NIGEL HARROP points to the ‘missing’ £200,000 from the Che Adams sell-on they were owed for the reason Ilkeston were wound up in the High Court as the club remains on life support.
The Robins face closure for the second time in seven years after a ruling last Monday instructed the Evo-Stik NPL club to cease trading.
Their licence has been revoked by the league following their numerous failings and the future remains unclear, despite chairman Harrop vowing to press ahead with a takeover to try and prevent them reforming again.
Harrop has told The NLP the main reason the club is in this mess again is because of the handling of the money owed from Sheffield United for their former player Adams.
The striker was sold to Birmingham City in 2016 for £1.3m, but although refusing to elaborate further due to the risk of legal action, he says their £200,000 share was “given to somebody else”.
He did though hit out at the Football Association, whose system when it comes to the distribution of the money owed in sell-on fees is “flawed” according to the businessman.
It cost the club £35,000 in lawyers’ fees to try and claim back the money but to no avail. Ilkeston aren’t dead yet he says, and the owner will try and push through a deal with All Eight Sports Management to save them.
However, the Ilkeston FC Supporters Group say they are now looking at the creation of a new club.
Questions
Harrop said: “We did not get the money we were owed from the sale of Che Adams from Sheffield Untied to Birmingham City. Somebody else did, for reasons you will understand I will say no more than that.
“If the club were in possession of that money like it should have been for a player we produced, then it would not have been wound up in the High Court.
“The Football Association have questions to answer, the system is so wrong. I wish I could speak about this further because the truth would shock people.
“A lot of good people have been done over by this. This has personally cost me money, and both my wife and I have been ill because of it. I’m 64 years old and the stress has taken its toll.
“I could have walked away from this a long time ago – I was advised to but it has now come to a head and we find ourselves in this situation.”
Harrop, who saw the club wound up over a near-£15,000 debt to an office equipment firm, added: “I’m upbeat, and I think the club will survive.
“We have a takeover in the pipeline and people are telling me that if for any reason that fails, then they are willing to come in and save the club themselves.
“I am actively looking to protect the interests of the club’s creditors. If the order is enforced then there is no chance of them getting their money back. This is the only way.
“The people I am talking to clearly stated that as soon as they take over they will meet the existing creditors and come to an arrangement with them.
Opportunity
“The phone hasn’t stopped ringing with offers of support, but the overheads are huge at Ilkeston. The ground costs £6,000 a month alone and we need some help.”
Harrop adds: “I don’t know what league the club will be playing its football in next season.
“At this moment, I am not concerning myself with that. The only important thing is getting this takeover through, which I have every confidence we will.”
Duncan Payne, chairman of the Supporters Group, said the fans would discuss taking over the lease of the New Manor Ground.
He said: “We believe passionately that, given what has happened twice in the past seven years, the football club is best left in the hands of people who really care about Ilkeston, the community and its football.
“Any town of this size, with the supporter base that we’ve got and the facilities the New Manor Ground has, is going to attract a lot of interest.
“The future is, in my opinion, going to be bright.”
