Clock ticking on Heed’s future but at least
CRISIS club Gateshead are back up for sale just a year after they were put on the market by the previous owners.
Hong Kong-based businessman Dr Ranjan Varghese took over in the summer but has largely been an absent owner.
Controversial Italian businessman Joseph Cala – banned by the FA from being an owner or director – has run the club.
Cala has kept a low profile but his first interview on Monday suddenly saw him embrace the media. A master of contradiction, Cala’s ramblings only served to inflame what had become an increasingly volatile situation.
An unprecedented fan protest had been planned for after yesterday’s home game against Barnet.
And the news that Varghese and Cala were looking to depart from whence they came was universally greeted.
After surviving a £20,000 winding up order, which still needs to be paid, Varghese had talked about being in charge at Gateshead long term.
That all turned on its head on Friday when the club was put up for sale for just £1. Varghese had earlier in the week vented his spleen in a written reply to a concerned fan.
“I loved the idea of owning a football club, especially with its North East location,” said Varghese.
“This was possibly to the degree where it blinded me and I simply accepted it and went ahead with the information provided to us.
“This was opposed to performing any extensive due diligence regarding the rules myself.”
Varghese described much-maligned Cala the as a “financial expert”. An HMRC winding-up petition for £11,000 went no further, but the subsequent winding up order from the tax man remains unpaid.
Other football debts run into tens of thousands, with Varghese hanging his hat on getting a £200,000 bond back from the league.
Many fans believe Cala is the major player at Gateshead, the chief financial adviser having bemoaned the Heed’s lack of clout.
“We generate very low revenue and don’t have many sponsors, so it’s a miracle where we are,” said the beleaguered