BIDEFORD AFC have confirmed they are “debt free” for the first time since the club was reformed almost 30 years ago.
The Robins, who suffered financial problems, were reborn as Bideford AFC 1987 and the future of the club was under threat again after a winding-up petition was brought against the club by HM Revenue & Customs.
The petition, lodged on June 23 over unpaid tax, has now been cleared after the Evo-Stik League Southern South & West club settled the outstanding amount last week.
It means Bideford have avoided their scheduled High Court appearance on July 18 and can now look ahead to the new season with aspirations of returning to the Southern Premier at the first time of asking.
Director Ian Knight says the club can now look forward to a bright future after sorting out the debt, which carried over from a similar petition last summer.
“We were in a situation where we were told we hadn’t paid everything the tax man thought we should pay from last year,” he told the North Devon Journal
“We thought we had but HMRC did some more digging and said they wanted more money from us. They wanted us to sit down and talk, we have done that, paid back the money and sorted it all out last week.
“The club has paid off all its debt to HMRC and it will be the first time the club is just running on loans. In 1987 the club went under and we formed under the new banner, and it is the first time since then that this club has been debt free.
“We have got a new finance manager in place – Peter Ellis – we have four new directors on board and the club is now looking to move forward with a year of consolidation and then try to get back to where we were last season (Southern Premier).”
