Huddersfield points deduction - key date 23 March

[QPROslo]

I understand Huddersfield has been in takeover discussions for a year with two interested parties. However, the obstacle is - like it was for Derby - the significant debt. To come to an agreement with new owners, the present owners of Huddersfield might have to take the club through administration to clear debt. This is not firm news, but assumption, as expressed by various commentators in Yorkshire and national newspapers.

If the club files for administration before the deadline on 23 March, a 12 points deduction will apply this season. If it files for administration after this date the deduction will take place next season.

What is best: Fill for administration before the deadline? Relegation is dead certain in case of a 12 points deduction, but will most likely happen anyway. If so, the club can start afresh next season with no debt in League 1. Alternatively, wait until after 23 March. This gives the club a tiny chance of staying up this season, but if it is in the Championships next season it will start with -12 points, making things very hard. If it files for administration after 23 March it can get the worst of two worlds: Relegation this season and starting with -12 points in League 1.

If the speculations are indeed right, and filing for administration is inevitable to land a takeover, I bet they will file for administration before the deadline.

If so, this is of great help for us.

I will certainly look out for news from Huddersfield the next couple of days, as it may define our season.

[3London]

Interesting but it’s a sad state of affairs that we are relying on points deductions of others to stay up.

let’s hope it doesn’t come to that

[SheepRanger]

And our fans were singing to sack the Board on Saturday

Be careful what you wish for!

[Springboks2002]

aint the board we should be singing for to be sacked its the DOF

[WeAreQPR12]

aint the board we should be singing for to be sacked its the DOF

Ain't Sir Les it's that bloody CEO wally that should go immediately.

[Undecided]

Going into Administration to avoid debt? How did they rack up such debts? Makes I wonder what FFP is supposed to achieve.

[SheepRanger]

Going into Administration to avoid debt? How did they rack up such debts? Makes I wonder what FFP is supposed to achieve.

Keeping the small clubs small.

Having Qpr in the Champions League is not a draw for the TV Execs with all the money.

[Kingaustin]

And our fans were singing to sack the Board on Saturday

Be careful what you wish for!

I’ve been saying this . Without these owners we won’t have a club

[QPROslo]

Going into Administration to avoid debt? How did they rack up such debts? Makes I wonder what FFP is supposed to achieve.

I do not know what the debt financed in the past, but I suppose - like QPR - that Huddersfield has had costs that exceeded revenues. By end of 2020/21 season, the debt was just under £60m. They have probably taken on even more debt in the meantime, when parachute money dried up. The 2021/22 accounts are not yet published, from what I can see.

[QPROslo]

Keeping the small clubs small.

Having Qpr in the Champions League is not a draw for the TV Execs with all the money.

I think most clubs outside PL support FFP in one or another form. The present model might not be ideal, but it makes sense to put in place a mechanism that limit the risks of the club.

I would like to compare investment in a football club at our level with buying a lottery ticket. The upside is potentially enormous compared to the downside. If a club, bought for £40m as in the case of QPR, gain promotion to the promised land, and manage to establish itself in PL, the investor-money can potentially increase ten fold or more. The chance of promotion might be small, but that is the dream of anyone buying a EFL club.

Of this reason, cold blooded investors might be willing to take exceptional risks to gain promotion. Racking up lots of debt, giving promotion push a serious go, could potentially reap exceptional rewards. But the same gamble might put clubs at risk. If an owner do not succeed, football clubs can go out of business. This might not be of too much concern to some investors. You win some, you loose some! If one of ten investments becomes super-profitable, an investor can accept that nine out of ten are failures and still end up on the sunny side.

While investors can accept this risk profile, it is potentially devastating for supporters. Please ask any Bury fan. Because football clubs are different to ordinary businesses, there must be some mechanisms that protect us as fans from seeing the club we have supported all our life go out of business.

Spending caps also make sense from another angle. Lets assume all Championship clubs were allowed to greatly increase their losses, from presently £39m to £100m per three year periods, or even without limits. Do you think football clubs at our level would really be better off? I think the only effect would be that signing fees and player salaries would increase a lot, with more risk of clubs going bust. It might not increase the chances of promotion for a club like QPR.

While some mechanism is needed to balance risks, I think present rules can me much improved. Particularly the parachute concept, that means relegated clubs have an exceptional advantage. But that is for another discussion.

[Shania]

Huddersfield will not be deducted any points this season or next is what I`ve read on their website now.

[topperharley]

I think most clubs outside PL support FFP in one or another form. The present model might not be ideal, but it makes sense to put in place a mechanism that limit the risks of the club.

I would like to compare investment in a football club at our level with buying a lottery ticket. The upside is potentially enormous compared to the downside. If a club, bought for £40m as in the case of QPR, gain promotion to the promised land, and manage to establish itself in PL, the investor-money can potentially increase ten fold or more. The chance of promotion might be small, but that is the dream of anyone buying a EFL club.

Of this reason, cold blooded investors might be willing to take exceptional risks to gain promotion. Racking up lots of debt, giving promotion push a serious go, could potentially reap exceptional rewards. But the same gamble might put clubs at risk. If an owner do not succeed, football clubs can go out of business. This might not be of too much concern to some investors. You win some, you loose some! If one of ten investments becomes super-profitable, an investor can accept that nine out of ten are failures and still end up on the sunny side.

While investors can accept this risk profile, it is potentially devastating for supporters. Please ask any Bury fan. Because football clubs are different to ordinary businesses, there must be some mechanisms that protect us as fans from seeing the club we have supported all our life go out of business.

Spending caps also make sense from another angle. Lets assume all Championship clubs were allowed to greatly increase their losses, from presently £39m to £100m per three year periods, or even without limits. Do you think football clubs at our level would really be better off? I think the only effect would be that signing fees and player salaries would increase a lot, with more risk of clubs going bust. It might not increase the chances of promotion for a club like QPR.

While some mechanism is needed to balance risks, I think present rules can me much improved. Particularly the parachute concept, that means relegated clubs have an exceptional advantage. But that is for another discussion.

While your analogy works you don't count in the romance of footbal and that's certainly what drove Uncle Tony. He loved it and wanted to be loved for loving it. You can gamble and love the gamble and still be an investor looking for a return so to speak.

I think the owners are stuck between a rock and a hard place, between FFP and the club performance, probably wanting to spend some money but also not wanting to repeat old mistakes.

FFP works, there's plenty of teams that are doing just fine without going crazy in the transfer market and we could be one of them.

I do hold the board accountable for what the club does because every owner is ultimately responsible for their business. But I don't want them gone, rather I'd have them more involved, and have someone outside of the club advising them on what's working and what is not. It's pretty clear we have some deficiencies somewhere in the higher levels of the club that are effecting what we can put out on the pitch.

Irrespective of the what's going on everytime we step onto the field I would rather have a club than be in danger of going under. I'd rather have a club in league 2 than no club at all. Though alot of fans far more invested than me may not agree, when it comes down to it they'll still love the club wether they are on Match of the Day or on some late night highlights reel on Sky Sports 2.

[QPROslo]

Huddersfield will not be deducted any points this season or next is what I`ve read on their website now.

This is interesting. I did not find this statement on their web site: Huddersfield Town - News Archive (htafc.com).

Previously they have denied (in media) to give comments to any speculations about administration. Do you have a link to the statement you have found on their website, Shania?

[Shania]

This is interesting. I did not find this statement on their web site: Huddersfield Town - News Archive (htafc.com).

Previously they have denied (in media) to give comments to any speculations about administration. Do you have a link to the statement you have found on their website, Shania?

Not really, QPROslo -but some ITK posters on their message board seem to have drawn that conclusion. I obviously hope they`re wrong.
Edit: "...Down At The Mack.." is obviously not their website, but one of their message boards.Sorry!

[SheepRanger]

I think most clubs outside PL support FFP in one or another form. The present model might not be ideal, but it makes sense to put in place a mechanism that limit the risks of the club.

I would like to compare investment in a football club at our level with buying a lottery ticket. The upside is potentially enormous compared to the downside. If a club, bought for £40m as in the case of QPR, gain promotion to the promised land, and manage to establish itself in PL, the investor-money can potentially increase ten fold or more. The chance of promotion might be small, but that is the dream of anyone buying a EFL club.

Of this reason, cold blooded investors might be willing to take exceptional risks to gain promotion. Racking up lots of debt, giving promotion push a serious go, could potentially reap exceptional rewards. But the same gamble might put clubs at risk. If an owner do not succeed, football clubs can go out of business. This might not be of too much concern to some investors. You win some, you loose some! If one of ten investments becomes super-profitable, an investor can accept that nine out of ten are failures and still end up on the sunny side.

While investors can accept this risk profile, it is potentially devastating for supporters. Please ask any Bury fan. Because football clubs are different to ordinary businesses, there must be some mechanisms that protect us as fans from seeing the club we have supported all our life go out of business.

Spending caps also make sense from another angle. Lets assume all Championship clubs were allowed to greatly increase their losses, from presently £39m to £100m per three year periods, or even without limits. Do you think football clubs at our level would really be better off? I think the only effect would be that signing fees and player salaries would increase a lot, with more risk of clubs going bust. It might not increase the chances of promotion for a club like QPR.

While some mechanism is needed to balance risks, I think present rules can me much improved. Particularly the parachute concept, that means relegated clubs have an exceptional advantage. But that is for another discussion.

The current debt limits of £39m every three years are enough to sink clubs if they continue to do it.

I'd be amazed if many clubs actually have football operations and stadium/training ground under the same legal entity. In reality its only the football operation that goes bust and there is always someone who will offer X pence for every pound of debt to take over.

Yes, Bury lost their league status but they are still operating as a club at a lower level. If youre a Bury fan you will contine to watch them. Other clubs have lost their league status, just look at the National League and the north/south below that. But as clubs they still exist and can regain league status if they goid enougb and people want to watch them. The fact remains that people didnt turn up to watch them in sufficient numbers and they fall just like any failing business.

Our owners have done £300m on us and they should have the right to apend another £300m should they want to. Its their money. If they walked away tomorrow the club woukd get bought for circa £20m whether the debt is £80m, £300m or £600m. Its the current owners who tske the financial loss. People should be allowed the spend their money as they see fit to grow a business.

Unfortunately, the days of seeing a Wimbledon, Carlisle and Oldham in the top league again and challenging have long gone. The top clubs have created a cartel to keep the small clubs small. Even Bournemouth and Brentford are only a few bad transfer windows away from being relegated. Same as Hull, Stoke, Sheffield Wed etc. They should enjoy the sun because eventually they'll get relegated.