Search: ' Peter Ridsdale'

Tom Davies reports on the Plymouth takeover, as well as stadium issues at Truro and Wycombe

One of the League’s more enduring messes, at Plymouth Argyle, has seemingly reached a resolution. The local businessman James Brent’s takeover, agreed at the end of October, brings an end to a saga that lasted far longer than it should have. Brent will now take ownership of Argyle, while the city council has agreed to buy and rent back the club’s Home Park ground.

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When clubs get it wrong off the pitch, it can be the manager who unfairly pays the price

This season Leyton Orient fans have been made fully aware of how quickly a team’s fortunes can change. The club finished seventh in League One in 2010-11, just one point short of a play-off place. In the summer they rejected an approach from Barnsley for their manager Russell Slade. Yet by the end of September they were the only side without a victory in the Football League. On the last Saturday of the month, the two other winless teams, Doncaster and Plymouth, broke their ducks by beating Crystal Palace and Macclesfield respectively. These wins came directly after both clubs had laid off a manager.

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Gareth Nicholson reports on interesting developments in the south-west football scene

A footballing summer in Devon and Cornwall is generally a sleepy affair, punctuated more by tutting about the poor fare offered by pre-season friendlies than talk about player arrivals and departures. Not this summer, though, as the region’s teams reflect on seasons of highs, lows and future uncertainty.

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Faced with winding up order and Peter Ridsdale, it’s a grim time to be a Plymouth fan. But their local rivals are offering Supporters’ Trust solidarity and three valuable point, writes Gareth Nicholson

Derby day in Devon, and the Exeter fans are high on schadenfreude. The home supporters, meanwhile, are discovering that hubris is a cold mistress. Eight years ago, when Argyle cruised to a 3-0 victory on their way to a League Two title and year-on-year improvement all the way to the Championship, the Green Army had honestly believed that “We’ll never play you again”.

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Tom Davies reacts to Crystal Palace going into administration and looks at other teams threatened by HM Revenue & Customs

In a season of such widespread financial dysfunction, it’s perhaps surprising that it has taken until January for any professional club to go into administration, the fate that befell Crystal Palace at the end of last month. The administrator was called in by the London-based investment fund Agilo, a “specialist in distressed companies”, to whom chairman Simon Jordan had mortgaged much of the club’s asset base, including player wages, sale income and the basic fixtures and fittings.

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