Harps on the brink of collapse

DECEMBER 21st has become D-Day for Finn Harps: that is the date the Finn Park outfit have until to raise the €48,000  needed to secure their very future.

That was the stark message given to a special general meeting of the club's shareholders in Ballybofey last night.
 

The club has outstanding debts to the tune of almost €50,000 that must be met by the December 21st date in order for the club's application for a licence for the 2012 season to be processed.

Harps  finished the season in ninth place in the First Division – and have seen gate receipts plummet by some €54,000 compared to their 2010 figures as a result of the massive drop in attendances.

Club Chairman Joey O'Leary last night admitted that the club was 'on the brink' as they revealed that they must meet their outstanding debts for 2011, including a six-week period of wages, or face extinction. The figure doesn't take into account the burden of a €600,000 debt already being carried by Finn Harps Co-Operative Society Ltd from an accumulation of a few difficult periods at the club over the last decade.

All items that come under 'overdue payables' from the season just past must be squared by the deadline or Harps will face the prospect of not having their licence application processed.

“We have a large task on our hands in a very short period of time,” Mr O'Leary said.

“It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that the club is on the brink. It's not something I take lightly. It's a scenario that is frightening to say the least. The club has a deadline, we're confident that we can do it and we'll do all we can to achieve it.

“If we don't achieve the licence we don't have a product – that's the bottom line for Finn Harps at the moment.

“The consequences would be immense. December 21st is the date that we have until to pay overdue payables.
 

“The stark reality is that we have a deadline – and that deadline must be met.”

Last night's meeting saw eleven people put their names forward to help the existing board in running the club until its AGM in February. This was after a motion submitted by the Board, calling for its numbers to be increased to '15 to 20 individuals' until the AGM, was carried.

Currently, Harps are run by a seven-person Board of control. There are nine places on the Board, but since the resignation of Secretary Ian Curristan during the season only seven of those are currently filled, though the current Board will meet tomorrow night with those who expressed an interest in putting their shoulders to the wheel.

Last night's meeting was attended by little more than 20 people – a figure of only 5 per cent of the club's total shareholders. “There are an awful lot of lapsed shareholders. John Campbell has been conducting a review of shareholders, but it was very disappointing to see such a low turnout for what I think was one of the most important meetings in the history of the Co-Operative Society," said the Chairman.
 

The efforts of League of Ireland Champions Shamrock Rovers were praised. Rovers fans purchased 70 tickets for a fund-raising draw in the last week – and a fund-raising friendly game between the club looks set to take place in the coming weeks.

The club's Monster Draw has been put back again and will now take place at half-time in a friendly game that looks very close to being confirmed with Rovers.

Meanwhile, club officials indicated that the first physical works on the new stadium in Stranorlar, the installation of the steel work, could begin in the spring - but only if the club is still in existence by then, something that is now in the balance following last night's revelations.