Plymouth Argyle Just Days Away From Folding

Vital Manchester City occasionally receives various requests and in the main and unless it's attributed to MCFC I as editor tend to ignore. However, on this occasion I have decided to publish the following.

The statement reads...

You may have read about the financial troubles at Plymouth Argyle and the more recent news that the club has been placed into administration.

Fans of Argyle have organised a hardship fund to help the back office staff at Home Park who have been working without pay now for some months. These men and women are as blameless as the fans for the situation we find ourselves in. The actions of our multi-millionaire owners in not paying the bills are an embarrassment to us all but of particular shame is the failure to pay the core workers at the club.

This fund is not about the players, it's about the tea lady, the ticket office girls, the driver of the team bus and the shop workers etc. You will all be able to identify with people such as these; every club has them, the backbone of the operation, the unsung heroes of football.

For these people their mortgages don't go away and their bills don't stop just because the selfish and miserly actions of their employers happen to leave them penniless. They have already seen Christmas through with no pay but now we have been brought into administration they also face immediate redundancy.

Every day however they have come to work. As fans of the club we have seen no drop in service, no bitterness, no idleness just a stiff upper lip and the occasional tear when the brave face can't hold it any longer.

We have already organised a fund which was paid around Christmas to help them, we can't come close to paying them all their wages but every little helps as they say. Following the slide into administration the chances of these men and women being paid any time soon has reduced still further.

There is a lot of good will towards our club, it's manifested itself in many ways from many clubs, and our gratitude for the expressions of help and support know no bounds. If we could ask for one thing though at this time it would be for the wider football community to assist us in assisting our own.

I reiterate, this will NOT go to playing staff and certainly NOT towards the clubs debts. This is organised by the fans and Ian Newell, the club can't touch it. You won't be propping up our failed regime, just showing a little bit of solidarity to the sort of people who make all clubs work the way they do.

If you can donate to the Argyle Staff Fund please use the following bank details:

Sort Code: 11-18-11
Acc No: 12858072
Name: Ian Newell
Paypal E mail is iannewell@blueyonder.co.uk

Thank you for your time and, if minded, thank you for anything you can give, it's VERY much appreciated.

End of statement.

I for one hate to see Football League clubs go to the wall and will put a couple of quid of my own money into the appeal. I hope you do the same.

Vital Plymouth can be found here.

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