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The 2nd division here in France. The town council voted last night to give €100,000 for today's match to Le Mans to help them because they didn't have the funds for their last match tonight. Well, it is their last match not only in the 2nd division but it seems definitive that they are now bankrupt with debts of £15 million. What I can never get my head around is that the club has been supported by rateholder funds, with the county council buying £35,000 of tickets for tonight, the town council giving the said €100,000, and - now we come to the worst - that the town (thank God I don't live there!) have a debt of £50 million because of the guarantee they gave when the new stadium was built a year or two back. Could you imagine that happening in the UK?
Oh, I forgot to mention; they lost tonight, the club is relegated to the National (like third but worse) division and all the potential buyers will vanish into thin air, so the club is bankrupt. But the €50 million debt remains, plus the extra guarantees given by the county council. Like Grenoble who trod the same path, the budget for any new club will change from £20 million to £2 million at best - if in these straightened times they can find the money. I don't regret that the players haven't been paid though, given their performances.
Oh, I forgot to mention; they lost tonight, the club is relegated to the National (like third but worse) division and all the potential buyers will vanish into thin air, so the club is bankrupt. But the €50 million debt remains, plus the extra guarantees given by the county council. Like Grenoble who trod the same path, the budget for any new club will change from £20 million to £2 million at best - if in these straightened times they can find the money. I don't regret that the players haven't been paid though, given their performances.
and a goal would knock it up yet another notch.Gassing Station | Football | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff