will own the ground ,We have got a guy in charge who as said ,he is getting us back into S L .Salford are way in det and unlike us ,are not paying any thing back on the loan the Council gave them .If they do pay it off, they still will not own the ground. This is the best thing that as happens to this club off the field in my 69 year of watching them.My problem is at my age I hope I see us get back into S L and win something ,my other problem is we still got fans pulling the club to bits now. Some fans on here do not no when to shut up .

But he's posted it 50 times and implies everything that Carter has left us in the poo by doing so.
So he's right on the debt, wrong on the consequence.

Who lauded them as being successful?

Actually, now that I think about it, he's wrong on the debt as well because the directors didn't call in their loans. So the debt is now £4 million because Carter has effectively just gifted the club £1 million pounds.

That is why we are not in the same boat as Salford. Directors who could manage the finances and then hand over the reigns with nothing in return.
That deserves praise not hate if you ask me.

Agree they do deserve praise, To take a club over that was folding, with a crap ground and leave the club ,with a ground worth 10 million pound plus.Here is a Question for the people who hate M C and J M ,PopTarts words not mine.Why as a multi million pound business man bought the club if it is as bad as some fans ? make out

Okay...

The reason I disappeared from this forum about five months ago was not because of a spat with Poptart, or anyone else as such.

It was because I'd gotten quite close to the then management at the club, and I got to know a lot of things I probably shouldn't have, I can be quite charming at times.

Problem is that I'm a decent man, and although I knew Mopsey and a few others were talking utter vindictive nonsense, I was not in a position to argue with them without betraying certain confidences, I'm still not on certain issues.

If people want to listen to self serving individuals like them, then that's fine, just so long as they know that these people are choosing to manipulate what little info they have to push forward they're own self seeking agenda.

You could accuse me of doing the same, and maybe on occasions I have, but what I can say without much doubt is that over the last 18 months my line to the club has been more direct than most, almost daily at times.

So, using what I know, and what I can say, then this is what I know to be true. MC and JM have saved this club, end of story, and they deserve a medal, and Matt Ellis for one will tell you exactly the same. He certainly will never tell you that they left it in the poop, if the gob brigade want to argue then go ahead, what can you do with some folk.

Poptart and a few others have actually got it more or less spot on, as should every other right minded fan. The club did have a large debt, but it was manageable, because it had increased it balance sheet assets to over 10 million pounds, it's that simple. That is the reason Ellis went for it in the end, and that took years of blood and sweat to achieve. This is also why the takeover took so long, it wasn't just Ellis dotting the i's, so were the BOD, wanting as they were to protect what had already been achieved.

MC provided the stability, but JM procured the assets that made the takeover happen, notably the East stand. Without that being delivered debt free, and it is, then Ellis would not have invested. He's in it for the love of the club, but at the same time he was never going to throw money away. Without the increased revenue and IMG points from the stand and pitch etc coming on line very shortly, that's exactly what he'd have been doing, wasting money. HE WOULD NOT HAVE DONE THAT, and we'd be doomed to life in the lower leagues with MC, or someone similar, trying to make ends meet, and probably failing in the long term.

All I can say to those with a grudge, just think about it minus the blinkers. MC and JM have given Ellis a chance to succeed, not a guarantee, but a possibility. One that simply didn't exist four years ago.

Be gracious and accepts they got it right and then move on with Matt Ellis.

One final point. Although totally a fringe person with zero clout I have found the last few month utterly draining, and I've done virtually nothing. I never intend to get involved again, not at any level other than being a fan, it's hard and thankless work imo. My hat goes off to all the people who have attempted to run or help this club, with the obvious exception of Pearman. Most have failed, some miserably, but knowing what I know now, it was almost inevitable. So my biggest praise has to go to John Minards, his extracting that 8 million from YC and 2 million from the Council was and will remain the biggest single turning point in this clubs history. Without it, we would be nothing now.

I wasn't.....


I was [imerely[/i pointing out that even with the "debt" we are still "in front" asset wise...
Maybe think about how you read a post and evaluate it next time........


And fingers crossed that you - like the rest of us - see us back in SL ASAP.....

Sorry ,Was not having a go at you ,pressed the wrong quote .You did right to come back and Questions me , Hope this clears things up

Group hug guys



The thing we do all agree, including Mopsey is that we are in a dream situation for a Wakefield fan, even those that remember the 60s.
We have earned this by turning up when getting beaten 70-0 and still coming the week after, year after year.

I'm really excited for what Ellis and Powell can do for the club.
Clearly we all, even I, who is openly all about the IMG stuff, want to just see the team winning and competing with the big guns. I don't think those days are too far away.
I can't wait for that first game.

Well we’ve had the group hug, let’s get back to the on the Mire topic. Having taken time to read and ponder the Salford statement, it appears to me they have very clever by design and orchestrating and choosing the right moment for this announcement.
Salford Council, like every other council in England, are cash strapped, but are knee deep in the Salford Mire themselves. The RFL/Super League, are about to announce the 2024 season fixture list, and the Salford public have already raised tens of thousands £. It seems to me that everyone has been backed into the corner by the Salford club into ensuring the club survives. Salford council is Damed by the tax payers if it provides precious funds for the club st the expense of more worthy tax payers projects, the RFL/Super League, can’t afford to replace Salford with another club at this late stage, therefore, a compromise will follow to provide funding for the club. Remember the behind closed doors secret deal between RFL and the Bulls over the Odsal lease, I think that has worked out a loss of £350,000 of RFL club members money.
I have said elsewhere, Salford have been living beyond their means for years, I now think no more throwing good money after bad.

That is the main problem, we want the first game now, As said we got relegated, yet I am so happy to be a Wakefield fan. The ground is going to look so different with people in the East Stand