From the brink of oblivion to a billionaire (From Daily Echo)

From the brink of oblivion to a billionaire

3:43pm Wednesday 8th July 2009 in News

From the brink of oblivion to a billionaire

April 2009

April 1: The Daily Echo exclusively reports that Southampton Leisure Holdings PLC are on the verge of entering administration.

April 2: Shares in the company are suspended, Rupert Lowe, Michael Wilde and Andrew Cowen resign from both the PLC and football boards with Begbies Traynor appointed as administrators.

Mark Fry, the administrator, says he remains optimistic a buyer for the club can be found and that Saints can avoid a ten point Football League deduction because it is the PLC – and NOT – the football club in administration.

It appears Saints only have 24 days left to find a buyer or go out of business.

Wilde lays part of the blame at the door of Barclays Bank.

April 3: Speculation is rife that the City Council could step in with a bid to buy St Mary’s if it would save Saints from extinction.

April 4: Fry reveals there have already been 19 expressions of interest in buying the club.

Former board rivals Mike Richards and Leon Crouch issue a joint statement calling for unity and start to put into motion a ‘Save our Saints’ campaign to raise funds to keep the club going.

On the pitch the team’s survival hopes are dealt a massive blow as they lose 3-2 to Charlton at St Mary’s.

April 6: Saints fans call on the city council to sell precious artworks to help fund the club.

April 7: Jan-Paul Saeijs scores twice to earn Saints a 2-2 draw at Watford.

Meanwhile, Dell legend Mick Channon describes as “obscene” fans being asked to donate money to save the club.

April 9: Fry warns fans that buyers have been asking him whether the bumper home crowd for the Charlton game is a one off with sluggish ticket sales for the Easter Monday fixture against Crystal Palace.

April 10: Saints are hammered 3-0 at Wolves.

Off the pitch a group of fans say they aim to raise at least £15m with a view to taking over the club and turning it into a supporter-owned initiative.

April 11: The Echo reveal that Southampton City Council are in negotiations to buy St Mary’s.

April 13: Saints fans have something to cheer at last as their team give themselves a glimmer of hope with a 1-0 win over Crystal Palace at St Mary’s.

April 16: Mark Wotte calls on his players to keep focussed on their job of keeping the club up and ignore any outside distractions.

Meanwhile, Lawrie McMenemy, Matt Le Tissier, Channon and Mike Osman host an ‘evening with’ at St Mary’s to raise over £10,000 for the ‘Save our Saints’ campaign.

April 17: There is talk of a possible sale of Nathan Dyer to Swansea straight after the end of the season which would help the Saints finances.

April 18: Wotte admits Saints need “a miracle” to avoid relegation following a dismal 2-0 defeat at Sheffield Wednesday.

The offer Saints have received from Swansea for Dyer is way below what they will accept.

April 23: Saints are left devastated by the news that the Football League have imposed a ten point deduction for administration. There is talk of an appeal as an angry Fry holds a press conference.

April 25: Saints can only manage a 2-2 draw with Burnley at St Mary’s which confirms their relegation without the points deduction and means they will start next season in League One on minus ten.

April 29: Fry says he remains “hopeful” of a quick sale of the club but admits he is drawing up contingency plans in case that doesn’t happen.

April 30: Potential Saints purchasers Ben Steele and Quentin Hubbard are pictured outside St Mary’s but the Echo reveal they are not considered serious contenders to buy the club.

May 2009

May 1: The Echo reveals that former chairman Rupert Lowe is to attend the final game of the season against Nottingham Forest as a guest of the Forest chairman.

Meanwhile, a Saints All-Stars game at St Mary’s is announced for Sunday, May 17, to help raise funds for the club with Le Tissier already confirmed to play.

May 3: Saints round off their miserable Championship season with a 3-1 defeat at Nottingham Forest.

May 5: Le Tissier confirms he is in contact with a consortium aiming to buy the club. The Echo reveal that the bid is being managed by Tony Lynam of Southampton-based Pinnacle.

May 6: Many Saints players face big wage cuts as a result of relegation clauses in their contracts but none of them was asked or offered any sort of a wage deferral to help the club’s finances.

It is also confirmed that Rudi Skacel and Ryan Smith are to be released on free transfers while Jason Euell and Bradley Wright-Phillips might be offered new deals.

May 7: Le Tissier explains his involvement in a consortium aiming to buy Saints and says he just wants the best for the club.

May 8: The Echo reveals the rival bid to the Matt Le Tissier backed Pinnacle deal is one being led by Marc Jackson, who in 2008 tried to put a deal together to buy AFC Bournemouth.

May 9: The Echo reveal that the Pinnacle bid have the aim of returning Saints to the Premier League in five years should they gain control of the club.

May 12: Fry says he is optimistic a deal for the club is imminent and that he hopes to align himself to a preferred bidder, believed to be the Pinnacle group, within 48 hours with speculation rife it could happen within 24 hours.

May 13: The All-Stars match at St Mary’s is cancelled due to a lack of interest. Only 1,500 tickets have been sold.

May 14: Talks continue over a possible deal to buy Saints after Mark Fry’s 48 hour aim comes and goes.

The Marc Jackson and Stuart Green-led bid is revealed to be £8m up front with a further £2m deferred and a potential £5m based on promotions, ultimately back to the Premiership.

May 15: Fry issues an ultimatum to one potential bidder, believed to be the Pinnacle group, saying they have to make firm their offer by the end of Friday or face being frozen out of negotiations.

May 16: The deadline comes and goes and with things still at a delicate stage is extended over the weekend to the end of Monday.

May 18: There is speculation that a mystery overseas consortium are considering a late bid for Saints. The deadline is extended again.

May 19: The Echo reveals that former chairman Crouch has been helping keep the club afloat by contributing towards the club’s wage bill.

May 21: The consortium headed by Marc Jackson and Stuart Green go back with an improved offer for Saints.

May 23: Saints’ books are opened up for further due diligence to at least one party to try and hurry forward a deal.

May 27: A surprise new bidder enters the race to buy Saints and moves quickly towards the head of the queue. The two money men behind it are Irish.

May 28: Saints staff are informed they are not being paid on time as Mark Fry works to try and sell the club. He asks staff to work on for a further week as a gesture of goodwill.

Meanwhile, Saints move towards the conclusion of a deal to sell Nathan Dyer to Swansea for £200,000 up front with a further £200,000 to come. There is also a substantial sell-on clause plus add-ons based on appearances etc.

May 29: The Matt Le Tissier backed Pinnacle group enter an exclusivity period at Saints, just beating a Swiss consortium to sign the contract.

They pay a non-refundable deposit to pay the May wages and have 21 days in which to tie up a deal for the club.

May 30: The Echo reveals that just one man is behind the Pinnacle bid and plans to wipe out all the club’s debt.

Tony Lynam, the Pinnacle boss who has spearheaded the successful negotiations on behalf of his wealthy client, told the Echo: “We have made a significant payment and there’s a balance that will need to be paid within the 21-day period.

“All of the due diligence has actually been completed. The extra period is purely for the legal aspects and clearly there’s football matters that need to be taken care of as well.

“We need to have everything in place to get this club ready to prepare for the pre-season.”

June 2009

June 1: There is speculation that Matt Le Tissier will be the chairman of the new look Saints board if Pinnacle complete their takeover.

The Marc Jackson and Stuart Green consortium say they were “extremely close” to sealing a deal for Saints until one of the backers pulled out at the last minute. They confirm they are waiting in the wings if Pinnacle can’t deliver their takeover.

June 2: Nathan Dyer’s sale is confirmed.

June 3: Both Mark Wotte and Pinnacle refuse to comment on the outcome of a meeting held to discuss the future of Saints’ head coach.

June 9: Pinnacle are facing a race against time to get their deal tied up to ensure minimum disruption to the club’s pre-season plans.

June 10: The Swiss consortium that almost entered exclusivity confirm they remain interested in Saints – but only if Pinnacle were to fail to complete their bid for the club.

June 11: Pinnacle move to assure fans that their deal is progressing as expected, but warn it could take up until the very last day of their exclusivity period to seal it.

June 15: Kelvin Davis confirms he is holding on for as long as possible to sign a new contract at Saints as the players return to Staplewood for ‘fat testing’ which they all pass.

June 17: The Echo reveals that should Pinnacle complete their takeover of the club they will replace Mark Wotte as head coach with a British manager.

June 18: The Echo publishes exclusive pictures of a meeting between Matt Le Tissier, Leon Crouch and Kevin Keegan that sparks speculation that Keegan could be the new manager.

June 19: Matt Le Tissier admits speaking to Keegan but says he was one of several people he was taking advice from.

Pinnacle’s exclusivity period comes to an end with no takeover.

June 20: Pinnacle say they have issues to resolve with the Football League, beleived to be linked to the right of appeal over the ten point deduction, as well as a couple of minor legal issues.

Fry says he will be speaking to other potential bidders.

June 22: Pinnacle insist that they complete a takeover of Saints.7 The players report back for pre-season training but without a clear directi0on of where the club is going and with Kelvin Davis even having to coach the goalkeepers himself.

June 23: The race to buy Saints is back on with the first to come up with a firm offer for the club set to land it.

June 24: Saints’ staff are informed they will not be paid their wages on time unless a takeover is completed.

Pinnacle boss Tony Lynam address the players and staff at Staplewood to explain the situation.

June 25: Michael Fialka, the supposed money man behind the Pinnacle bid, appears on TV, billed as the prospective new owner of Saints. He says a takeover is imminent and a contingency plan is in place to pay staff who are still awaiting their June salaries.

Peter Reid, touted as a possible new Saints boss if the Marc Jackson consortium bought Saints, says he has heard nothing about the job but admits it would be an interesting offer.

June 26: A Daily Echo investigation into Fialka reveals some interesting details about his life and finances.

June 27: Mark Fry issues a “grave” warning about the future of Saints, hinting the club could close at the end of the week if no credible new buyer is in line by then.

June 29: The Daily Echo reveals there is a new mystery consortium on the scene ready to make a quick and decisive move to buy Saints.

June 30: Chaos at Saints. Mark Fry admits he is “not confident” Pinnacle will complete a deal for the club, David McGoldrick has been sold to Nottingham Forest with Kelvin Davis and Andrew Surman set to follow him out the door while there could be no first team coaches left to train the players the next day.

Pinnacle and the Marc Jackson group later confirm they have withdrawn from the race to buy Saints.

July 2009

July 1: Two international groups, one the Swiss and the mystery worldwide financial services group, are still in the hunt for Saints.

July 2: The Football League dismiss some claims from Pinnacle over the reasons for their withdrawal.

July 3: Following the Football League’s statement, Pinnacle claim they are set to get back in to the mix to buy Saints.

July 4: Ex-York chairman John Batchelor tells the Daily Echo he is advising a group of four businessmen interested in making a last ditch £12.5m bid to buy Saints with their company Gillico.

July 6: Mark Fry tells the Echo that the Swiss are very close to completing their deal but there are two other groups pushing very hard if they don’t complete.

July 7: The Swiss are expected to become the new Saints owners.

July 8: At lunchtime the official news comes that Markus Liebherr has completed his takeover.