Transfer embargo

[Rileybobs]

So you are going to be "concerned" for the next 6 week or so without knowing whether there is a need to be? I don't think that is reasonable but hey, different folks and all that...

Well this issue will remain a concern to me, as a lifelong Burnley fan, until it’s resolved - yes. It’s not going to cause me any undue stress or sleepless nights but I’ll be happier when the club’s explanation is proven to be the case.

[GaryClaret]

I just can’t help but worry because we’ve needed good people on this board to investigate how we’re owned to the best of their abilities.

Pace etc have always been super evasive/talking bull when questions have been asked about the takeover. I think us doing well this season has meant less pressure on these points. Now, through their own actions, the pressure is going to be back on.

I’ve found it easy to put these thoughts to sleep due to winning all the time but Pace/the board have never convinced me on the finances. How could they convince anybody the way they’ve acted on this issue?

[TsarBomba]

Disappointing news.

I want to like Pace and the new regime, and what we’ve done this year on the field has gone some way to banking a bit of trust, although there is still some way to go.

But this filing of accounts late, some of them 9 months late, is simply unacceptable.

Feels like a step back.

Hopefully it doesn’t affect the team.

[Spijed]

The accounts have become a lot more complex since the takeover with all sorts of intercompany loans etc.

But if Alan Pace & Co. have little experience of owning a football club then why didn't they speak to people who have a lot of knowledge in this area and get their advice and expertise?

The telephone is a great invention!

[Longsider]

We are a corporate organisation. This is part and parcel of the financial world of such big business.

[HistoricalClaret]

I just can’t help but worry because we’ve needed good people on this board to investigate how we’re owned to the best of their abilities.

Pace etc have always been super evasive/talking bull when questions have been asked about the takeover. I think us doing well this season has meant less pressure on these points. Now, through their own actions, the pressure is going to be back on.

I’ve found it easy to put these thoughts to sleep due to winning all the time but Pace/the board have never convinced me on the finances. How could they convince anybody the way they’ve acted on this issue?

A. You dont need anyone to tell you how the club is owned
B. Pace was always very open about the loan and who is involved in the ownership
They dont need to convince anybody other than ELF/EPL via accounts submissions which they will do as usual

[Swizzlestick]

Without being accused of over reacting this has really annoyed me.

We've had nothing but positivity about everything that has happened on the pitch this season, and I'm sure this will blow over but fans from other clubs are already questioning us in terms of honesty and integrity now.

Shockingly bad from BFC to allow the gloss to be taken away from what should be a celebratory run in..

Yep, this is pretty much where I'm at. It may well be something of nothing, but it's highly incompetent that this has been allowed to happen, especially compared to the performances and professionalism on the pitch. Tainted things a bit.

[Clarets4me]

A relatively minor matter at the moment, if it's still an issue at the end of April, then let's look at it again ....

[Duffer_]

If anything its good news as it provides more clarity on companies house proceedings and a ballpark for the arrival of the accounts.

Reaaaaaaaching

[taio]

It's laughable that some people think it's wrong for some fans to raise legitimate questions and concerns - without panicking or bed wetting - about important club news.

[warksclaret]

Sadly it might delay and the imminent signing of loan players ie Tella, Beyer, Obefami, Maatsen if not resolved swiftly. Hope there is an outcome shortly but a situation we could all do without

[HitchinClaret]

Not concerned. They have filed accounts late due to switching auditors. New auditors I expect as we should be future-proofing for new avenue streams, premier league etc.

It’s really not a big deal, just enjoy the football and stop trying to find the things to worry about.

[NewClaret]

Sadly it might delay and the imminent signing of loan players ie Tella, Beyer, Obefami, Maatsen if not resolved swiftly. Hope there is an outcome shortly but a situation we could all do without

Not if we’re promoted as we’d no longer be under EFL rule.

[claret2018]

I’m personally most concerned about why we’d need to change auditors. A financial audit is an administrative practice and so I don’t see why we’d choose to change to “improve” the club or “move it forward”.

The obvious explanation would be that the previous auditors were not willing to sign off the accounts so we were forced to change? Does anyone know who the previous auditors were?

Loads of legitimate reasons why you’d change auditor. The old ones were a small local firm that I’m amazed held onto the job for as long as they did.

[Rileybobs]

It's laughable that some people think it's wrong for some fans to raise legitimate questions and concerns - without panicking or bed wetting - about important club news.

Unfortunately there’s a handful of posters on here who attempt to gag anyone who posts anything that isn’t 100% positive. Be it about player performances, the ticketing system or queues at the turnstiles. It’s really weird.

[123EasyasBFC]

My guess is that, from reading the embargo FAQs I have linked to, that the EFL tell you that if you can't provide the relevant information/documents within 48hrs then you will go on the public list (also linked to previously in this post).

This statement is probably getting ahead of the club going onto the public register in the next 24hrs is my guess.

Thanks a lot, if anything the fact the club aren’t waiting for fans to find out via EFL can be seen as a positive as long as the statement is truthful

[4midable]

Wouldnt surprise me if the people who run the ticket office and club shop did our accounts

[123EasyasBFC]

Sadly it might delay and the imminent signing of loan players ie Tella, Beyer, Obefami, Maatsen if not resolved swiftly. Hope there is an outcome shortly but a situation we could all do without

Transfer window doesn’t open till middle of June mate. Will be sorted one way or another by then

[Andreshotboots]

"We've cheated the league, we've cheated the league..We are Burnley, we've cheated the league...

Hull away anybody?

[dandeclaret]

To be clear, this is an audit on 2021/22 season accounts, of which we were in the Premier League. The accounts look at July 2021-June 2022.

Other than that, yes I'm not sure why it would be more complicated, as it was done with the PL the year before.

More complex ownership / legal entity structure?

[helmclaret]

Why would changing auditor in November 2022 still mean we have not got the accounts ready to file to meet our obligations by mid-March 2023? Not my world so I haven’t the foggiest how long that would take to pull together, but 4/5 months seems….more than sufficient?

Audit firms resource plan sometimes up to a year in an advance - I’m in the industry.

It’s incredibly sloppy though this by the club.

[ClaretAL]

Come on Chester and Paul. What is the baseline here for the layman ?

[Rick_Muller]

Thread TLDR - can someone summarise for me? Did we buy the league or not…?

[basil6345789]

Apparently we can't sign no players now

So we can?

[jedi_master]

Thread TLDR - can some dummies for me? Did we buy the league or not…?

We seem to be under an embargo due to inability to provide financial information for last season. The club has blamed this on changing its auditors in November of last year and said it will be sorted by the end of next month. There is no insinuation, at this stage, that we have done anything ‘wrong’ per se, but we have seemingly been unprofessional, lazy, lax etc in not fulfilling this simple task.

Think that’s about where we are, for now.

[agreenwood]

We seem to be under an embargo due to inability to provide financial information for last season. The club has blamed this on changing its auditors in November of last year and said it will be sorted by the end of next month. There is no insinuation, at this stage, that we have done anything ‘wrong’ per se, but we have seemingly been unprofessional, lazy, lax etc in not fulfilling this simple task.

Think that’s about where we are, for now.

We have done something wrong. We’ve breached the rules of the EFL.

[Cirrus_Minor]

The EFL must at least be suspicious of financial irregularities. Otherwise, why impose a transfer embargo during a time when there are no transfer activities.

[forzagranata]

even Nixon is saying it's just an admin issue and no problem

Which is what someone at the club would have told him.

[RVclaret]

The EFL must at least be suspicious of financial irregularities. Otherwise, why impose a transfer embargo during a time when there are no transfer activities.

That’s just the immediate sanction for this (amongst other things like Sheffield United failing to pay transfer fees on time).

[boatshed bill]

It's great isn't it?

[agreenwood]

The EFL must at least be suspicious of financial irregularities. Otherwise, why impose a transfer embargo during a time when there are no transfer activities.

It’ll be the written consequence of the rule we’ve breached. They can’t pick any choose when they enforce it.

[HistoricalClaret]

We have done something wrong. We’ve breached the rules of the EFL.

We havent because that would mean points deduction which we do not and will not have we simply have been late on accounts

[jedi_master]

We have done something wrong. We’ve breached the rules of the EFL.

Well, quite - but Rick was asking if we’d ‘bought the league’, I was replying in that regard on the subject of guilt.

[CrosspoolClarets]

So how on earth did we manage to audit the club whilst in the Premier League, but not in the Championship?

Why should it be more complicated now than before?

The Premier League under the old owners was a fairly simple undertaking to audit I would think. If the income has an extra zero on it that doesn’t matter much. A bit glib and simplistic from me but broadly correct.

The judgement about whether a business remains a going concern is far harder with so much complex debt and similarly complex transactions swirling around. In the Premier League it was far easier to prove the debt was fine due to the income levels. But who knows? The odd bit for me is why change in Nov and not 6 months earlier.

I’m not an auditor though, it has always bored me. I prefer to work on financial strategy and turnaround. So I’m happy for those that are to set me straight.

[NickBFC]

Administrative issue or not, it's sloppy and unprofessional. Disappointing news.

[agreenwood]

We havent because that would mean points deduction which we do not and will not have we simply have been late on accounts

The club statement literally acknowledges we’ve breached breached the EFL regulations.

“… fully understand and support their position and efforts to sanction any club who fails to comply with any of their regulations”.

[jedi_master]

Audit firms resource plan sometimes up to a year in an advance - I’m in the industry.

It’s incredibly sloppy though this by the club.

Yes it seems frankly embarrassing - particularly when a poster, in his spare time and seemingly as nothing more than a hobby (Chester Perry) has been warning about these particular issues on a fans online forum for the best part of 12 months. It seems inexcusable really to not be ahead of this, change of auditor or not.

[ecc]

How come this is announced on a Sunday at 7pm? No sign of it on the EFL site. Presume we're announcing ahead of the EFL to stave off worrying.

[agreenwood]

How come this is announced on a Sunday at 7pm? No sign of it on the EFL site. Presume we're announcing ahead of the EFL to stave off worrying.

That’ll be it exactly. Control the narrative before it’s released in EFL language.

[forzagranata]

We've breached the financial rules of the EFL and received the first sanction.

Where it gets potentially complicated is if other clubs start to take interest in this matter and hire lawyers.

Ironically, that is exactly what we did with regard to Everton last season.

[RVclaret]

We've breached the financial rules of the EFL and received the first sanction.

Where it gets potentially complicated is if other clubs start to take interest in this matter and hire lawyers.

Ironically, that is exactly what we did with regard to Everton last season.

It’s not breaching financial rules. It’s breaching an administrative rule on when certain information should be provided. Our statement say this information has been provided in draft with the full thing due shortly. It’s nothing like what happened with Everton.

[Belgianclaret]

Poor show, disappointing to say the least.

Changing accountants? Should not be an issue.

[arise_sir_charge]

Some of the stuff in these threads can be quite funny.

My favourite on this thread being Spijed saying that Alan Oace should shave rung someone to find out what to do.

Brilliant.

[RVclaret]

Some of the stuff in these threads can be quite funny.

My favourite on this thread being Spijed saying that Alan Oace should shave rung someone to find out what to do.

Brilliant.

[123EasyasBFC]

Don’t know where the ‘we have breached financial rules’ has come into it, all we know is that we at late with accounts

[forzagranata]

It’s not breaching financial rules. It’s breaching an administrative rule on when certain information should be provided. Our statement say this information has been provided in draft with the full thing due shortly. It’s nothing like what happened with Everton.

What happened with Everton is that Burnley and Leeds hired lawyers and threatened to bring a claim for damages because Everton had breached the financial rules.

Given the complex nature of the club's finances we probably don't want other clubs getting involved.

[Chester Perry]

Come on Chester and Paul. What is the baseline here for the layman ?

Not going to comment too much but it is worth reading the appropriate EFL rules

https://www.efl.com/-more/governance/ef ... n-4-clubs/
16 CLUBS’ FINANCIAL RECORDS

there has been a breach of 4 possibly 5 rules from what I see

the first is this one 16.2
16.2 Each Club shall submit a copy of its Annual Accounts (as defined in Regulation 16.3 below) to The League, but in any event:

16.2.1 by no later than 1 March following the end of the financial year to which those Annual Accounts relate (in the case of a Championship Club); or

16.2.2 by no later than the date on which the Club is required to file its accounts at Companies House (in case of League One and League Two Clubs).

The second is this one 16.3 which specifically applies to Kettering Capital Limited and Calder Vale Holdings Limited

16.3 Each Club shall submit their Annual Accounts (and those of any Group of which it is a member) to the registrar of companies (appointed in accordance with section 1060 of the 2006 Act) in accordance with the time limits prescribed by the 2006 Act.

The third is this one and it is the one the club specifically talks about in its statement 16.4

16.4 For the purposes of this Regulation 16, Annual Accounts means the annual accounts in respect of the Club’s most recent financial year (such accounts to be prepared and audited in accordance with applicable legal and regulatory requirements) together with a copy of the directors’ report for that year and a copy of the auditor’s report (if any) on those accounts.

The fourth is this either 16.9 or 16.10

16.9 The Annual Accounts for a Championship Club must, in addition to the requirements of Regulation 16 .4:

16.9.1 be accompanied by an auditor’s report and a directors’ report;

16.9.2 include separate disclosure within the balance sheet or notes to the Annual Accounts, or by way of supplementary information separately reported on by its auditor by way of procedures specified by The League, of the total sums payable and receivable in respect of Transfer Fees, Compensation Fees, Loan Fees and any subsequent payments which become due under the terms of any transfer; and

16.9.3 include a breakdown within the profit and loss account or the notes to the accounts, or by way of supplementary information separately reported on by its auditor by way of procedures specified by The League, of revenue in appropriate categories such as gate receipts, sponsorship and advertising, broadcasting rights, commercial income and other income.

16.10 If the Annual Accounts submitted pursuant to Regulation 16.2:

16.10.1 includes an auditor’s report, and that auditor’s report contains a qualified audit opinion; or

16.10.2 was not required to, and did not, include an auditor’s report, and The League considers that the accounts would if audited contain a qualified audit opinion,

the Club shall at The League’s request submit such further documentary evidence as The League shall require (including but not limited to Future Financial Information). The League shall have the power (but not the obligation) to commission an external audit for purposes of assisting in its assessment under 16.10.2.

The possible 5th rule breach (and we do not know for certain either way) is this one 16.12

The obligation to file interim accounts is limited to Championship Clubs only.

16 .12 The interim accounts shall:

16.12.1 comprise a balance sheet, a profit and loss account, a cash flow statement and relevant explanatory notes;

16.12.2 be prepared in accordance with the accounting principles adopted in the preparation of the Championship Club’s Annual Accounts;

16.12.3 be presented in a similar format to the Annual Accounts including as regards the matters set out in Regulation 16.9;

16.12.4 include in the profit and loss account and cashflow statement comparative figures for the same period in the preceding year;

16.12.5 include a balance sheet as of the end of the preceding financial year;

16.12.6 be approved in writing by the board of directors of the company to which they relate; and

16.12.7 be reviewed by the Club’s auditor or audited in accordance with applicable regulatory requirements.

Interestingly I have been working on a piece for the next issue of the London Clarets magazine looking at recent group issues at Companies House and am minded about what an ALK/VSL spokesperson told Alex James of LancsLive on December 1 2022

https://www.lancs.live/sport/football/f ... source=nba
“This is an administrative error that has come to our attention and is being addressed and resolved with immediacy."

and again on February 11 2023

https://www.lancs.live/sport/football/f ... e-26206840
"There was an administrative error which has been resolved. We are continuing to work with Companies House to complete the required process. We have no concerns and this will be completed in due course."

[summitclaret]

It’s not breaching financial rules. It’s breaching an administrative rule on when certain information should be provided. Our statement say this information has been provided in draft with the full thing due shortly. It’s nothing like what happened with Everton.

Well the BBC have produced a misleading article, implying that we could have breached FFP rules. Not helpful and those that skim read stuff will be assuming things.

Burnley hit by EFL transfer embargo after late draft accounts submission - https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/64933316

[agreenwood]

Thanks Chester Perry. So basically we’ve been promising to rectify late accounts for the last 3 months?

[forzagranata]

Well the BBC have produced a misleading article, implying that we could have breached FFP rules. Not helpful and those that skim read stiff will be assuming things.

Burnley hit by EFL transfer embargo after late draft accounts submission - https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/64933316

Not trying to be a know-all here but you can't be compliant with Financial Fair Play rules if you haven't even submitted your accounts.