This is a belated continuation of my blog in November (26th) which I had intended to provide in the week following but it is only now that I can find time in my schedule leading up to Christmas.

In between our media department picked up an email in the Echo from a supporter (the name given was not on our database) saying he did not understand what I had written.

I hope that does not apply to the majority. In simple terms the Club had planned to discharge the debt to HMRC over 24 months under a Time to Pay Agreement. That did not happen because HMRC took an aggressive line and we therefore had just a few days to discharge the entire sum. Even now (as mentioned in my last blog) we have not finished reconciling the amount paid to HMRC because of the very short time frame to do so. At present it looks as if we have overpaid - whereas HMRC do not agree. We will sort this out but it does nothing to suggest the HMRC customer charter (really they do have one) is worthy.

At the outset of this issue I said:
- It was a matter of process
AND
- I would not let the Club go into administration

That is precisely what happened - it was a matter of process and the Club did not go into administration. It is only the media in these matters that make more of it than is necessary causing untold grief to everybody associated or who cares about the Club. Even the fact that I got criticised for the process I regard as harsh because some people, again I hope not the majority, were being judgemental i.e. in some way guilty (guilty of what - paying a tax bill late?) until proved innocent. I could understand if I had not paid the £2.1m and the Club suffered as a result.

It did not affect Steve Tilson's starting eleven although the strength in depth was hindered due to the corresponding embargo at that time.

I hope this simplifies the position. Many supporters want the detail and that is what I provided in my November blog.

Since that time many people have said to me that it was the right thing to do to pay the debt rather than lose 10 points but for the sake of repeating myself it was not just because of the 10 points - we lost 12 against Walsall, Tranmere, Carlisle and Exeter when we could have expected to win. The loss of points was, of course, important but what was more so was both the Club's and personal credibility.

In essence I regard those couple of weeks as a blip in our business plan for all the reasons I have previously banged on about at length.

In my blog of 20th November I set out five topics which were the principal questions being asked at the time that I intended to cover which included "how was the debt paid". The debt was paid by Roots Hall Ltd which was one of my Group companies I set up at the time of acquiring Delancey's 50% shareholding in March 2006 and is the UK company managing and undertaking the relocation plans. I said that the property group's bank were incredibly helpful in assisting the release of security to help facilitate payment and their work was completed in hours and documented in one day.

Whilst the banks on the whole have had a lot of criticism for not lending over the past 18 months, in this particular instance they could not have been more cooperative in recognising that the Group, and therefore the Club, do have a clear line of sight for an exciting future. What I did not highlight in my November blog was that the funding that we were arranging was part of a much larger picture to construct the stadium and therefore the exercise surrounding HMRC was accelerated.

The third issue I highlighted in my 20th November blog was "the consortium". At the time of the Club being approached I was focused on the task in hand (HMRC) and did not have direct dialogue with anyone concerned. As their interest only surfaced a couple of days before the court hearing it led me to think that the approach was perhaps not that serious - notwithstanding I was not attracted. The matter of HMRC had been around for five months so to contact us 48 hours beforehand was, I think, unusual. The fact remains that we are very advanced in the plans to build both the new stadium and also develop, as we intend, a store for Sainsbury's here at Roots Hall.

People say to me "those stadium plans have been going on forever…" Actually that is a very broad statement. It is true that we have wished to relocate for a long time but those plans were not promoted with any seriousness until Delancey's 50% was acquired in 2006. It is worth reiterating that the Sainsbury's approval from the Secretary of State did not come through until September last year and the Council's helpful resolution for Compulsory Purchase Order (CPO) was not approved until April of this year which will ultimately guarantee vacant possession of all the land required to build the Sainsbury's store. The eventual sale of the Roots Hall site is a key financial driver in funding the stadium as is the retail park out at Fossetts Farm. Therefore we need to align both.

Supporters can, I am sure, begin to see the linkage in having a clear position here at Roots Hall and which in turn needs all the properties around Roots Hall to be bought in. I am pleased to tell you as recently as this week terms were agreed with a major piece of the jigsaw and we can now anticipate contracts being exchanged on that purchase in mid January. The other properties which need to be acquired and which are the subject of a potential CPO are the shops at the corner of Victoria Avenue and Fairfax Drive.

Therefore the purchase of these shops is the only real impediment to getting on site at Fossetts and the sooner those owners come to terms with us, preferably by private treaty, the sooner the Club can really start to motor. Maybe fans should buy their pizzas elsewhere!

All this points to there being no requirement to speak with third parties.

I am very focused on concluding the remaining issues and commencing construction and my next blog (before the New Year) will provide an insight for our future. In the meantime I wish this note to convey my sincerest best wishes to all the Club's supporters at Christmas. Recent events can be divisive whereas we are all on the same page and should be pulling together for the benefit of the Club and the fantastic support you constantly show. Something I hope that will be there for all to see on Boxing Day.

Up the Blues!

Ron Martin
Chairman