Bad to worse: Yeltz face yet another FA ban (From Halesowen News)

Bad to worse: Yeltz face yet another FA ban

2:00pm Thursday 2nd July 2009

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HALESOWEN Town are facing yet another crisis with the prospect of being banned from football for the second time in three months.

The FA has told the club it will be suspended from all fixtures if it fails to pay off football creditors, believed to be a former player and two clubs, by midnight a week on Friday, July 10.

A registration embargo was imposed last Friday, meaning the Yeltz cannot currently sign players or extend existing contracts.

They have also been fined £150.

The Yeltz were previously suspended from all football in early April for failing to pay contracted monies to three players and two clubs.

An FA spokesman said: “The club has been informed on Friday lunchtime, along with the Southern League, that a registration embargo now exists preventing the acquisition of any new players in any capacity and the extension of existing contracts.

“The club has also now been fined £150 and advised that failure to deal with the football creditors identified in the appeals sub committee hearing of the FA Sanction and Registrations Committee on June 9 will result in the club being suspended from all fixtures if matters are not resolved before midnight on July 10.”

Yeltz chief executive Guy Simpson declined to comment on the latest development, while club owner Morell Maison could not be contacted as the News went to press.

Guy Cooper, chairman of the Yeltz Trust - a limited company set up by supporters to protect the future of the club - said he believed administration was now a real possibility.

He said: “Things can only get worse, there is no money and no income, administration can only be around the corner.

“The debts are still unsubstantiated, who in their right mind would come in and put money in the club?

“As a Trust we have to make sure we are in a position to pick up the pieces when the inevitable happens.

“We must show the strength of feeling of the people of Halesowen about the shambolic position in which our club finds itself.”

Club accounts for the year ending May 31 2008, which were recently posted on the Companies House website, revealed money owed to creditors increased nearly ten-fold from £7,684 in May 2007 to £69,376 in May 2008.

Shareholders have also been frustrated after the long awaited AGM, scheduled for last Monday, was postponed for a third time. It will now take place on Thursday July 23 at 10.30am in the Yeltz Bar.

Mr Cooper said: “Lord knows what we’ll find out when it eventually happens – it should prove an interesting morning off work for the few shareholders who can make such a critical meeting at 10.30am on a Thursday.

“It seems the club has been operating insolvent for some time.”

Midfielder Jay Denny this week left the Grove for Southern Premier rivals Leamington, though Tipton Town have claimed the Yeltz signed their defender Eric Bowen last week.

n The Yeltz Trust is set to hold an official launch meeting on Sunday July 19 at The Halesowen Members Club, Hagley Road.

It will include children’s entertainment and live music from local bands, Primer and Melantra Falls starting at 4pm.

The meeting to launch the Trust and present supporters’ awards from last season will start at 7pm, followed by a disco. For more information visit www.theyeltztrust.co.uk

HALESOWEN TOWN'S YEAR SO FAR

JANUARY: Angry parents lash out after the club breaks a promise to provide more than 100 junior football kits. Yeltz revealed to be at least £15,000 in debt. FA impose a transfer embargo after contract dispute with defender Tom Bryant.

MARCH: Maison banned from football for 12 months after being found guilty fo violent conduct in relation to altercation with striker Dean Brennan after league game at Chippenham. Ban later reduced to three months on appeal.

APRIL: Yeltz briefly suspended from football for failure to pay contracted monies to players and other clubs. Finish 10th in Southern Premier and are docked three points for fielding an ineligible player.

MAY: Barred from next season’s FA Cup and FA Trophy for failing to pay gate receipts to last season’s opponents Maidstone United and Durham City.

JUNE: FA impose registration restriction for failing to pay football creditors, while threat of complete ban also resurfaces.

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