Welcome to what is obviously the final FOULMouth of this season, and possibly the last FOULMouth ever, but more of that later.
For the first time since FOUL was formed at the Oxford United Social Club in November 1998 we are delighted to report that there are no outstanding legal cases, contractual issues, financial problems or football league regulations to threaten the survival of Oxford United.
For over two years it looked like we'd never be able to report such happy news but with the widely publicised (and complicated) recent agreement between Oxford United's Chairman Firoz Kassam, Oxford City Council, Les Wells and Thames Water this is the almost unbelievable position we are now in.
The first full season of the new Millennium is not one that Oxford fans will look back on with any great pleasure, yet it may well turn out to be one of the most important in the club's history and one that finally sees the problems that have beset the club for many years resolved.
If we recap on the situation the club faced just a few weeks ago we can bring supporters up to date on the events that led to the agreement.
Back in February although construction work had finally restarted on the vitally important new stadium at Minchery Farm there were still a number of major issues unresolved. The stadium was being built on land that still belonged to Oxford City Council. More importantly the adjacent land that would provide the funding for the stadium in the form of a multiplex cinema and leisure development was also still owned by the City Council.
Standing in the way of the land deal, which was first agreed in principle by the then City Council leader John Tanner two years ago, were two major legal issues. Firstly, there was the financial settlement with Thames Water for breach of covenant at Minchery Farm that had been decided by the High Court, also over two years ago. Secondly, Les Wells, who owned land adjacent to the stadium site, was claiming a right of way across the stadium and leisure sites that threatened the whole land deal and therefore continuation of the building of the stadium.
In addition to the right of way claim Les Wells was also pursuing a Judicial Review in an attempt to overturn the multiplex planning permission on the disputed grounds of whether a proper Environmental Impact Assessment had been carried out. This case, which was due to go to the High Court in the first week of April, didn't directly threaten the land transfer and the stadium but did threaten the planning permission required for its funding.
Previously, FOUL has criticised Oxford City Council for delaying settlement of the Thames Water compensation and also for their inaction in tackling Les Wells' right of way claim. We also criticised Les Wells for what we believed to be opportunistic legal actions which were financially motivated. We still stand by those views and believe that the City Council had it within their power to settle these issues many months ago.
By the end of February it was apparent after discussions with Mr Kassam that he was becoming increasingly frustrated with the situation whereby he was paying over a million pounds a month to the stadium developer without any security over the land or means of recouping the money. We decided that we couldn't sit back and something had to be done to try to bring about a settlement.
Previous communications with Les Wells and his associates had shown us that he would drop his legal actions immediately if Mr Kassam came up with enough money to pay him off and buy his land. We knew that Oxford United under Keith Cox's control had originally agreed to buy Mr Wells' land for £380,000 in 1996 and had already paid him a 10% deposit. The chances of a negotiated settlement were slim given that Mr Wells was now asking over £2 million for his land and according to one of his "advisors" thought that £4 million was its value. Obviously even the lower figure was way above its true value and one that Mr Kassam would never pay.
FOUL spoke to both parties and finally arranged for Les Wells to meet face to face with Firoz Kassam. As expected the outcome of the first meeting wasn't too promising with the two parties still well over £1.5 million apart but at least some contact had been made.
FOUL also met with Oxford City Council Chief Executive, Bob Block, soon after this to understand the Council's position. It soon became clear that the City Council were concerned about the legal costs they had already incurred in fighting the right of way case against Les Wells and this would be a major stumbling block even if an agreement could be reached between Wells and Kassam. The Council believed they could recoup these costs by winning the case over the right of way but their track record of winning legal cases in relation to Oxford United doesn't necessarily support this view. FOUL also believed that a large proportion of these costs were due to the council dragging their feet and not going to court sooner.
The situation was becoming critical towards the end of March with a payment due to stadium developers, Birse Stadia, of approximately £1.5 million. FOUL couldn't offer anything directly to settle the outstanding issues but at least we could try to keep the parties talking and ensure that all issues were considered. Individual meetings with Les Wells and Firoz Kassam as well as numerous telephone calls to Thames Water followed to keep the ball rolling.
A week before the payment was due Mr Kassam made what was effectively an ultimatum to Oxford City Council to agree to a settlement and transfer the stadium land to his stadium company otherwise the payment would not be made to Birse and development would stop. If this were to happen it would mean there would be no chance of us starting the new season at Minchery Farm.
Eventually, as has been reported elsewhere, a figure of £1 million was agreed between Les Wells and Firoz Kassam for Wells' land adjacent to the stadium site in return for which he would withdraw all legal actions, but the final sticking point was the payment of the Council's legal costs which were believed to be in the region of £60,000.
The final breakthrough came at a meeting between two FOUL representatives and Mr Kassam at Heythrop Park on the evening of 29th March. A deal to split the costs between Les Wells and Oxford City Council was agreed after a series of phone calls to Les Wells and the City Council and at last there was some light at the end of the tunnel. All three main parties for the first time had the basis for an agreement. This would have to be first agreed by Oxford City Council Strategy and Resources Committee and then by the full Council but this was something we felt we could have a direct impact on, by lobbying not only the main party group leaders on the Council but also individual Council Members.
The Thames Water issue still needed to be settled. However, with the new urgency generated by the ultimatum and the chance of a deal with Les Wells on the table, the Council were able to finalise the legal agreement with Thames Water. Despite a late scare over Thames Water's legal costs this was completed in time for the deadline.
Oxford City Council voted on the proposed settlement with Les Wells in a special sitting of the full Council on April 5th. As everybody will now be aware the vote was carried with nobody voting against the proposal, although there were a number of abstentions from members and many councillors weren't even at the meeting. Some of those present were unable to vote due to them being season ticket holders at the Manor. Whilst this didn't affect the outcome of the vote perhaps under other circumstances this could have had a dramatic impact. FOUL are concerned about this situation, which means those councillors who are most informed and committed to a local football club are unable to take part in such a vote. We plan to raise this issue with national supporters organisations, as we believe such a strict definition of conflicting interest is ridiculous and potentially damaging to many football clubs throughout the country.
This shouldn't detract from the most important news that for the first time in years not only were there no legal cases threatening the survival of the club, but the stadium was under construction and the foundation for the future of the club was in place.
As many fans will know, the legal challenge to the stadium development by Morrells of Oxford relating to their covenant attached to the Blackbird pub was overturned by the courts in the favour of the club. One side effect of this was that it was no longer possible, as originally planned, for Oxford City Council to retain a stake in the stadium company. This is because the covenant originally granted to Morrells by Oxford City Council prohibits the sale of alcohol on any land that the Council has a stake in within half a mile of the Blackbird pub.
As part of the agreement with Firoz Kassam the Council are therefore obliged to sell their proposed 13% stake in the stadium company back to Mr Kassam. Whilst we don't believe this will have any lasting impact on the club's future FOUL would have preferred the local authority to be able to keep a stake in the stadium company.
So what of the future? FOUL's aim since formation has been to highlight the plight of the club and do anything we could to secure the survival of the club. We believe that this job is now almost done but won't be totally convinced until we sit down at Minchery Farm for the first game of the 2001/2002 season.
When we finally make the move to the new stadium we plan to invite FOUL members and supporters in general to a meeting (in somewhat plusher surroundings than the old supporters club) to discuss the future of a permanent supporters organisation. Exactly what that organisation is and how it works will be very much up to the members but one thing is certain - the links that have been forged by FOUL between the club and the fans should not be lost.
Not least of the tasks for a new, post-FOUL, supporters organisation will be to see the club rise again from what will be the lowest position in the league for over 35 years. Obviously Firoz Kassam has the biggest responsibility and challenge to see this happen but we hope that this can be done with the Chairman, staff and supporters all working together to see Oxford United reborn and rebuilt as the great club we all know it should be.
Over the last two and a half years we have signed off in the same way with every FOULMouth in relation to the fight for our club's survival. The same words are just as valid for the fight to rebuild a club all its supporters deserve and can be proud of. That is:
OXFORD, UNITED,
WILL NEVER BE DEFEATED