Aldershot Town: The Phoenix Becomes Icarus

Twenty-one years after its formation, the phoenix club has been plunged into crisis. Relegation from the Football League was followed within five days by the appointment of administrators, leaving its future uncertain.

A limp two-nil defeat at home to Rotherham United confirmed the inevitable. For the first time since 2008, Aldershot Town would be playing non-league football. The visitors secured automatic promotion, while the Shots’ twenty-one-year journey up from the ashes of Aldershot FC came to an end. It was a miserable conclusion to the season, but the true disaster was only just beginning to unfold.

Just five days after that final whistle, the club announced it was entering administration.

The news was not entirely a surprise. April’s wages had gone unpaid, prompting players to vent their frustrations on social media. The club’s CEO, Andrew Mills, resigned on Monday after just four months in the job, delivering a parting shot aimed squarely at majority shareholder Kris Machala. Mills stated he had “absolutely no faith in his intentions to put the club’s future above that of his own personal investment,” adding that he found himself in the “unenviable position of receiving no instruction advice or communication as to the alternative plan of Mr Machala.”

An Unnecessary and Embarrassing Exchange

The situation at the Recreation Ground appears to be one of boardroom paralysis and broken promises. Machala, who became majority shareholder two years ago, had been seeking outside investment since January to keep the club solvent amid declining results and attendances. He stepped down as chairman in February but remained on the board, later claiming to have reached an agreement to transfer his 51% stake to his replacement, Shazid Azeem. The deal, however, was contingent on proof of funds being provided, which never materialised.

As the financial position worsened, the finger of blame has been pointed firmly in one direction. Graham Brookland, the honorary president of the club’s Supporters Trust, recently published a withering account of a shareholders’ meeting. According to Brookland, Machala opposed a motion to notify all shareholders of developments regarding new investment. Brookland’s statement continued: “At the meeting Kris publicly confirmed that he would take responsibility of the finances in the short and long term, if required, whilst he concluded negotiations with a proposed investor.”

I sent the Press Statement at just gone 1am on Friday morning explaining the situation and the guarantees Kris made. At 2.31am Kris sent me an email denying he made those comments. This is extremely alarming considering that I drafted the statement in his presence alongside the other Directors.

The club was ultimately placed into administration by the estate of a former chairman, presumably a significant creditor. With control now out of Machala’s hands, Southampton-based firm Quantuma Restructuring has been appointed to manage the club’s affairs and seek a Company Voluntary Arrangement (CVA) with its creditors.

The AGM Cup

For supporters who endured the original club’s collapse in 1992, the pain is acute. Yet there are slivers of hope. The club does not own its ground, The Recreation Ground, which belongs to Rushmoor Borough Council and cannot be sold off by administrators. Football, in some form, will continue in Aldershot. The more immediate question is in which division. The Football Conference has stringent rules for clubs entering administration, but Aldershot’s status as a freshly relegated Football League club offers some protection. Under rule 14.B.6, the club is exempt from the harshest penalties until the second league AGM following its entry into the competition.

This seems to rule out an immediate double-demotion to the Conference South, a fate which befell Boston United in 2007 under a different set of regulations. The current rules were implemented following the chaotic demise of Chester City in 2009. While an interpretation of the rulebook could have seen Aldershot demoted to give a reprieve to Stockport County, it now seems highly likely the Shots will begin next season in the Conference Premier. The club, which saw another Hampshire side, Portsmouth, saved by its supporters this year, still has good people close to its heart. They went through this once before.

The immediate future, however, depends entirely on what happens between now and the Football Conference AGM in June. The administrator will be running the show, and the clock is ticking to find a CVA that satisfies the league and allows the club to continue.