City win battle but the war goes on

CORK CITY might have won the battle in the High Court yesterday but nobody doubts that the club is only in the early stages of a long war.

The unexpected 11th-hour reprieve which rescued City from what appeared certain death was greeted with relief by club representatives but, having given reassurances that they will be able to meet next Wednesday’s final deadline for settling their liabilities with the tax man, chairman Tom Coughlan was quick to stress a root and branch restructuring of the business is inevitable.

“We’ve got this far but we’ve got a lot to do,” he said. “Like, I’m new to this. And it’s obvious that I made a balls of it for the first six months so we’ve got to learn from this. So the plan now is to get a truly sustainable model. I feel vindicated that we’re here and we’re able to move this thing forward. So many people have genuinely helped over the past while. But we’re in very tough times and we’ve got a lot of work to do to drive things on.”

No sooner had one problem been solved than another reared its head: next Wednesday — the same day that Cork City has committed to handing over €219,000 to settle its outstanding debt to the Revenue Commissioners — the club is due to pay monthly wages to its players, a wage the players had already agreed to defer for one week.

Clearly concerned that the money might not be forthcoming, players’ union chief Stephen McGuinness — who was in court yesterday — drove straight to Cork after the hearing ended for an urgent meeting last night with Jim McCarthy of the Quintas Group, the Cork-based finance company which is now taking a hands-on role in running the club.

McGuinness is also urging the FAI to agree to extend the transfer window — which officially closed yesterday — to August 31 to give City players additional time in which to secure moves to other clubs if they so wish.

Although the club appears determined for now to try and remain full time, there have also been suggestions that wage cuts of between 20% and 30% and, in the longer run, even a reversion to part-time status, are all under consideration.

Said McGuinness: “I’ve always said that once they get through this (the court case), this is where the work starts. My first priority is wages for lads who won’t have been paid for five weeks.”

There might be a lot of hard talking to come but that the club is still in existence at all seemed like something of a miracle after a long and dramatic day in court yesterday, during which Cork City seemed to expire and then come back from the dead.

It began in the morning with Rossa Fanning, counsel for the club, returning to the court with new proposals to settle City’s debt of €439,000 to Revenue. Arguing that there had been a material change in the circumstances since a stay had been placed on the winding-up order at the beginning of the week, Fanning said that whereas the club had been proposing an up-front payment of €110,000 last Monday, they were now returning with drafts totalling €210,000.

And he said that the club would be able to discharge the balance on the back of confirmation by letter from the chief executive of Celtic that the Scottish club would play a friendly against Cork City in the near future. Further, he said he had an email from John Delaney, the chief executive of the FAI, in which Delaney said the organisation would run the Celtic game and ensure that all proceeds would go directly to the Revenue. The FAI would also hold back any future prize money from Cork’s participation in the Setanta Cup and European competition and pay the money directly to the Revenue. Fanning also said that he had letters from club sponsors the Evening Echo and Heineken promising advance payments of €11,000 and €25,000 respectively.

However, Counsel for the Revenue made it clear that this new offer was simply not acceptable to his clients. But while Ms Justice Mary Laffoy said that she understood the Revenue’s concerns, she also asked their counsel, Dermott Cahill BL, to seek further instruction from his clients. She remarked that “a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush” and suggested that the Revenue would not “appear soft” if they agreed to this matter.

The court then extended the stay on the winding-up order until 12.55pm but when the parties returned it was clear no agreement had been reached.

This was clearly the lowest point in the day for Tom Coughlan, who sat with head bowed, rubbing his eyes, as the judge responded that, while she had hoped a compromise would be possible, she was now confirming the winding up order.

But then counsel for City, proposing the club would seek leave to appeal to the Supreme Court, asked for and was granted a further stay until 4pm.

However by 3.30pm rumours were growing that, behind the scenes, an 11th hour deal had been struck with the Revenue.

Even then the deal was in danger of collapsing when the Revenue requested but were unable to obtain an email confirming that funds would be transferred from a London bank to cover the balance of the payment required by next Wednesday.

In the end, Revenue agreed to take the commitment in good faith.

And it was just after 4.30pm that both sides returned to court to confirm agreement had finally been reached.

Cork City will pay the remainder of its debt to the Revenue — €219,000 — by 4.30pm next Wednesday. And if the payment is made on time, the winding up order will be lifted on Thursday.

Speaking outside the court afterwards, Coughlan cited the importance of the game against Celtic as being critical to the club’s ability to raise last-minute funds.

But no-one doubts that there are more complicated times ahead.