From the outset of the CIC proposals being announced we have been led to believe that one of the strengths in the deal was the debt generated to fund the purchase would be held by the CIC and not St. Mirren FC therefore the club would not be at risk in any way.
We have been aware for some time that the introduction of tougher financial fair play rules being considered by the SPL would, in the event that a Parent Company of an SPL club suffers an insolvency event, such as entering administration, result in sanctions being applied to the SPL club in question.
We raised this with Richard Atkinson at the last public meeting on 19th April 2012 and we were disappointed although no longer surprised to learn he seemed unaware of the pending changes and potential impact this could have.
This ruling amongst other came into effect on Wednesday 30th May. The CIC proposal in our opinion does indeed create potential risk for our club more so as this model is untried and untested. Every situation at every club differs to some degree so comparisons are rarely fully applicable anyway.
It is such uncertain economic times when Scottish football is in state of meltdown that we find our football club (which has been to the edge of the cliff and hauled back from oblivion) debt free. We fully understand the Consortium's desire to stand down having carried out a fantastic shift for St.Mirren but clearly selling to this CIC will be a gamble and as supporters we have to question if the risk is worth it at this time.
