Dordogne-Ram

Three parties have made offers, any one of which would allow the club to exit administration with a substantial payment to creditors.
These offers need clarity, that the claim by Boro and the potential claim by Wycombe do not qualify as Football Creditors.
The football creditor rule is not defined in the EFL regulations, it is part of the Articles of Association of the Football League Limited, of which all clubs are minority shareholders (the golden share).
The football creditor rule is in Article 48, which clearly defines what constitutes a football creditor, copied below from Companies House.
The rule clearly states that it is to cover payments of "debts due". How possibly, can an unproven, unquantified claim such as Boro's be consider a debt due?
If the EFL is suggesting that any claim by a football club or employee, which is unproven, should be classified as a football creditor it would create mayhem. And, bona fide football creditors with debts due, and other preferential and unsecured creditors would lose out as a result.
The EFL can't have this both ways. If they choose to say Article 48 does not qualify Boro's claim as a football creditor the EFL are suggesting they might be sued by Boro.
However, if they choose to say that Article 48 should be interpreted (which is a wild stretch) in a way that Boro should be classed as a football creditor then it is almost certain that the EFL would be sued by the Administrators and the creditors including genuine football creditors, and HMRC for their easily quantified losses. 
The EFL also risk being sued under section 994 of the companies act for acting prejudicially against the interests of a minority shareholder of the football league ie. DCFC.
We need to apply pressure on the EFL to get off the fence, see that their actions alone are preventing the Administrators from getting a deal agreed. 
Article 48 says that Boro's claim cannot be a football creditor and the EFL must state that and stop this nonesense.
"48         FOOTBALL CREDITORS
48.1      Where a Member Club defaults in making any payment due to any of the following persons, 
the Member  Club ('Defaulting  Club')  shall be subject to such penalty  as the Board may decide 
and subject also to Article 48.2:
48.1.1        The League, The FA Premier League and the Football Association;
48.1.2        any of the Pension Schemes;
48.1.3        any Member Club and any Club of The FA Premier League;
48.1.4        any holding company  of The League and any subsidiary  company  of that holding 
company;
48.1.5        any sums due to any full-time employee or former full-time employee of the Member 
Club by  way  of arrears  of remuneration  up to the date on which that contract  of employment is 
terminated. This excludes for these purposes all and any claims for redundancy,   unfair   or  
wrongful   dismissal   or  other   claims   arising   out   of  the termination  of  the  contract  
or  in  respect  of  any  period  after  the  actual  date  of termination;
48.1.6        any  sums  due  to  the  Professional  Footballers  Association  in  repayment  of  
an interest  free loan together with such reasonable  administration and legal costs as have been 
approved by the Board;
48.1.7        The Football Foundation;
48.1.8        The Football Conference Limited trading as "the National League";
48.1.9        The Northern Premier League Limited;
48.1.1O      The Isthmian League Limited;
48.1.11      The Southern League Limited;
48.1.12      Any member club of the League or organisations listed in Articles 48.1.8 to 48.1.11 
inclusive;
48.1.13      Any County Football Association affiliated to The Football Association; and
48.1.14      Any Leagues  affiliated to The Football Association  and any clubs affiliated to any 
County Football Association recognised by The Football Association.
48.2      Subject to the provisions of Articles 48.3 and 48.4, the Board shall apply any sums 
standing to the  credit  of  the  Pool  Account  which  would  otherwise  be  payable  to  a  
Defaulting  Club,  in discharging  the  creditors  in Article  48.1.  As  between  the Football  
Creditors,  the  priority  for payment shall be in accordance with the order in which those 
Football Creditors are listed in Article 48.1.
48.3      If,  having  discharged  all Football  Creditors  in  any  preceding  class  of  Football 
 Creditor  (as
· required by Article 48.2) the sum then available is not suffident to discharge in full the 
Football Creditors listed in Articles 48.1.1, 48.1.2 or 48.1.4 the Board will decide the 
allocation.
48.4      If,  having  discharged  all Football  Creditors  in  any  preceding  class  of  Football 
 Creditor  (as required by Article 48.2) the sum then available is not sufficient to discharge in 
full the Football Creditors listed in Article 48.1.3, 48.1.5, 48.1.12, 48.1.13 or 48.1.14 the sum 
will be allocated pro rata amongst the creditors of the same class.
Note - Clubs are reminded that any assignment of future entitlements from the pool account are 
subject to Article 45 and this must be brought to the attention of the other party. Furthermore 
assignments must be in legal form and registered with the office. Assignments are given priority 
according to the date and time of registration."

but we need 7m cash, not 100k up front plus addons such as 100 caps for ireland, 3m for scoring a wc winning goal.........etc?
 
perhaps our admins should try that on with Boros stupid claim.....
 
"Dear Mr Bamford-Gibson,
Weve acknowledged and assessed your claim and consider the value to be 45m inc add-ons. To be clear, thats 0 up front, 10m when you win and retain the world club championship, 15m when you win the domestic treble and a further 20m when you are universally acknowledged as being the most flamboyant and entertaining club side in the 21st century
Yours sincerely
Quantuma"?

If we had accepted the original charges (stadium and amortisation), we would have...
less than a 12 point deduction (due to promptly accepting the charge) finished 16th in the table had a business plan put in place by the EFL to get losses back within acceptable levels for future periods. Chances are this would be a form of soft transfer embargo for the remainder of Jan 2020 and the summer 2020. We only needed a £2m drop in wage bill for 20/21 to be back on track. been able to have new owners However, because we had the audacity to appeal against the charges:
21 point deduction business plan put in place transfer embargoed for 5 transfer windows (including 2 hard embargoes) gone into administration looking at the prospect of League 1 football Been forced to sell players at a fraction of their real value Cut the squad down to just 11 players over the age of 21 Been unable to play youngsters Been forced to release promising youngsters due to not being able to play them Been blocked from extending contracts of players Being prevented from having a new owner

This. 
Its immoral, possibly illegal, what the EFL are doing. We've taken the punishment but our unbelievable performances, team spirit, Rooney's leadership pulling the whole lot together, has scared the EFL into moving the goal posts. 
They must really be in hock to Gibson to do this to us.
Never felt as angry over football in my life.

Not in person.......

I think our club is rightly wary that any process instigated by the EFL will be fair and impartial, Gboro. We haven't fared very well with their arbitration to date, in fairness.

Come on Steve, it's time to drop this silly claim. If you don't, I'll stop selling shell suits in our Middlesbrough stores and half your fan base will freeze to death.

Shinnie agreed terms with us when Lampard was here & the chequebook was well & truly open. He was on a free transfer & highly regarded at Aberdeen so imagine we had to offer attractive wages to entice him. I've seen uncorroborated figures of around 15k a week which seems about right.
Marshall was also highly regarded when we bought him for a nominal fee & believe there was a lot of interest in him too. Again suspect relatively wages (circa 15k) will have been needed to bring him here & would also partially explain why he has been frozen out here.
As a general point & just to echo what others have said, am sad to see him go even if he was a limited player. A heart as big as anyone & a lovely guy...I believe he was in the crowd yesterday supporting the lads. He'd have been struggling for a first team place with emergence of Thompson & imminent return of Bielik so made sense for the club. Also think he's done the club a big favour in accepting an offer from a League One club when others may have baulked at dropping a level...he deserves our gratitude for that on top of his fantastic attitude whilst he was with us. Top man ?

Tom, she has already agreed  to arrange a meeting with the Sports Minister on this.
A good way to encourage Amanda's involvement is to stress the mental health impact of all this on us as fans, she is very supportive. 

Good moaning... I was just pissing by the window....

Aware of other threads, welcome the calls for action and petition - just placing some useful MP contact info in one place that doesn’t get lost within a thread – perhaps admins could compile a pinned/locked ‘DCFC Needs You’ post that gathers together the things supporters can do?
Emails to MPs DO make a difference.
Enter your postcode to find your MP: https://members.parliament.uk/FindYourMP
When you email be polite and include your address with postcode.
Here’s four local MPs – DCFC matters beyond the city:
1.       Derby North - amanda.solloway.mp@parliament.uk - Conservative
2.       Derby South - margaret.beckett.mp@parliament.uk - Labour
3.       South Derbyshire - heather.wheeler.mp@parliament.uk - Conservative
4.       Burton - kate.griffiths.mp@parliament.uk - Conservative
 
What to say? Up to you, be polite, but things like:
·       The importance of the club for you, your family and community etc.
·       How you feel the fans and city are being punished and EFL seemingly more obstructive than constructive to the future of a founding member of the league.
·       Ask what your MP is doing to help save DCFC.
·       Ask your MP to raise the issue with the EFL.
·       Ask your MP to raise your serious concerns with Nigel Huddlestone MP - Minister for Sport, Tourism, Heritage and Civil Society.
 
Given the Middleboro FC claim is a big issue, if your MP is Labour perhaps ask them to raise this with the Middlesbrough MP - Andy McDonald
Given the Wycombe FC claim is an issue, if your MP is Conservative perhaps ask them to raise this with the Wycombe MP – Steve Baker
 
I’m sure others might have ideas, be useful to have a copy and paste email by someone who knows the details better than me.
 

Someone called Adam Boddington (very possibly on here) has created a petition asking for the Sports Minister to look at the situation between Derby, Middlesbrough and Wycombe. The EFL is mentioned in the petition title:
https://www.change.org/p/sports-minister-for-england-sports-minister-to-look-into-the-ongoing-situation-between-the-efl-Derby-county
Well done Adam for starting something off.

And more than anything it crosses that invisible line. I comfortable with  a bit of industrial language at a football game and a bit of baiting of irritating players. It’s a release, we all do it, and take it in return, but getting in to that sort of thing is below the belt, not on, coarse tasteless vulgar and 100% offside. It isn’t banter, it isn’t funny,  it’s poison. 

This was my quote of the day
"Derby facing another 10 point deduction due to them daring to move off the bottom without permission from the EFL"

What a team we have. I would love to see the data from all those sports bras and see the difference between a couple of seasons back and now.
These men; they are men - not boys not lads, they leave everything on the pitch, every game. I am so proud to be part of this magnificent quest we are on. The EFL haven’t an ounce of sportsmanship in their twisted, regressive, genetically flawed DNA. I hope for justice now but it’s a faint hope, but I know for certain that this team will be remembered. Our newly promoted midfield general is 19 years old  has tenacity, drive, maturity and determination far beyond his years. Our club Captain, in the late autumn of his career, is playing football of the highest order game after game. Our team Captain has transformed from being troubled and petulant into the fine skilled footballer we always hoped he could be. 
 
Anyway, hyperbole aside .. what a cracking day. Tight game but we played proper football, kept them at bay and did the goal scoring thing pretty damned well.
Joz was ok but Fozzy made a difference winning headers and Colin just doesn’t tolerate bullies does he !
10/10 for every player, Pointless singling out anyone in what is a real team; but can someone explain why wrapping your arms round an opponent or two handed  pushes within 2 yards of a well placed assistant referee is allowable ? I saw one or the other on 5 occasions. 
 
Fight to the end, I love this team, it’s special and a certain chubby scouser needs credit for sticking it together with glue and sawdust ( extra sawdust from tree felling work available next week I hope ) 
 
 

I think we should stay as Derby county
When we stay up they can not send us down they dare not.

I cant to bear life with out Derby county not bear worth thinking about I will not having anything left to look forward too. Derby county is my life and I find things hard enough and will not forgive you efl and Gibson and wycombe owner thank a lot you bunch of bankers.
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Whilst I appreciate it will be likely treated with contempt - I have sent the following email to Mr Parry and Mr Birch - it will get us no further forward I’m sure - but at least I’ve got it off my chest!!!  And now I can get behind the team this afternoon.
See you at 3pm COYR!!! ?
 
“Like many other Derby County fans - I gravely concerned by the current situation threatening my football club and I hope you are able to provide some clarity.  In a statement issued by our Administrators they state: 
“The difficulty and currently, in our view, the last remaining significant obstacle is to deal with certain claims that are very much disputed but which we are being advised by the EFL cannot be currently compromised notwithstanding statute says otherwise.” 
It is this paragraph which concerns me most. In essence it appears that the EFL Board is overriding statutory law in order to punish Derby County beyond what is fair and reasonable. I’d therefore like to ask the following:
1. Is the statement made by the administrator’s of Derby County FC factually correct? 
2. If so, can you confirm which body within the EFL has reached this conclusion?
3. Can you provide confirmation that this body has full independence in so far as any member of the Board or its nominated sub-committee which maybe presiding over this matter is not conflicted by way of ownership / interest / contract / membership of or to any of the parties bringing claims against Derby County?
4. Can you share the specific articles of law or other legally binding agreement that are being relied upon to override what might be considered statute. 
5. Please provide evidence of how the EFL is acting impartially and has applied lessons learned from the sad demise of Bury FC in the handling of this particular matter. 
6. Please provide evidence of how the EFL is working to protect the interest of the thousands of innocent football fans affected by this ongoing punishment of Derby County Football Club. 
On this point, it should be made clear that Derby County is more than a name, more than a pawn in an egotistical, power play - it’s an important part of many peoples lives - it does a huge amount to support the community it serves. The majority of these fans are victims and are angered and frustrated at the prior owners handling of matters. 
So my final ask, is please do not let the actions of the privileged few be an incentive to punish thousands of innocent victims. The mental anguish you are causing the thousands of people now needs to stop. You have a duty of care which extends beyond your fiduciary duty to the member clubs.
Many thanks for taking the time to read this note.”

What a bunch of players we have right now. You can almost hear parry and Gibson’s bowels loosening from here. 

This guy...

'I fear all we have done is to awaken a sleeping giant and fill him with a terrible resolve' 
Take heed EFL...

?