Scunthorpe United will soon vacate Glanford Park and chairman David Hilton is looking for a way out, a new club statement has confirmed.
The Iron announced the news in an update to fans, informing them that they would cease playing at the ground, where they have been since 1998, after their match against Brackley Town. Chairman David Hilton, who took over as owner of the club in January this year, has also announced that he will no longer fund the club and is seeking a way out.
It has also been confirmed that the FA are investigating Hilton over his validity of ownership. “The Chairman and remaining board members have now set out a plan in order to very quickly make the club sustainable,” the update reads.
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It says: “An outside company will be bought in to work closely with the club’s creditors to try and ensure all are paid in a timely and professional manner.”
In the statement, the club said said the owner has “notified the Board of Directors of his decision to withdraw his funding from the club moving forward.
“He has also notified them that he feels his position at the club is untenable, and is actively seeking a way out.” As a result, fellow board members Ian Dawson and Tahina Akther have resigned with immediate affect.
It stated that ‘numerous parties’ have made contact with the club with a view to taking over. However, due to issues with the Glanford Park lease and the current winding up petition, none can move forward.
Glanford Park will be vacated after the next match against Brackley Town with the remainder of their home games being played at Gainsborough Trinity.
This, the statement says, is due in part to issues with the landowner, but ‘also due to the risk the club faces of being liable for hundreds of thousands of pounds in legal fees and back dated market rent, along with significant monthly legal costs of our own that will certainly impact any attempts to create sustainability’.It says: “In any case, Coolsilk own the property and will undoubtedly get possession back at some point, and therefore it is no longer viable without the financial support of the Chairman to put the club at risk with such a gamble to merely guarantee a few extra months at the stadium.”
Although looking for a way out, David Hilton remains Chairman of the club, but is currently under investigation by the FA for matters reported to them by The Athletic prior to the publication of an article about a previous criminal conviction for fraud.
The statement continues: “Documentation is being provided to the FA in order to evidence the validity of his ownership rights and expect it to be concluded imminently.”
In a parting message, it said: “We hope that the support continues regardless of how uncomfortable some of the decisions feel or the inconvenience those decisions will cause.”
Original artice: https://www.grimsbytelegraph.co.uk/all-about/scunthorpe
