Notts County run out of money to pay staff, reports Nottingham MP

The owner of crisis-hit Notts County has told a Nottingham MP Lilian Greenwood that there is no money left to pay staff and no definite buyer for the Club, which has been up for sale since January.

The news comes after it emerged on Friday (28 June) that Magpies staff and players hadn’t been paid for June.

Greenwood, the Nottingham South MP met with Notts owner Alan Hardy on Friday and reported the encounter through a series of tweets.

She said that Hardy told her that there is still no cast-iron buyer for the club, that the club has run out of money to pay staff and that he has a duty to sell the Magpies to the highest bidder – as long as that person or group of people pass the FA’s fit and proper owner test – which in his view is about financial sustainability.

Greenwood also said Hardy refused to meet with representatives of supporters’ groups directly.

Later on Friday, Nottinghamshire Live reported that Hardy said staff would be paid for June in the coming week.

Meanwhile, Magpies fans are set to descend on Meadow Lane next Saturday to protest against the desperate situation at the club, which faces being wound up on 10 July in the High Court over unpaid tax bills – unless a buyer is found.

Two groups are thought to be in the running – a South African consortium and a collective headed by convicted fraudster Alex May.

Notts County were releated from the Football League last season after a disastrous season. They were scheduled to kick off their National League campaign in five weeks’ time.