Wildcats to enter administration
RUGBY league club Wakefield Wildcats are to enter administration less than two weeks before the start of the new Super League season.
The Super League club are bidding to avoid a winding-up petition brought by HM Revenue and Customs for an unpaid tax bill thought to be in excess of £300,000.
The appointment of Peter O’Hara as administrator is expected to be confirmed next Monday, just five days before Wakefield’s opening Super League match of 2011 against Castleford at the Millennium Stadium.
Directors of the club had asked supporters to raise £500,000 by the end of January in order to secure the club’s immediate future, but the appeal fell short of the target by Monday’s deadline.
The administrator will now look to find a potential buyer for the club and aim to come to agreements with its creditors.
It is the third time the Wildcats have averted a winding-up order in the last two years.
A statement by Wakefield Wildcats yesterday said: “Despite our efforts and those of a number of our fans, we have not been able to secure the funds necessary to pay the amounts due to HMRC and so the company was facing a winding-up petition which would have potentially meant the end of the club that we all love.
“Having run the club for 20 years, we have no wish to see its great history and traditions disappear and so we have no choice but to seek the appointment of an administrator to give the club protection from its creditors.
“We are working with a number of parties who have already expressed an interest in securing the future of the club, its position in the Super League and the benefits that it brings to the local community.
“We wish to see the future of the club resolved as quickly as possible so that the Wildcats can enter the 2011 season with stable financial and commercial foundations.
“With the right ownership and support from the fans and local community, we are confident that the club will have a bright and successful future.”
Wakefield had hoped to move into a new stadium in 2012 but plans have been referred to a public inquiry.
With their current home, Belle Vue, failing to meet the minimum standards, the Wildcats are making plans to share Barnsley Football Club’s Oakwell ground in 2012 in the hope of moving into their new home some time in 2013.
