Stockport go into administration

League One side Stockport County have been placed in administration.

In accordance with Football League rules, County are given a 10-point penalty and fall from 13th to 18th in league football's third tier.

Chief executive Sean Connelly told BBC Radio Manchester: "I am absolutely gutted and frustrated.

"We were so close to having everything put into place to guarantee a long-term future for the club but we don't know what's going to happen now."

County now lie just three points above the relegation zone and need a draw in Saturday's final game of the season at Brighton to be mathematically certain of avoiding relegation to League Two.

606: DEBATE
Provided we can stay in business, we can come out of this smiling

Sheff Hatter
The club have been fighting to stave off administration but their level of debt, with one creditor owed £300,000, has made it unavoidable.

"We went so far, this morning, as to offer our creditors a large part of the payment directly into their account in earnest of our intent going forward but obviously that didn't get taken up," said Connelly.

"To have the rug pulled from under us like this is simply soul destroying. I know the staff here are just destroyed by it."

John Titley and Paul Reeves of Manchester-based accountancy firm Leonard Curtis confirmed that they had been appointed as joint administrators.

"We are keen to work with the board to explore all possible solutions to ensure the club's future prospects are protected," said Titley.

"We are extremely hopeful we will find a buyer for the club and are already aware of expressions of interest."

Thats swine flu for you though isnt it?


A shame, hope they can get themselves sorted.

We've already sold two of our best players this season and we didn't sign anyone particularly expensive so I can't really see why its come about.

I think (god knows why) that the ten points are to be deducted off this season - as opposed to Soton where their points are deducted next season

6th club for it to happen to this season though. This is getting ridiculous.

That's football. The game needs some huge changes, but no one will have the balls to make them so this will probably become more frequent.

Kimbo wrote:That's football. The game needs some huge changes, but no one will have the balls to make them so this will probably become more frequent.

What do you propose?

Do you think if Stockport had to got to a cup final in the last 10 years or so they'd have been alright?

Luis wrote:

Kimbo wrote:That's football. The game needs some huge changes, but no one will have the balls to make them so this will probably become more frequent.

What do you propose?

I've said this before but i can't find the thread. I'm pretty sure someone deleted it, probably a top 4 fan.

• A wage cap throughout the leagues, obviously varying from league to league

• An affordable transfer cap, so everyone in a league has the same amount to spend each summer

• A strict squad limit, so that clubs don't hoard all the best young players

This way clubs aren't spending more than their means and it would give us a fairer competition with a level playing field.

It would also discourage clubs from the managerial merry go round, with a bit of luck...

Kimbo wrote:

Luis wrote:

Kimbo wrote:That's football. The game needs some huge changes, but no one will have the balls to make them so this will probably become more frequent.

What do you propose?

I've said this before but i can't find the thread. I'm pretty sure someone deleted it, probably a top 4 fan.

• A wage cap throughout the leagues, obviously varying from league to league

• An affordable transfer cap, so everyone in a league has the same amount to spend each summer

• A strict squad limit, so that clubs don't hoard all the best young players

This way clubs aren't spending more than their means and it would give us a fairer competition with a level playing field.

So your a communist basically? so if all clubs had the same to spend and pay wages all the top players would move to London then surely? how's that fair?

Luis wrote:

Kimbo wrote:

Luis wrote:

Kimbo wrote:That's football. The game needs some huge changes, but no one will have the balls to make them so this will probably become more frequent.

What do you propose?

I've said this before but i can't find the thread. I'm pretty sure someone deleted it, probably a top 4 fan.

• A wage cap throughout the leagues, obviously varying from league to league

• An affordable transfer cap, so everyone in a league has the same amount to spend each summer

• A strict squad limit, so that clubs don't hoard all the best young players

This way clubs aren't spending more than their means and it would give us a fairer competition with a level playing field.

So your a communist basically? so if all clubs had the same to spend and pay wages all the top players would move to London then surely? how's that fair?

That's where squad limits come into play.

Kimbo wants to turn football into an American sport, with everything controlled centrally.

Kimbo wrote:

Luis wrote:

Kimbo wrote:

Luis wrote:

Kimbo wrote:That's football. The game needs some huge changes, but no one will have the balls to make them so this will probably become more frequent.

What do you propose?

I've said this before but i can't find the thread. I'm pretty sure someone deleted it, probably a top 4 fan.

• A wage cap throughout the leagues, obviously varying from league to league

• An affordable transfer cap, so everyone in a league has the same amount to spend each summer

• A strict squad limit, so that clubs don't hoard all the best young players

This way clubs aren't spending more than their means and it would give us a fairer competition with a level playing field.

So your a communist basically? so if all clubs had the same to spend and pay wages all the top players would move to London then surely? how's that fair?

That's where squad limits come into play.

So 3 top players arrive at Stamford bridge, only 2 can sign and one has to just move to Portsmouth because of a squad limit?

What's wrong with having a fair competition? I do think there are some things to learn from Yank sport.

Luis wrote:

Kimbo wrote:

Luis wrote:

Kimbo wrote:

Luis wrote:

Kimbo wrote:That's football. The game needs some huge changes, but no one will have the balls to make them so this will probably become more frequent.

What do you propose?

I've said this before but i can't find the thread. I'm pretty sure someone deleted it, probably a top 4 fan.

• A wage cap throughout the leagues, obviously varying from league to league

• An affordable transfer cap, so everyone in a league has the same amount to spend each summer

• A strict squad limit, so that clubs don't hoard all the best young players

This way clubs aren't spending more than their means and it would give us a fairer competition with a level playing field.

So your a communist basically? so if all clubs had the same to spend and pay wages all the top players would move to London then surely? how's that fair?

That's where squad limits come into play.

So 3 top players arrive at Stamford bridge, only 2 can sign and one has to just move to Portsmouth because of a squad limit?

He can retire if he wants.

Kimbo you can't just take away the spending power of clubs that have earned that such as United and Arsenal just because clubs like Newcastle have got in poor players and might be relegated. It's not down to money when you've spent 10 million on Collicini.

You see a lot of tramps on the street sometimes but you don't see them breaking into someone's mansion and nicking their blackberry.

What's wrong with fair competition?

A league full of mediocre teams.

All the talent going abroad.

Wanting your team to lose matches so you get the best pick of the draft next season.

Teams moving to other cities so they get more fans, the only reliable way to increase their profits.

Luis wrote:Kimbo you can't just take away the spending power of clubs that have earned that such as United and Arsenal just because clubs like Newcastle have got in poor players and might be relegated. It's not down to money when you've spent 10 million on Collicini.

You see a lot of tramps on the street sometimes but you don't see them breaking into someone's mansion and nicking their blackberry.

Yes we can. What other option is there? This is the 4th season in a row with the same top 4, what if it's the same in 5 years? 10 years? 20 years? Do we keep things the same then? This is turning into F1 with the team with the biggest bank balance winning every year, people want that competition to change to even the playing field, so why not football?

On top of the lack of a good competition clubs are going broke because of greedy and incompetent owners and fans are suffering because of it. We need regulations. Rampant and unadulterated capitalism gets you nowhere, have you learnt nothing in the past year?

Six wrote:What's wrong with fair competition?

A league full of mediocre teams.

All the talent going abroad.

Wanting your team to lose matches so you get the best pick of the draft next season.

Teams moving to other cities so they get more fans, the only reliable way to increase their profits.

I don't understand. You think under my rules Wigan will move to London? I never mentioned a draft either.

I don't get the mediocre teams comment either, some of the best teams in the world play dire football. You don't need a squad full of superstars for an attractive game.

One point, we never had rampant and unadulterated capitalism.

However, I agree, if you want the sport to be more competitive then this sort of 'communist' system is the most effective way of producing that.

But if you're trying to build football as a global brand then you want to ensure a ready supply of 'big games' for which you need 'big clubs' and therefore smaller clubs.

Kimbo wrote:

Six wrote:What's wrong with fair competition?

A league full of mediocre teams.

All the talent going abroad.

Wanting your team to lose matches so you get the best pick of the draft next season.

Teams moving to other cities so they get more fans, the only reliable way to increase their profits.

I don't understand. You think under my rules Wigan will move to London? I never mentioned a draft either.

I don't get the mediocre teams comment either, some of the best teams in the world play dire football. You don't need a squad full of superstars for an attractive game.

I was putting forward the problems with the American system.

borocooper wrote:Do you think if Stockport had to got to a cup final in the last 10 years or so they'd have been alright?

I assume you're referring to the 96/97 season when we went out to you lot in the league cup semi final? Schwarzer had a shocker in the first leg. I was there, behnd the goal shouting at him

Might've been

I was at the 2nd leg..behind the goal also.

Was a shit night to be honest..didnt feel like we'd just got to a cup final since we were rubbish on the night

It was Armstrong and Angel for you then wasnt it?

Stimulus Package wrote:One point, we never had rampant and unadulterated capitalism.

However, I agree, if you want the sport to be more competitive then this sort of 'communist' system is the most effective way of producing that.

But if you're trying to build football as a global brand then you want to ensure a ready supply of 'big games' for which you need 'big clubs' and therefore smaller clubs.

Even in Yank Sport, there's a Big Markets and Small Markets. In the NBA for example there's big city teams with mega-rich owners that can afford to break those salary taxes, and pay the luxury tax anyway. But with the recession hitting hard, a lot of the small-market owners are going to revolt. Looks more & more like there'll be a lockout (no NBA at all) in 2010/11.

I'd like to link a clubs spending on wages/net transfer spend to revenue, and stop them piling on ridiculous amounts of debt whilst being able to spend whatever they like. If they break these caps (like Man City obviously would) then they should pay a tax that'll be distributed amongst the teams under the limit, much how the NBA luxury tax works.

borocooper wrote:Might've been

I was at the 2nd leg..behind the goal also.

Was a shit night to be honest..didnt feel like we'd just got to a cup final since we were rubbish on the night

It was Armstrong and Angel for you then wasnt it?

...and Sean Connelly ! (if its the same one ?)

Point deductions are silly.

I should be cheering on Oxford in the playoffs...but instead, they miss out because of a silly point deduction...

Kimbo wrote:

Luis wrote:

Kimbo wrote:That's football. The game needs some huge changes, but no one will have the balls to make them so this will probably become more frequent.

What do you propose?

I've said this before but i can't find the thread. I'm pretty sure someone deleted it, probably a top 4 fan.

• A wage cap throughout the leagues, obviously varying from league to league
  

• An affordable transfer cap, so everyone in a league has the same amount to spend each summer
  

• A strict squad limit, so that clubs don't hoard all the best young players
  

This way clubs aren't spending more than their means and it would give us a fairer competition with a level playing field.

As regards the lower leagues, there is already a wage cap (as far as I remember it's that you can't pay more than a set percentage compared to attendance money). Not many sides pay much in transfer fees and the squad limit isn't much of an issue either.

Teams going into administration are generally those who don't keep to reasonable wage/transfer levels, and/or those who have dodgy owners.

It is an increasing problem though. There must be more teams who've taken point deductions this season than any in recent history. It's a worrying sign.

borocooper wrote:Might've been

I was at the 2nd leg..behind the goal also.

Was a shit night to be honest..didnt feel like we'd just got to a cup final since we were rubbish on the night

It was Armstrong and Angel for you then wasnt it?

*Angell. Brett Angell. What a legend!

Alun Armstrong went to you guys of course. Not a bad scoring record there but it wasn't until he moved to Ispwich that he really got given a chance.

We also, as Pierre qite rightly identifies, had a decent left back/CM called Sean Connelly (who scored against you). We also had Paul Jones as our keeper, who went on to play for southampton and wales.

Mike Flynn played for us too back then - proper old school defender. Jim Gannon, our current manager was in central midfield and we also had the legend that is Chris Marsden, playing as attacking midfielder who of course went on to Southampton along with Paul Jones when Dave Jones moved there as manager.

Tweedle wrote:

borocooper wrote:Might've been

I was at the 2nd leg..behind the goal also.

Was a shit night to be honest..didnt feel like we'd just got to a cup final since we were rubbish on the night

It was Armstrong and Angel for you then wasnt it?

*Angell. Brett Angell. What a legend!

Alun Armstrong went to you guys of course. Not a bad scoring record there but it wasn't until he moved to Ispwich that he really got given a chance.

We also, as Pierre qite rightly identifies, had a decent left back/CM called Sean Connelly (who scored against you). We also had Paul Jones as our keeper, who went on to play for southampton and wales.

Mike Flynn played for us too back then - proper old school defender. Jim Gannon, our current manager was in central midfield and we also had the legend that is Chris Marsden, playing as attacking midfielder who of course went on to Southampton along with Paul Jones when Dave Jones moved there as manager.

I remember going to Stockport on a Monday night towards the end of 96/97 and we lost 1-0 to end any play off hopes we had and I think county clinched promotion that night or just after ?

All I remember from it is that our promotion hopes rested on a result between Luton Town and someone else. So that game could well have been the night after?

Ah yeah, Jones was quite a good keeper.

Armstrong was good for us...he just got that bad injury and it completely wrecked his chances with us in the end. All the fans wanted him to be given more chances after the injury but it never happened.

Him and Marco Branca tore up division one