National League club Woking are to go into administration if they are unable to find new investment, confirms owner Drew Volpe.
He appeared on BBC Radio Surrey and spoke to Tim Durrans recently, to discuss the state of finances, how debts arose, and search for new owners.
Drew mentions £3.5m “life-savings” spent, a crucial emergency loan, “sleepless nights”, and much more, in an interview which can be heard below or read further down in the article…
Woking FC faces administration if no new investors found ⚽
Cards owner Drew Volpe talks to @BBCSurrey @Timdurrans about £3.5m “life-savings” spent, crucial emergency loan, “sleepless nights”, and search for new owners #COYCards 👇https://t.co/eeXMONKYiC
— BBC Radio Surrey Sport (@BBCSurreySport) July 18, 2024
Interviewer: Thank you so much for speaking to us today. What are the current state of the club’s finances, and how worried should fans be, or shouldn’t they be?
Drew: So, what I wanted to clarify from my post the other day was that the money is now hit the accounts in Woking. And so, for the moment, we’re looking fine. Obviously, we’re still bringing on new investment, which should be happening in the next couple of weeks, but at this current moment, we are fine.
Interviewer: So it has been a little bit touch and go over the last few weeks?
Drew: It’s absolutely been sleepless nights. A lot of worry. But for right now, we’re safe.
Interviewer: How have the books got in this state, Drew?
Drew: You know, I think it’s. Part of it is we want it so badly to be competitive, and so we spent a lot of money on players that didn’t come through for us. But, you know, that’s gonna happen. But the bottom line is, I’m not made of money. So I couldn’t keep on doing this for a fourth year straight. You know, between tax stuff, insurance, you know, some other liabilities. I mean, the numbers add up real fast to a scary, scary degree.
Interviewer: In your post, you accused your partner, John Katz, perhaps, of being part of the reason the club has debt. What are the facts, and what do you want to say about that? Is it about individuals? How has it been an approach?
Drew: I’ve got nothing but respect for John. I think my post story came off me saying it was him, but that’s not the case. It was basically a systemic failure from all angles in terms of how we get to this point. But no, it was not John that was responsible for all that.
Interviewer: Because I guess decisions were made by a number of people. I mean, do you and John hold your hands up then? Is that what you’re saying in terms of expectation, hope, and how the model was run?
Drew: Well, look, obviously, the entire board votes off on the budget. I think that we had kind of higher expectations than we should have in terms of commercial revenue and also in terms of, you know, things like making a run, the FA Cup, FA Trophy, to a lesser extent. Those are very, very important to covering your projected losses, and we didn’t have that this past year. We got basically nothing.
Interviewer: It is an old tale, isn’t it, of spending beyond your means? I mean, have you as a board, perhaps been guilty of that then, in the past 12/18 months?
Drew: I mean, it’s hard to say that we’re not guilty of that, right, given where we are. But, I mean, if you look at any team, you know, from Chelsea down to the Isthmian League, these teams are not making money. It’s basically trying to bring on money constantly to stay competitive. And I think that John and I probably didn’t totally understand that when we got involved. So it’s been kind of a tough lesson to learn, but we’ve definitely learned it at this point.
Interviewer: Indeed. Well, how much have you personally invested, Drew?
Drew: I personally have sent over 3.425 million pounds sterling. And then my parents just loaned me the get us back on track for right now.
Interviewer: That’s a huge sum of money for anyone, isn’t it?
Drew: Yeah.
Interviewer: Why do it? Why do it?
Drew: I mean, I say this all the time, but once its in your veins, I mean, its hard to stop. You know, you want to keep on chasing that promotion and, you know, I gave it all I had, being the lead guy, putting the money in, but, you know, I realised now that I can’t keep doing it. I don’t want to be eating out of a dumpster outside my apartment.
Interviewer: You were so close to promotion the season before last. Was that a pivotal moment? Would that have made all the difference? And if so, it almost makes it sound a little bit like a gamble, which, of course, you know, no businessman wants to do
Drew: Right, for me I think that in America you can kind of look at the linear progression of a team. Say they finish in third this year, but they were looking good. They could be second next year, first next year. Its not that way in football. You know, you have totally different players. Guys can be out of form, you know, there can be changing room issues. It’s just a totally different sport. And so I think that by going basically all in again this past season and with our budget, the fact that we almost got relegated, it’s insane because our budget was not far off. Chesterfield, Bromley, any of them. I think that once we got that close, to me it was like, well, if were that close, we might as well just keep trying.
Interviewer: You’ve put in almost three and a half million pounds. Has John also been investing?
Drew: John has been doing his capital contributions and obviously upfront we were both in 50 50, I can’t remember the exact number, but I think it was 600k total to purchase the team.
Interviewer: How did you convince your parents to help you and the club out this time?
Drew: Well, look, I mean, there’s two options. There’s we go into administration and that’s a catastrophic failure for John and myself, or, I mean, I’m fiscally all my life been wise enough that I think they trust me to get that money back to them, which, you know, is why we’re bringing on a new group, so that I can start getting that money back to them.
Interviewer: So had you not put in a 600k? Woking would be in administration.
Drew: Yeah, 100%.
Interviewer: What can you tell us, and I appreciate it. Might be sensitive. What can you tell us about the need for a new owner? It sounds like it’s absolutely. If you don’t get this takeover sorted, the club will go into administration. And how close are you to finding the group and sorting the deal?
Drew: We have made great progress in the last couple of weeks. The reality of it is that the club’s gonna be sold for probably £1, because based on the liabilities we have, which the money that I sent over will be able to pay off almost all of that, and then well have gains. Money will be coming in, but, yeah, I mean, in order to make the transaction happen, I’m taking a pretty massive haircut and it’ll probably be sold for £1 with some sort of compensation coming down the road if we got promoted. Yeah. No, I mean, I’d be lying. I said it wasn’t dire straits until the money hit the account.
Interviewer: Well, can you tell us anything about the potential investors, the new group?
Drew: I can’t. I can’t till they. Till they’re on board.
Interviewer: I mean, some speculation, you know, you know what people are like on social boards. Some. Some link to a potential former Premier League footballer, perhaps, who play for his country. Can you say anything? Not on any of that, or is it purely…
Drew: I know it’s one of the worst kept secrets in Woking, but now, I mean, obviously, I can’t comment on who it is, but I think anybody that has been on Twitter for it probably knows.
Interviewer: What do you want any new owner to bring to the club if you’re not going to make a capital return on the sale? Is this just about you wanting to keep the club alive for the fans?
Drew: Yeah, I mean, look, I’m not trying to pat myself on the back, but, I mean, yeah, I basically threw my life savings into it to make sure for three years that the club didn’t go bankrupt, and I can’t keep doing that. And so my hope for the new owners, which, you know, obviously I talked to them all at length and know everything about them having the passion for winning and the ability to spend, you know, that’s what I did for the last three years, and that’s the only way you compete. I mean, there’s a direct correlation between what you put in, what you get out. Somehow things went off the rails this past season. If you ask 100 different people that give you 100 different answers why that was. But the resources were there the last three years. Obviously the first year, you know, whether it was smart for us to be spending a lot when we had Notts County, Wrexham, people that we just couldn’t compete with budget wise, whether that was a wise move, probably not. But then we would have been two years in fielding a, you know, a low budget team and that would be a bad look for us. So I don’t think I would have done anything differently.
Interviewer: Drew, the season starts in less than a month now. What can you tell Woking fans today? How close is this deal? Will this deal be done? Is there a chance this deal won’t be done and the club could go into administration before the new season starts?
Drew: I mean, I’ve said this all along, but I feel more confident of it that now. You know, I can’t predict the future, but I’m very well, I’m 100% confident the season will start without issue because the cash soon that I gave is. It’s a long enough runway that even if, you know, the groups that were close to coming in to deal with, if it doesn’t work out there, we’ll have some time to put something else together. It’s going to be as frustrating for any new owners. It was for us because you think that you’re so close to the glory and then it gets kicked down the road. But with the right people involved, which obviously we’ve vetted all these people very closely, I think that the sky’s the limit for Woking. Just give them a location, the supporter base. I mean, I couldn’t have picked a better team to get involved with it.
There was plenty of reaction as Woking owner Drew Volpe confirms the National League club are likely to go into administration if they’re unable to find new investment…
@FranceOAFC: Good luck to all Woking fans.. it’s all too often the fans that suffer … Good luck for the future…
@Jackall___: This may have come as a surprise to Drew but it’s not a surprise to anyone else. Chucking money at the playing squad and relying on FA Cup runs to make money is not a model that works. Obviously very grateful for Drew’s investment but success isn’t only measured on the pitch.
@grahamkeen: Very hard to have any sympathy with clear overspending. Feel sorry for the Woking fans
@DannySherms: I wasn’t expecting to see this today and very concerning, Woking reached the playoffs for the first time just a couple of years ago and is now on the cusp of administration?
@donttakethepeas: Good luck Woking. No love lost between us and you, but no one should lose their club. #footballfamily #tufc
@PauloSimao55: Still cannot believe that ownerships take such a massive risk in the pursuit of success and then are surprised when it goes wrong. How can people who own successful businesses struggle so badly with financial planning when it comes to football?
@AllAtSeaFanzine: They may be selling for £1 but where are they going to find the £1million bond that I assume the National League are going to ask them for? In all seriousness, hope they pull through, we know all too well how worrying this is for fans.
@AngusMoorat: Remarkable story of US sports owners buying up a club, putting in “life savings” now with weeks to find someone to buy it for £1. Shows need for the new football regulator. @KieranMaguire
@Oi_Ffreshrfc: Looking forward to the useless ownership derby on Tuesday! In all seriousness though this shit can’t keep happening. I hope Woking get it sorted soon, nice little club they’ve got there with decent fans who deserve better 🙏
@STARReading: This is very sad – the regulator needs to protect the whole pyramid
@NormalNeco: Wonder if the Woking fans will still think any club facing financial difficulties should be expelled
@TerraStatman: Tough times ahead for Woking. Makes you wonder how many other clubs are living beyond their means…
@pkfsport: Seems like another owner ‘chasing the promotion dream’ before running a sustainable fc in the first place. Alarm bells here ring true when speaking about knockout competition money, which should never be budgeted for. Hope Woking fans get a new owner who runs the club sustainably.
@G_TUFC: Blimey shocking news this, as a fan of a club who knows administration very well, all the best to Woking 👍 Hopefully they can get an investor sorted ASAP.
@ATFC_Brady: Over spent in season 1 of the takeover and didn’t wanna rip it up so kept overspending. Very stupid from their ownership..
@Lumpymash: It was only a matter of time. Let’s hope these new investors appear or we are fucked.
@UtdShiv: Unbelievable….. How long until the government and those in power will finally do something urgent to STOP these things from happening? No football club at any level should be facing financial trouble to the point administration comes up on the horizon. @UKLabour sort it out!
@bluewhitewall: Another club we face with ownership problems as well. 😔 #ReadingFC
@bnolan_10: Was waiting till this came to light. Club’s in a much worse position than people think.
@BenBlundell: Corrrrr, those “you let your club die” chants really coming home to roost now. Wouldn’t want to lose a local derby, but they’ll get absolutely no sympathy from me.
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