Soccer club Wimbledon is scheduled to play in England's Division One when the new season kicks off in August — if it has any players by then. The club last month entered receivership, the British equivalent of Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, and must come up with money to meet its payroll or face liquidation.
Grant Thornton, the company administering the Chapter 11, has put the value of the club at $6.6 million. That value would appear to consist largely of the fact that Wimbledon has a slot in the Football League. It doesn't own much else.
It's the latest chapter in the story of a club that has been without a home of its own for a decade. Upgrading its original stadium proved too difficult and expensive, and a long search to find a suitable site nearby proved fruitless. It had planned to play in Milton Keynes, 60 miles from Wimbledon in southwest London, starting with the coming season.
Two rival groups have their sights on the club. One is led by current Chairman Charles Koppel. If he wins, the team would probably play next season where it has been renting space in London, at 26,400-seat Selhurst Park, where fellow first division club Crystal Palace plays.
He would move the team to Milton Keynes after some additional work on a temporary home there was done.
The other potential ownership group is based in Milton Keynes. Headed by Pete Winkelman, it intends to complete the move of the team this year.
The likely route for Wimbledon to raise immediate cash is by selling a player or two. Portsmouth FC has said it wants two young Wimbledon players, Nigel Reo-Coker and Joel McAnuff, and would pay about $1.65 million each for them.
Jay Stuart is editorial director of SporTVision magazine and Sports TV Report newsletter.
