Ken Davy: Huddersfield Town saint or sinner

May 22 2009 By Examiner

The stadium timeline

November, 1991: Kirklees Council, Huddersfield Town and Huddersfield Rugby League Club form a unique partnership to create a stadium complex providing facilities for sport, entertainment and hospitality

April 1994: As work on the new McAlpine Stadium continues, Town play their last match at the Leeds Road ground where 16,000 people see them win 2-1 against Blackpool

August, 1994: Town play their first match at the McAlpine even though only two sides of the stadium have been completed, losing 1-0 to Wycombe Wanderers

April 2002: Ken Davy, soon to play a leading role in the Town takeover saga, quits as chairman of DBS Financial management with its £75m sale to computer software group Misys

January 2003: Kirklees Council provides £250,000 loan to stadium company Kirklees Stadium Development Ltd which comprises Huddersfield Town, Huddersfield Rugby League Club and the council after Town fall behind with their share of the rent and loan repayments to the stadium company. KSDL chairman Sir John Harman says the loan will keep the stadium "on an even keel".

February 2003: Ken Davy sets up his new company, SimplyBiz, to provide support services to independent financial advisers

March 27, 2003: Speculation mounts that Ken Davy, already chairman and owner of the Giants, will take a controlling interest in Town to safeguard the future of the rugby club and the stadium. At this stage he has a 20% share on KSDL while Town and the council each have 40%

March 31, 2003: Town placed into administration at Leeds High Court

April, 2003: Ken Davy and former Town chairman Terry Fisher meet administrators Begbies Traynor to thrash out a deal to save the stricken football club. Former Town director Paul Haigh, who has been linked to a bid, says he is happy to step aside if the Davy-Fisher bid safeguards the future of Town. It emerges that the club has debts of £17m. Elland businessman Martin Byrne and Norwegian football agent Vidar Fossdal are also named as part of the Davy-Fisher consortium

May 14, 2003: Robert Pepper from the Huddersfield Town Survival Trust which has raised £100,000 towards saving the club, welcomes the prospects of the Davy-Fisher takeover, but hopes that fans will be given an active role, perhaps with a seat on the board

May 16, 2003: It emerges that Town’s debts include £800,000 in unpaid wages to players which the Professional Footballers’ Association, the players’ union,insists must be met in full under Football League regulations

May 30, 2003: The High Court grants the Davy-Fisher consortium extra time to complete its takeover package. The hearing is held in private with David Acland, administrator, saying: "There are aspects of the proposed purchase bid that we would prefer not to be discussed at this stage".

June 5, 2003: Supporters discover the extent of Town’s debts resulting from spending on high salaries for players and transfer fees under former chairman Barry Rubery. Debts of £19.6m include £12.5m owed to Mr Rubery; £805,000 owed to current chairman David Taylor; £1.25m owed to the Inland Revenue; £1.6m owed to KSDL and £804,000 owed in players’ wages. Under the Davy-Fisher proposals to buy the club, Mr Rubery and Mr Taylor are asked to write off their losses. Some 712 creditors and 854 shareholders are asked to accept the deal to bring the club out of administration. Mr Fisher says the takeover will "cost millions".

June 18, 2003: Almost 60 people attend a creditors’ meeting at the stadium to give near-unanimous support to the creditors’ voluntary arrangement which effectively writes-off much of the near-£20m debt. Mr Acland tells the meeting there are no other potential buyers

June 19, 2003: Ken Davy explains that the 517 bondholders who paid £375,661 in 2002 to buy four-year season tickets will lose them. He says the cash was swallowed up by the club’s near-£20m debts when it went into administration

June 26, 2003: Terry Fisher pulls out of the consortium, saying that as he is based in Spain he doesn’t fee he can give the commitment the job needs

June 30, 2003: The players’ wage bill is revealed as standing at £1.4m

July 31, 2003: Ken Davy completes the legal paperwork for the buy-out of the club. He confirms that Town’s stake in the stadium company "will remain unaltered" at 40%

August 7, 2003: Ken Davy unveils Town board of directors comprising Andrew Watson, Ralph Rimmer, Roger Armitage and Martin Byrne.

August 21, 2003: Kirklees Council take responsibility for paying £3m of the stadium company’s £7m bank loan to repay its multi-million debts

February 2004: Huddersfield Sporting Pride Ltd is formed to bring together Town and the Giants. The company is a successor to Huddersfield Rugby League Football Club (1994) Ltd of which Mr Davy is chairman and director

May, 2004: Town’s chief executive, Andrew Watson, pledges that the club’s future will never be jeopardised again and that Town will operate "on its own income".

May 31 , 2004: Town win promotion to Division II

August, 2004: Pharmaceutical company Galpharm Group signs a 10-year deal to sponsor the stadium

October, 2004: Ken Davy confirmed as Town chairman

April, 2005: Town and the Giants transfer their shares in KSDL to the newly-formed Huddersfield Sporting Pride Ltd. Ken Davy says the transfer would shield both clubs from any cash risk carried by the stadium company which has debts exceeding £8m. It means the clubs bear none of the costs of improving the stadium. Mr Davy says: "Part of the de-risking process has been to transfer the clubs’ shares in KSDL to a separate company so that if, in future, the stadium company requires extra funds, those calls will not fall on the clubs.’’

May, 2005: KSDL announces £900,000 investment to extend the stadium to provide a bigger sports store and box office. The work is to be personally underwritten by Ken Davy. It emerges that at the time of the administration, the administrator valued Town’s 40% share in KSDL at just £2: a figure reflecting the stadium’s £8m debts and the prospect that the club would have to forfeit its shares in KSDL if its liabilities to KSDL were not met.

Sept, 2006: Ken Davy issues a 1,700-word statement to "clear the air" over how the club is financed following claims among some fans that Town is losing out to the Giants

Nov 4, 2006: Twenty supporters hand out leaflets before Town’s home match against Scunthorpe United demanding answers to questions about the club’s finances in relation to the Giants, KSDL and Huddersfield Sporting Pride

December 21, 2006: Figures show that Ken Davy owns almost 100% of Town and 100% of Huddersfield Sporting Pride. In turn, HSP owns 60% of KSDL with the remaining 40% owned by the council.

December 29, 2006: Ken Davy reveals that he has pumped an extra £600,000 into Town during the past two months to meet its wage bill in the face of falling attendances.

August, 2007: Former Hull City chairman Adam Pearson expresses interest in buying Town. Ken Davy says he is "not in the market" to sell the club

Oct 4, 2007: Ken Davy says he has received initial proposals from Adam Pearson, but that Mr Pearson has no interest in the Giants or the stadium company, both of which are under Ken Davy’s control

Oct 10, 2007: Adam Pearson backs out, saying Ken Davy’s counter proposal offering him the chairmanship of the club and a minority holding is "unworkable." Pearson says he would have put £3.2m into the club. He goes on to become chairman of Derby County

December, 2007: Town reveal losses of more than £1m for the previous year

April, 2008: Greeting cards tycoon Dean Hoyle is named as the new owner and chairman-elect of Town. it is made clear that Town’s shares in the stadium company will not be handed back.

November 2008: It is stated that Dean Hoyle will take 70% control of the club at the end of the centenary season

December 2008: Town report a £1m loss for the second year running. It is revealed that Dean Hoyle will take 40% of an enlarged shareholding in the club. Ken Davy says he will continue to provide funds for the club for at least the next two years