Cash-strapped Watford may not now go into administration after their former chairman, Jimmy Russo, appeared to relent on Friday on his demand for immediate repayment of a multimillion pound loan.
Watford, who play in English soccer’s second-tier Championship, the division below the lucrative Premier League, appeared destined for administration after Russo demanded the immediate repayment of a £4.88 million (US$7.87 million) loan on Thursday.
That was despite the club’s majority shareholder, Lord Michael Ashcroft, announcing plans to raise £7.5 million through a rights issue package.
Russo told BBC Radio Five Live on Friday, however, that he was ready to talk to Watford officials.
“I’m happy to suspend any legal action providing I have an appointment with them,” he said.
Under Football League rules designed to encourage sound financial management of clubs, teams risk a 10-point deduction if they enter administration.
Watford currently lie 10th in the Championship on 30 points. A drop to 20 points would see the club slip to fourth-bottom in the division, one place above the relegation zone.
Russo, his brother Vince and their fellow director Robin Wright, all quit the board of the club’s parent company, Watford Leisure, this week.
Following Jimmy Russo’s exit, former Watford manager Graham Taylor was appointed interim chairman.
Taylor, speaking on Thursday — before Jimmy Russo softened his stance — was scathing about his predecessor’s conduct.
“Yesterday [Wednesday] I saw an interview with Jimmy and he said he has not become a bad man overnight, but Jimmy, you walked into the AGM earlier this week, nobody knew what you were going to do, you resigned, you demanded immediately your £4.88 million, payable within 48 hours,” Taylor told Sky Sports News. “Jimmy, that’s when you did become a bad man. It was not in the interests of Watford Football Club.”
Watford’s most famous fan is pop legend Sir Elton John, who owned the club during its most successful era that spanned the late 1970s and most of the 1980s.
Under the guidance of Taylor, who went on to manage the England national team, Watford rose from fourth-division obscurity to finish second behind Liverpool during their first ever season in the top tier of English soccer.
A year later, in 1984, the Hornets reached the FA Cup final, losing 2-0 to Everton.
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