Kennedy pulls out of Ayr takeover talks after finance row with Cameron

KNOWN as the club which Rangers’ owner David Murray famously failed to buy, Ayr United still do not appear to have much luck with investors.

Local businessman Roy Kennedy’s attempt - along with the Honest Men supporters’ trust - to buy the Second Division club from chairman Donald Cameron has ended with ex-director Kennedy walking away after an unseemly row with his former boardroom colleague.

"I’ll put my time and money into local charitable causes," said Kennedy. "I’ve taken things as far as I can go."

The deal foundered on the apparent insistence by California-based Cameron that Kennedy pay nearly 600,000 up front. The Prestwick-based constructor simply didn’t have such cash available, according to friends, who allege that the board were well aware that Kennedy could not sustain such immediate spending.

The sum sought by Cameron is more or less what he is owed by United after he took over the club in 2003 from previous chairman Bill Barr of Barr Construction. Cameron took on the club’s debts which have increased still further as he and other directors have pumped money into the ailing club’s coffers. Ayr United’s overall debt is reported to be nearly 1m with an unknown portion of that sum owed to the Inland Revenue.

Kennedy had proposed a long-term payment structure for his bid, and said that money would have been made available for players - a thorny subject, given rumours in the town that United are about to halve their playing budget from around 400,000 to less than 200,000.

The new owners would also have embarked on an ambitious plan to refurbish Somerset Park, upgrading it to a 6000-seat, all-covered stadium suitable for the SPL. The quid pro quo was that flats would be built on car parking land nearby.

But the board rejected the deal and clearly both sides were very far apart in their estimates of United’s worth.

Kennedy says that any chance of him becoming involved again at Somerset Park is stone dead. He also criticised the board for not having an alternative plan, a remark which brought forth a club press statement.

Unfortunately for the remaining directors, the statement issued by the board after their meeting last week poses more questions than it answers. A seven point plan to take Ayr forward, it is long on aspiration and PR-speak but short on concrete facts.

The board say they will "identify the best option available to the club for stadium development" and "put in place robust funding." Their chosen consultant is Kenny McLeod, formerly of Barr Construction, who was instrumental in trying to move United to a new stadium at Heathfield, on the east side of the town - a plan which collapsed when the club failed to get planning permission.

The board also say that they will invest in training facilities and youth development "with emphasis on achieving compliance with the criteria required to enhance access to external funding" - which translates as doing their best to get grants to help pay for a youth academy.

The club will have a "new business model" and improved commercial activity, according to the board.

Ties will be established with South Ayrshire Council to benefit club and community, while the board want to build on the club’s good relationship with the Honest Men Trust.

Scotland on Sunday put a series of questions to Hugh Cameron, managing director of the club, but he refused to quantify any sums for the proposed action plan or explain the "business model".

"You will just need to wait for developments," said Cameron. "We are examining all options on the stadium. We are looking at all areas here and elsewhere. I can’t say any more. We have brought in a consultant (McLeod) who is a very experienced person."

Asked about the budget for playing staff for next year, he said: "We won’t disclose that just now. We are still talking to the management."

As for the club’s debts, Cameron said "they are all being addressed" and he pointed out that Roy Cameron "is not going to call in any debts - the vast majority of football clubs would like to be in the financial situation which Ayr United are in, I can tell you that.

"Obviously this has been a distraction for everybody at the club, but now it’s gone, we are moving forward and we are all very confident about the future."

Ayr’s long-suffering fans will be glad to hear that, but may well reserve judgment on the board’s plans for a bright new future for their club.