Dumbarton into Administration
- Thread starter jf1960
- Start date
Langsider
Well-Known Member
Then they can %^*& off. Maybe better that way.
iaatpies
Well-Known Member
Achieving what exactly?
Langsider
Well-Known Member
Weeding outnthe shite. If they don't want to merge then that's at least one team that doesn't make the cut and another that'll just stay bottom of a ln 18 teamnleague inperpetuaty. If the aim is to strengthen the league then blood will have to be spilled.
Or maybe they can just continue on as they've always done?
Rangerista
Well-Known Member
There's six of us going to Dumbarton on Saturday for hospitality, so maybe that'll help them turn the corner.
iaatpies
Well-Known Member
Again
Whats the point?
Teams in the lower leagues get such a pittance from the SFA and SPFL that it's not going to make the remaining clubs richer. Fans of those defunct clubs aren't suddenly going to start following another team or, god forbid, some bastard incarnation of Franchise FC.
So whats the point? What does taking teams out of Scottish football actually achieve?
iaatpies
Well-Known Member
100% of the hospitality money stays with the home side, so it's better than attending as a neutral and paying at the gate.
That would depend on what wife No2 looked like.I agree.
What’s next? Merge families in the same street when the kids leave home.
Shawlands_Bluenose
Well-Known Member
What and have the two fan bases desert them?
Fife flyer
Well-Known Member
So should we merge with Queens Park as we are both South side teams? That is ridiculous as what you are suggesting
Deal agreed to exit administration.
www.bbc.co.uk
Dumbarton FC deal agreed to exit administration
A proposal has been agreed that would allow Dumbarton to exit adminstration and pay their creditors in full, the Scottish League 1 club's administrator has announced.
www.bbc.co.uk
I'd saved up £34.50 for that half title at the liquidator's auction as well.Deal agreed to exit administration.
Dumbarton FC deal agreed to exit administration
A proposal has been agreed that would allow Dumbarton to exit adminstration and pay their creditors in full, the Scottish League 1 club's administrator has announced.
Bastards.
Captain_Buns
Well-Known Member
Do tell…?
mdingwall
Administrator
You don’t strengthen the league by closing clubs. Their fans don’t usually migrate to other clubs they are lost to the game.
iaatpies
Well-Known Member
Its a complex situation.
The 2021 takeover of Dumbarton by Cognitive Capital was funded via a loan taken by principal shareholder Andy Hosie from a finance company called Pendragon, Parcels of development land were acquired by Cognitive for an intended sum of £1.8mil - £300k of which was to be paid within 18 months and the remaining £1.5mil was to follow on completion of a property development. Securities were granted to Pendragon in respect of the money borrowed by Hosie over the development land and the club's stadium.
No money in respect of the development land has ever been paid to Dumbarton.
Administration had to happen. The club had struggled to pay its wages on 3 occasions between March 24 and October 24. Whilst wages were paid on all 3 occasions, it was clear that there were financial issues at the club, made worse by the owner's failure to pay any of the money agreed for the sale of the development land. That sale is disputed by many and Andy Hosie remains the subject of a Police Scotland investigation into possible fraud. In 2016,, Hosie received a 12 year directorship ban from the Insolvency Service following the collapse of his firm Gambling Insights.
The rescue deal, if finalised (it's at a heads of agreement stage right now) will achieve a few things. Funding has been secured from Gareth Phillips that will see all creditors paid in full. Not a CVA/pennies in the pound deal. Thats important because small clubs like Dumbarton often have financial obligations to local small businesses. There's also the financial obligation to clubs within Scottish football. Everybody gets paid in full. The administrators were pursuing litigation against Pendragon regarding securities over the club's ground. That litigation will be terminated and an agreement has been reached with Pendragon to relinquish any security held against club assets. That removes the risk that Pendragon could call in any securities held against Dumbarton's ground and essentially make the club homeless. Proof of funding has been seen for the next 3 years. Once finalised, Dumbarton will be able to start planning for next season. The club will start with a 5 point deduction in League Two, but will be able to sign players beyond under 20 loanees.
Part of the reason that the administrators could reach such a deal with Pendragon in respect of the stadium securities is because would be "saviour" Gareth Phillips IS Pendragon. Former Cognitive Capital majority shareholder Andy Hosie transferred his shares to Gareth Phillips with effect from February 2025 and has now left the building. Hosie didn't repay a penny of the money borrowed from Pendragon. Gareth Phillips will be the majority shareholder and de facto owner of Dumbarton FC by virtue of being the majority shareholder in Cognitive Capital. Phillips is also essentially the majority owner of Cognitive's assets, which include the development land that was controversially acquired almost immediately following their takeover of the club in April 2021.
Which is what makes this rescue deal problematic.
On one hand the club will make it through to the end of this season (thanks to fundraising efforts that saw fans raise £120,000) having paid staff wages in full and avoided any redundancies. Creditors will be paid in full, the club will have transfer restrictions lifted and can start to plan for next season in the Scottish 4th tier. Dumbarton will start next season having successfully exited administration.
On the other hand? The club is again owned by somebody whose only reason for involvement in Scottish football is to try to make money from a property development. The club has been in this position for over a decade. First it was Brabco, who wanted to move the club to a development on the very edge of town (more honestly deemed to be farmland on the banks of the river Leven, half way between Dumbarton and Alexandria). Then it was Andy Hosie and his intention to build 9 houses and up to 30 flats. Whilst that development would have seen the club remain at it's current ground, the reality would be to pen the club in and prevent any future development of the site in a way that could perhaps benefit the club. The only way Phillips gets his money back is by successfully developing the parcels of land and then selling his newly acquired majority shareholding in the club. A quick exit - selling the land to a house builder and the club to more football-minded investors - would still require planning permission being granted for a housing development and there is strong local opposition, including political opposition, to the previously submitted planning application.
The club's immediate future is certainly clearer on the successful completion of this rescue deal. It's long term future remains significantly challenging with yet another owner who sees the club as a land development with an unwanted complication attached to it.
The 2021 takeover of Dumbarton by Cognitive Capital was funded via a loan taken by principal shareholder Andy Hosie from a finance company called Pendragon, Parcels of development land were acquired by Cognitive for an intended sum of £1.8mil - £300k of which was to be paid within 18 months and the remaining £1.5mil was to follow on completion of a property development. Securities were granted to Pendragon in respect of the money borrowed by Hosie over the development land and the club's stadium.
No money in respect of the development land has ever been paid to Dumbarton.
Administration had to happen. The club had struggled to pay its wages on 3 occasions between March 24 and October 24. Whilst wages were paid on all 3 occasions, it was clear that there were financial issues at the club, made worse by the owner's failure to pay any of the money agreed for the sale of the development land. That sale is disputed by many and Andy Hosie remains the subject of a Police Scotland investigation into possible fraud. In 2016,, Hosie received a 12 year directorship ban from the Insolvency Service following the collapse of his firm Gambling Insights.
The rescue deal, if finalised (it's at a heads of agreement stage right now) will achieve a few things. Funding has been secured from Gareth Phillips that will see all creditors paid in full. Not a CVA/pennies in the pound deal. Thats important because small clubs like Dumbarton often have financial obligations to local small businesses. There's also the financial obligation to clubs within Scottish football. Everybody gets paid in full. The administrators were pursuing litigation against Pendragon regarding securities over the club's ground. That litigation will be terminated and an agreement has been reached with Pendragon to relinquish any security held against club assets. That removes the risk that Pendragon could call in any securities held against Dumbarton's ground and essentially make the club homeless. Proof of funding has been seen for the next 3 years. Once finalised, Dumbarton will be able to start planning for next season. The club will start with a 5 point deduction in League Two, but will be able to sign players beyond under 20 loanees.
Part of the reason that the administrators could reach such a deal with Pendragon in respect of the stadium securities is because would be "saviour" Gareth Phillips IS Pendragon. Former Cognitive Capital majority shareholder Andy Hosie transferred his shares to Gareth Phillips with effect from February 2025 and has now left the building. Hosie didn't repay a penny of the money borrowed from Pendragon. Gareth Phillips will be the majority shareholder and de facto owner of Dumbarton FC by virtue of being the majority shareholder in Cognitive Capital. Phillips is also essentially the majority owner of Cognitive's assets, which include the development land that was controversially acquired almost immediately following their takeover of the club in April 2021.
Which is what makes this rescue deal problematic.
On one hand the club will make it through to the end of this season (thanks to fundraising efforts that saw fans raise £120,000) having paid staff wages in full and avoided any redundancies. Creditors will be paid in full, the club will have transfer restrictions lifted and can start to plan for next season in the Scottish 4th tier. Dumbarton will start next season having successfully exited administration.
On the other hand? The club is again owned by somebody whose only reason for involvement in Scottish football is to try to make money from a property development. The club has been in this position for over a decade. First it was Brabco, who wanted to move the club to a development on the very edge of town (more honestly deemed to be farmland on the banks of the river Leven, half way between Dumbarton and Alexandria). Then it was Andy Hosie and his intention to build 9 houses and up to 30 flats. Whilst that development would have seen the club remain at it's current ground, the reality would be to pen the club in and prevent any future development of the site in a way that could perhaps benefit the club. The only way Phillips gets his money back is by successfully developing the parcels of land and then selling his newly acquired majority shareholding in the club. A quick exit - selling the land to a house builder and the club to more football-minded investors - would still require planning permission being granted for a housing development and there is strong local opposition, including political opposition, to the previously submitted planning application.
The club's immediate future is certainly clearer on the successful completion of this rescue deal. It's long term future remains significantly challenging with yet another owner who sees the club as a land development with an unwanted complication attached to it.
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