D-Day for Nuneaton Borough as club heads to High Court

D-Day is looming for Nuneaton Borough Football Club as they bid to pay off the taxman after being slapped with a winding up petition.

Acting chairman and manager Jimmy Ginnelly and officials from the Liberty Way-based club will travel to the High Court in London tomorrow to get an order lifted, pay off the £32,000 HMRC debt and unfreeze the club's bank account.

“I hope tomorrow, after we get back from the high court, we can go back to the club, crack open a bottle of champagne and say we have done it, finally we have got to be where we want to be," Ginnelly said.

"It will be a huge moment for us."

A key part of this is down to Kash Alsam of Crown Skip who has stepped in to pay the HRMC bill.

"He has come in and said that he is going to pay the bill, which is phenomenal really, in return he is going to have the stadium rights for next season," Ginnelly explained.

Once the HMRC bill is paid then the club can focus on paying off other creditors with a view to being financially stable by the end of the season.

Some sections of the community thought that the writing was on the wall for the Boro due to the financial woes but Ginnelly was confident it could be saved.

"I always knew it was possible," he said.

"Pretty much everyone I have spoken to has said 'I will help you save the club', it is very rare that anyone has said 'no'.

"We have proven people wrong, I know its cliché but I can't thank the community enough, the support we have had from the people of Nuneaton, the fans turning up, the new investors we have had come in, they have all been brilliant."

"All I have ever done, whatever club I have been at, is come in and tried to help and get support and funds and this is just the same."

The club had a meeting with solicitors on Monday and they have had to hire a barrister to go to the High Court to get the order lifted.

“It has been manic, chaos really. I had to race down to the ground this morning to sign a bit of paper before 10am to make sure that we can go to the High Court tomorrow," he said.

“Hopefully we will get the order lifted and then we will be able to get across the line. I want to get back to where people in factories and shops are talking and saying 'You going down the Boro on Saturday?’ That’s where I want us to be again."

With relegation from the National League North almost certain and with the financial woes set to be sorted, Ginnelly is looking forward to next season.

“The minute I put my foot through the door I knew it would all be about next season, I knew it was something that I was prepared for," he said.

"The lads have tried really hard, I am desperate for the end of the season to come to be honest so we can rebuild for next season."

Fundraising to help save the club has spread far and wide and Boro fans set up a justgiving page to do their bit.

Nuneaton Borough play FC United of Manchester away this Saturday, 3pm kick off.