As we expected some time ago, Livingston FC have moved a step closer to administration after West Lothian Council began legal proceedings against the club over rent arrears. The council had given the First Division club until midnight on Tuesday to pay around £300,000 for the use of Almondvale Stadium.

“Some months ago we agreed a deadline with the clubs owners,” it stated. “That deadline has now passed and reluctantly we have now begun formal legal proceedings to recover the debt.”

It leaves the West Lothian club on the brink of entering administration for the second time in their 14-year history. Livingston chairman Angelo Massone is due to arrive back in Scotland from Italy on Wednesday and STILL insisted that he was still having negotiations with the council and that administration could be averted.

He even issued a statement on the club website naming John Murphy, who had been goalkeeping coach, as the club’s new head coach.But the players returned to Almondvale on Wednesday for pre-season training amid uncertainty about the club’s future. Massone is hoping that the council, which has stressed its desire to retain professional football in the town, will accept a revised repayment plan to enable the club to continue.

He told BBC Scotland that he is proposing an increase in the current monthly payments from £10,000 to £20,000, in lieu of a one-off lump sum payment. And Massone stated that he is still in talks with former Dumbarton owner Neil Rankine over his possible investment in the club.

The Inland Revenue are alsowatching developments with interest, with the club owing a six-figure sum in unpaid taxes.

Livingston were given the 30 June deadline after the council became frustrated with late payments and concerned when Scottish Power switched off the club’s electricity supply because of an unpaid bill. Massone, who claimed he had deliberately left the bill unpaid to point out that the club relied on his money to survive, appealed earlier this week for potential investors to help save the club.

Rankine, former Cowdenbeath owner Gordon McDougall, and the Livi for Life Trust fans group have each expressed interest in taking over in recent weeks. Massone claimed to be in talks with Rankine over a financial partnership, while McDougall has made it clear he would only be interested in sole control. The Trust, which itself has expressed an interest in running the club, has been consistently calling for Massone to leave the club.

Typically Massone has blamed the debt inherited from previous owner Pearse Flynn for the club’s financial problems, stressing that he had paid large sums of his own money into the club to keep them afloat.

Tagged with: council, court, finance, Livingston

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