Q&A With AFCB About Financial Crisis

Swindon Town are not the only League One club facing hard times. AFC Bournemouth are close to going into administration, which would make them the second League One club to do so this season.

We asked http://www.upthecherries.co.uk what exactly is happening at AFC Bournemouth and despite things looking all rosy from the outside they have revealed that the problems have been going on for sometime.

The club is currently in negotiations with a new investor which will hopefully help the club keep their League One status.

Should the new investment not be forthcoming AFCB would going into adminsration and be hit with a 10 point deduction which would all but ensure AFCB play League Two football next season.

The club currently sit bottom of League One with 13 points. The 10 point deduction would take them down to 3 points placing them 16 points from safety.

Below is a few questions from Vital Swindon Town to upthecherries.co.uk who gives us an update at what is happening at the Fitness First Stadium.

Like Swindon Town, AFC Bournemouth is facing financial problems, what exactly has happened at AFCB?

Have you got a spare few hours?! Our financial problems have been going on for over a decade, although the media liked to paint the fairy tale story that we came out of administration in 1997 and became Europe's first community club, in reality we have just been fire fighting for the past decade to keep the club going month to month.

Are there any takeovers or discussions about investment happening at your club?

Our club was only taken over in the past year, the new owners are however reportedly in talks with possible new investors.

What are fans doing to try and get things resolved at your club that has been in existence since 1899?

What haven't we done? We had the memorable Winter Gardens back in 1997 with the fans putting money into buckets, through to inventive schemes such as PlayerShare to raise money for the playing side and CherryShare which was a share issue a couple of years ago.

AFC Bournemouth sold their stadium some time ago to help clear these debts; did this actually help the cause or simply put off the inevitable?

It was just one of a number of decisions that have brought the club to where it is now along with the selling off of the conferencing facilities and the merchandising.

What do you know about Swindon Town`s current financial situation?

Quite a bit actually as my first AFCB game was at your ground in one of the sponsor boxes! So have always been interested in Swindon and look forward to the short trip to your place.

Is it simply impossible to sustain a club in the lower leagues these days with all the money going into the Premier Legaue?

I don't think so, others have proved it is possible, but obviously its
extremely difficult.

What can the FA and the Football League do, to help protect lower league clubs like Swindon Town and Bournemouth?

Well not spending £800 million on a stadium and sharing the money to help protect the football league ladder would have been a start!

Do you have anything else to pass onto Swindon Town fans?

Good luck and I'll be keeping my fingers crossed for you!

We would like to thank Up The Cherries for taking time to answer our questions. To get the latest on Bournemouth's situation simply go to http://www.upthecherries.co.uk. Also feel free to leave your best wishes to Cherries fans on their forums which are 100% free to join.