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Chester bounce cheque
Chester City has not honoured a cheque for £18,000 in respect of ticket sales for the last game of the Conference season against Hereford United.
The Hereford Times reports that a statement from the club says that the Bulls have started legal proceedings against Chester to settle the dispute. Chester sent a cheque to Hereford but it bounced so last Friday Graham Turner, the Bulls manager, started proceedings against them.
"Had Chester been in financial difficulties we would not have taken this action. But we are aware of them signing, or attempting to sign, experienced and expensive players, including a player from this club." (understood to be Ben Smith)
"We regret having to have to take legal action but Chester 's actions have left us with no alternative," said Turner.
In April HU-FC.co.uk published an article about finances at Chester. It is republished below;
Chester could owe over £3 million to creditors
They may currently be top of the league but Chester City Football Club probably owe their creditors more than any other club in the Conference.
Their accounts to May 31st 2003 show that the club owes £2,313,405 to its creditors. This amount has risen from £1,371,621 the previous year. Recently Chester chairman, Stephen Vaughan, told the media that the club was losing about £65,000 per month.
Using those figures, it suggests that since May 2003, Chester have lost £750,000. When added to the debt already shown in the accounts, the overall debt figure rises to over £3 million.
Vaughan himself is the controlling party at the club. The accounts say that he is owed £858,071 for" transactions of a private nature."
The cost of Chester reaching the top of the Conference may have cost the club over £1.75 million over the last two years. Compare that to Hereford where the cost has been next to nothing.