[LU] Rotherham expected to take same path as Leeds

[Chris Briggs]

http://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/sport/Millers-to-follow-Leeds39-example.4038962.jp

Millers to follow Leeds' example



Published Date: 01 May 2008
By Ian Appleyard
ROTHERHAM United's proposed new owner Tony Stewart has revealed that the 
club is likely to be docked points next season after copying Leeds United's 
controversial exit from administration.
Stewart will acquire the cash-strapped League Two club tomorrow without 
completing a Company Voluntary Arrangement - the same move that led to Leeds 
being docked 15 points this season.

Stewart says it is the "right step to take" both "legally and financially" 
and will enable the Millers to move forward next season with a clean slate.

Leeds have been locked in a legal battle with the Football League since last 
summer; they will learn today whether their bid to overturn the 15-point 
penalty has been successful, when an arbitration panel announces its 
decision.

However, no matter what happens in the Leeds case, it is likely that the 
League will move to clarify the rules on insolvency policy this summer.

But Stewart said: "I think we will lose points at the start of next season, 
whatever happens, and I have been advised that both legally and financially, 
this is the right step to take.

"I am not a Roman Abramovich and I am a novice in the football market - but 
I am an experienced businessman who wants this club to go places."

With the Inland Revenue owed around £500,000 and unlikely to agree to a CVA, 
administrators have recommended selling the club to a newly-formed company 
owned by Stewart and his anonymous partners.

"I would love to have been able to pay off the creditors because they have 
been the fall guys," admitted Stewart. "But we would not have got the 
agreement (CVA) accepted."

Stewart, the chairman of a Rotherham-based lighting company, is set to 
become the fourth owner of the cash-strapped South Yorkshire club in the 
space of the last three years.

For nearly two decades, the Millers enjoyed relative financial stability 
under local scrap merchant Ken Booth but when he sold out in 2005, the 
problems began to mount.

Fans group Millers 05 took control but within a year, the club had entered 
administration with debts of £3.7m.

Local builder Denis Coleman and restaurant owner Dino Maccio were next to 
try their luck but Maccio quit seven months later and Coleman struggled on 
until two months ago. Work on the new main stand, which had begun under 
Millers 05, remains unfinished.

Significantly, Booth still owns the stadium and the club's Hooton Lodge 
training ground and demands nearly £200,000 a year in rent - a sum that 
Coleman challenged unsuccessfully in the High Court last year.

The Booth family are also threatening legal action unless their demands for 
on-going privileges, including FA Cup tickets and free use of the club's 
physiotherapist, are met.

Stewart said: "When you look at what has gone before, this club has been 
relying on fanatical fans who had the right intentions. But you have got to 
be more pragmatic and if expenditure is greater than income, you are going 
to be in trouble.

"I would not have signed that lease for the ground and that has now become a 
big problem. Negotiations with the Booth family are ongoing but so far they 
have been quite negative."

Stewart confirmed that he is seriously considering the viability of leaving 
Millmoor, and that a move to Don Valley Stadium in Sheffield is an option.

"We can't be talking about this problem for the next three months. Decisions 
have to be made soon," he said, adding that the issue of Booth's 
'privileges' was being addressed by administrator Jeremy Bleazard.

Despite the prospect of starting next season with a 15-point penalty, 
Stewart believes that manager Mark Robins can still lead the club to the 
League Two play-offs.

"We are going for promotion next season," he stressed.

"Mark will have more funds this summer than he had last time around. If it 
had not been for administration, the club would have gone up automatically. 
He is a good manager who has assembled a good side. We have had two meetings 
and he is a bright guy who can do the job."

A Football League spokesman said they could not comment on the possible 
implications for the Millers until the plans had been put forward.