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Before the game though just about every conversation was about the off field situation and whether the club are in the big financial mess that some are saying. There have been rumours all season, and the begging bowls have been out, but no one seems quite sure how a club with small debts could suddenly find itself on the brink of administration. That is if the rumours are true.
The Daily Mail seem to be the ones fuelling it all and they started a week last Sunday by telling us that Stan, having refused to take a pay cut, would leave the club within a week. Stan reacted to that by denying it and eight days later as we all know Stan is still with us.
That didn’t stop the paper and in midweek they were quick to tell us that the club’s money was running out, around three weeks left I believe. According to the Mail this news had been relayed to other First Division clubs at their meeting at Walsall just over a week earlier. There has been no response to that other than Bird Droppings from the club’s web site cancelling his order. Apparently he thought it was an upmarket publication that he was buying, not one that touts unsubstantiated rumours.
But just as it was being forgotten they hit us with another story on Saturday morning. This time it is claimed that Barry Kilby is desperately trying to put a rescue package together in house. If that fails administration will happen they say and once again they claim the club have been talking to others in the game to try and get help.
A contact at the Daily Mail has told me the rumours are not unsubstantiated and a friend from a southern based First Division club did tell me that the club did paint a bleak story at that First Division meeting.
Andrew Watson came close to backing the ‘I Support Burnley’ campaign on Saturday in his match programme notes as he asked for togetherness. Unfortunately he missed the opportunity to really support our efforts by not mentioning us. Despite a number of promises for a public backing of this campaign this has still not happened.
One member of staff at the club has actually signed up, wouldn’t that have been a brilliant way for the club’s Chief Executive to support our efforts of togetherness. An opportunity missed.
The supporters are desperate for the club to deny all these rumours. We all know that the finances are not good, we have been told often enough. When words such as administration and liquidation start to get bandied around then as supporters we would dearly like the club to tell us that it is all nonsense.
They have not done that and that only increases the speculation that things are even worse than we feared. In 1986 the club almost went to the wall and Chairman Frank Teasdale hardly said a word. Is history repeating itself? Suddenly Burnley Football Club are saying nothing, communication with the fans, other than requests for money, has come to a full stop.
Apparently we won’t have to wait long if the Daily Mail have got it right, we will be in administration certainly by the end of next month. We are all worried but all we can do is wait until the club decide to tell us something. The wait is becoming unbearable.