GMF

You’d like to think so.

Passing tickets on to mates if successful in the ballot but can’t go - that’s really going to help with contact tracing (not) if the worst should happen!

The fact remains that NCFC were in breach of their banking covenants and had insufficient cash flow to make payments when they fell due. That’s not normal and It’s illegal to trade if the company has insufficient funds to satisfy its debts as and when they fall due. The fact that NCFC managed to do so was undoubtably down to the ongoing support of its lenders, the costly rescheduling of the outstanding debt, not forgetting the sterling efforts of AB and his colleagues around that time.

That’s great deflection, Nutty! What’s luck, or lack there of, got to do with your comment that 1996 was (in your opinion) the only time NCFC were close to administration? As I highlighted in my first reply, circa 2009 / 2010, we were certainly very close, hence the qualified statement in the accounts about NCFC still being a going concern, but only because of the ongoing support of its lenders.

I remember thinking at the time, it’s a good answer but he didn’t really answer the question asked. The fact remains that at, or around that time, we were in breach of our banking covenants, as confirmed by the accounts. That gave the lenders various choices, including administration. The fact that they chose to give us qualified support doesn’t mean that it wasn’t an option - it certainly was. Thankfully, they chose not to pursue it, but it did require an expensive refinancing, which AB alluded to being a possible option.

My memory certainly isn’t what it used to be, but the driver around the appointment of Alan Bowkett was the letter from two AD’s following relegation to League One and the general dissatisfaction at the direction of the Club at that time. I have no idea what insight, if any, he had around the time he joined, but the situation was far worse than most probably expected. The 2010 accounts refer to the Club being in breach of its banking covenants and required non-binding letters of support from its principal lenders in order to be signed off with a qualified reference to the Club being a going concern. That’s about as close as you can get without being in administration and, a year later, with Debt rescheduling, the picture was somewhat rosier, albeit not being out of the woods just yet. By 2018, it was clear that the Club did come close to another financial cash flow problem, only eased by player trading and the sales of Josh Murphy and Maddison.

Such matters are way be me, Duncan. Maybe they should be referred to the Independent Football Ombudsman for determination...

Just be grateful Essex isn’t currently on holiday, has decent internet access, so won’t miss out on his rebate - I’d imagine we wouldn’t hear the end of it otherwise....

Partially = 50% out in January 2014 and 50% out in January 2020

A pony and trap is worth a score of Pam Shrivers...

What a paper hat. A splatter of pony and trap is worth a score of Pam Shrivers...

No doubt gone in search for 1,000 NCFC fans looking to make a single share purchase, entitling them to free memberships for life...

Nope, this one is genuine...

Were you trekking in the Himalayas, or somewhere similar with no Wi-fi?

Essex, if the IFO has reaffirmed that the original subscriber benefits were personal and therefore not transferable, your above suggestion that you could sell your shares with the benefit of an ongoing entitlement to free membership, is misleading to any potential purchasers - do you really think that you should be doing this?