Sevco moved towards full blown crisis mode yesterday as the directors met in London for a marathon session to address the shortfall in season ticket sales.
The dire football served up by Ally McCoist’s Invincibles/ Unbearables/ Unwatchables and concerns over a board that seem unable to create a sustainable business has created a slump in season ticket sales with less than 15,000 briefs snapped up.
Despite the upbeat weekend announcement by Graham Wallace that the club was in great shape the former Manchester City chief is unlikely to remain in the chief executive role for much longer as another ‘fresh’ face is presented to the fans with the endorsement of McCoist for reassurance.
With almost all sources of revenue exhausted and credit off limits the only source of extra income is from a fresh share issue which is very much the last throw of the dice.
Shares that were sold for 70p in December 2012 under the charismatic Charles Green are currently trading at around 26p. Issuing fresh shares requires an underwriter, not undertaker, with no-one likely to put their cash on the line knowing that at best interest in a new share issue is likely to be lukewarm.
Presenting the AIM with the documentation for another share issue could be another challenge while the £6m fees associated with the last share issue are another obstacle that has to be overcome.
Running parallel to the slump in season ticket sales is the need to repay the £1.5m of emergency loans taken out in February to avoid going into administration.
With the World Cup about to start the footballing spotlight will be in Brazil over the next few weeks which would lessen the impact of administration on the news and football agenda.
Administration would see the Ibrox new boys start next season with a 15 point deduction but is unlikely to be the soft soap job applied by Duff & Phelps on Rangers.
The state-of-the-art Murray Park training complex is likely t be mothballed with savage cuts likely to be applied to every area of the club including McCoist’s monster salary and generous expenses- it could even delay the introduction of a scouting system.
Liquidation options have already been discussed with Dunfermline, who have been on a recent spending spree, on stand-by to replace Sevco in the Championship.
Reports of an £8m windfall from a new share issue seem as likely as uncovering a billionaire from Motherwell.