Yeovil Town‘s debt to Sport England has increased by a further £197,000, meaning the club is now almost £1m in the red.
The latest filing to the accounts of Yeovil Town Athletic & Football Club, the company which runs its football operations, and Yeovil Town Holdings, which owns the land surrounding its Huish Park stadium.
It showed that the club’s loans to Sport England rose from £801,538 to £998,538 due to a charge registered on March 26.
The latest increase in debt comes as the club filed its accounts for the 12 months up until June 31, 2021, when it owed ‘just’ £582,950.
The accounts show that, at the end of June, “the directors have reviewed likely future developments and remain of the opinion that the company still has adequate resources to meet its obligations and shareholders have agreed to continue to support the club financially where necessary.
“Therefore there is no reason to believe that the club will have to cease trading as a result of inadequate financial resources, or any other foreseeable event.
“As such the going concern basis of accounting in preparing the financial statements continuing to be adopted.”
In other words – everything’s fine, nothing to worry about. Whether that situation remains nine months and two additional Sport England loans later, is another question.
This is the third loan which the companies behind the club, which list chairman Scott Priestnall and fellow director Glenn Collis as directors, have taken out against the club.
In case you needed a recap, this is the timeline:
- 12 February 2021: Yeovil Football & Athletic Club Ltd (YF&AC) agree a loan of £689,538 from Sport England.
- 17 March 2021: The loan is created as a legal charge on the club.
- 31 August 2021: The club confirms it has borrowed an additional £112,000 from Sport England with a charge taken by Yeovil Town Holdings Limited (YTHL).
- 12 October 2021: YTHL confirms it has satisfied the £112,000 loan.
- 13 October 2021: A new charge filed against YF&AC is registered which confirms it has taken on loan of up to £801,538.
- 26 March 2022: New charges which appear on the accounts of both YF&AC and YTHL shows a further £197,000 loan has been taken out with Sport England, raising the debt to almost £1m.
You may recall it was the response to a Freedom of Information request by the Gloverscast published in June which confirmed the original loan amount, see – here.