FORMER Cherries chairman Peter Phillips is desperate to see Jeff Mostyn and Steve Sly put the club back on a firm financial footing.

Phillips wrestled the club's acute money problems during an eventful four-year reign at Dean Court between 2002 and 2006.

When he made way, he said he hoped his successors would be able to source new investment and reduce the club's debt to a sustainable level.

Mostyn and Sly gained control nine months ago and have been actively seeking a significant injection of funds ever since.

And as the club appears to be entering a critical period in its history, the prospect of administration is one course open to the owners.

Phillips told the Daily Echo: "Several football clubs have used administration to clear their debts in recent seasons and there are numerous myths and mysteries surrounding this route.

"For the first time in 10 years, the option is now available to the board. Now the 1997 CVA (creditors' voluntary agreement) has been repaid in full and the bank loans paid off, the club can go into administration.

"But as 1997 showed - and as fans of Wrexham, Boston, Rotherham, Farnborough and Cambridge would no doubt agree - administration is not a magical route to a golden debt-free future.

"Not only is there the loss of 10 points to overcome, but unless new investors can be found, the club may soon find itself back in the same trouble as before.

"The real issue is that the club needs success on the field to bring in the crowds and the sponsors. Administration would not change that. In fact, it would make relegation almost certain. Success on the field in turn requires investment in the team, which, in turn, requires new money.

"If the board do choose administration, I'm sure it will be part of a deal that brings new investors to the club. But that takes time and a lot of hard work and the Cherries board deserve our support and our patience." Phillips oversaw the controversial sale and leaseback of Dean Court and says it is a myth that Cherries could have gone into administration then rather than sell the stadium.

He said: "The new stadium was built with borrowed money and, in particular, the club's bank had a fixed and floating charge over all the assets of the club.

"This gave the bank the power to block administration and insist on the club being placed into receivership and its assets sold. The bank always made it clear that that is what they would do and since it was the same bank that took the club to within hours of collapse in 1997, we had every reason to believe them.

"I have often referred to the 1997 deal as one of the worst in football history. Far from wiping out the debts, it left the club with £2.5m of debt from day one, a burden it has never shaken free from, plus a commitment to pay £77,500 a year for 10 years to the CVA supervisor.

"Any default on those payments would, under the CVA terms, lead automatically to the closure of the club. The final payment was made last summer.

"Whether those CVA terms would have been implemented is anyone's guess, but with much of the old club's debts in unsympathetic hands, it would have been a huge gamble to take. The board didn't have the option anyway."

  • CHAIRMAN Jeff Mostyn last night confirmed that negotiations with potential investors were "ongoing".