8:50pm Thursday 11th March 2010
By Tom Parkes
FOOTBALL bosses have offered to end a row which has locked them out of their ground, by handing over £10,000 in backdated rent.
Wivenhoe Town had been banned from entering Broad Lane by ground management company, Wivenhoe and District Sporting Facilities Trust.
But club chiefs last night offered to hand over a cheque for the full amount owed.
The trust says the gesture is too late, because the February 15 deadline has already passed.
After making an inspection of the ground on Tuesday, it says it is unhappy with the condition of the facilities, and the next tenant may not necessarily be Wivenhoe Town.
Andrew Nightingale, trust chairman, said: “When the money was not paid by the deadline, we terminated the agreement with the football club.
“Now we have to look at what new agreement we would put in place for anybody to come in and use the ground.
“We have concerns regarding some of the facilities. It is not simply about the football club’s failure to pay the money. The concerns are wider.”
Wivenhoe Town, known as the Dragons, were due to hold a meeting last night to discuss the rent row after the trust changed the locks to the ground on Tuesday.
The club does not deny withholding rent from the trust, but maintain they has been willing for several months to pay up.
Bosses claim they only delayed handing over the money because they wanted a legally-binding contract between the club and the trust. Now they say they are willing to bypass the red tape and pay immediately.
Club president Nick Murphy-Whymark said: “We have been trying to pay for months, but they won’t accept it.
“If they don’t take the money, it will prove they simply don’t want the club to be at Broad Lane.”
Wivenhoe Town could face eviction from the Ridgeons League, or even extinction, if they cannot fulfil fixtures and have no base.
The sports trust, which manages Broad Lane and passes rent to the site’s owner, Colchester Council, says the club had ample opportunity to pay, but ignored its approaches.
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