‘I’m taking Bangor to court over unpaid bill’
BEER & WINE MERCHANT CLAIMS FOOTBALL CLUB OWE HIM £1,850
ABEER and wine merchant plans to launch legal proceedings against Bangor City FC over what he claims is an unpaid bill.
Jonathan Campbell, joint managing director of Joseph Keegan & Sons Ltd/ James Fearon Wines Ltd, Holyhead says the club ordered around £1,850 worth of alcohol and soft drinks in April.
Mr Campbell claimed: “They owe my company money and I’m about to launch legal proceedings against them.
“We supplied them with drinks going back a couple of months, I have no qualms about telling you and going public.
“We are a family-run company supplying them with drinks since December last year.
“We were supplying them and they put in a big order – bigger than normal.”
Mr Campbell says he has called and written to Luke Purcell, who is listed on the club website as a director, in a bid to get the bill settled.
Mr Purcell has claimed that he is not director of the club but passed Mr Campbell’s complaint on to another club representative.
Mr Campbell added: “I have spoken to Luke Purcell who on his credit application is named as a director.
“I have got his business card and it says ‘ director’. I haven’t being getting anywhere with them. They seem to be ignoring me.
“We gave them the goods in April – alcohol and soft drinks and it was just shy of £2,000.
“They have been selling it over the bar. I have written to him and it’s past the deadline. “I am going to pass it to our solicitors.” On June 8, the firm issued a final demand for payment or they would engage debt collectors or solicitors to take action to recover the “overdue amount”.
Mr Campbell, who has been in business for almost 30 years said he would no longer supply the club with alcohol or soft drinks.
Mr Purcell said that he had “no idea” about the bill and passed on the inquiry to Bangor City representative Chris O’Neal, who said the club would be responding to Mr Campbell’s claim.
Bangor City were recently thrown into fresh turmoil after it was revealed they are to face a second winding up petition from the tax man. A previous appeal by Her Majesty’s Revenue & Customs (HMRC) against the Citizens was settled at the High Court on June 6.
But now it has launched a fresh bid to take the crisis-hit club to the High Court, with the second petition due to be heard in London on August 8.
At the time of the first, the club said the tax authority was making a “mountain out of a molehill” in a row over a bill paid a few days late.
Bangor were relegated from the top tier of Welsh football, despite finishing second last season, after the FAW refused to grant them a tier one domestic licence to play in the Welsh Premier League (WPL).
While the FAW did not disclose the reasons for the rejection, the club later revealed they were on financial grounds.
As a result of this the club is facing another potential legal challenge from its own supporters’ association, who as major shareholders are demanding to see the accounts that led to Bangor losing its right to play in the league and in European competitions.