It’s been just under three weeks since the Nottingham Post asked Alan Hardy 10 key questions we felt he needed to answer about the financial situation at Notts County. We also said that if it was not sold quickly, then administration would be the only way of saving the club.
Mr Hardy chose not to respond to these questions. So be it. In some ways, that was answer enough; because what has become all too apparent over the subsequent 19 days is that this is not a crisis that the owner is going to be able to resolve himself.
After all, what has actually changed since then?
Staff and players have still not actually been paid their June wages, although some money has been generously contributed by fans, the PFA and the independent group Lifeline.
There has been no evidence of progress on the sale of the club, despite some claims that it has moved forward.
And Mr Hardy seems no closer to taking the distressing but probably unavoidable step of putting the club into administration. This stands to reason; anyone in his position would want to try and recoup some of the money he’s put in.
But that’s precisely why the football authorities should now step up to the plate. Unlike Mr Hardy, they are not expecting to get £5m, £6m, £7m - or however much the owner is still expecting - in the unlikely event of any sale going through.
It’s hard to see how the club’s precarious situation could be any more high-profile. It’s been taken to the High Court three times. It’s been spoken about in Parliament.
And yet the silence from the FA, the English Football League and the National League has been deafening. The FA made a brief statement and then everything went quiet – although it has at least agreed to meet Nottingham South MP Lilian Greenwood next week. From the other two, nothing.
Perhaps, like a swan making its way serenely down the Trent, there has been frantic activity going on beneath the surface. We would hope so. But again, evidence of this is severely lacking.
No-one disputes that these are sensitive matters, involving personal and financial details. But the Post is not asking for confidential details. We just want answers to straightforward, simple questions such as whether potential directors have been approved, or whether the matter has been discussed at a particular meeting.
There is an increasing sense that the football authorities are simply waiting around for a sale to happen, while every day it becomes more improbable. (Remind you of anyone?)
The supporters of Notts County deserve better. Would the administrators of cricket, rugby or any other sport stand by and let their game’s oldest club simply slip away?
If the world’s oldest professional football club was to go out of business, that would reflect extremely poorly not only on the owner, or on the FA and the leagues, but on the game as a whole.
