Plymouth Argyle On Verge Of Buyout

Having entered administration and thus incurring a massive points deduction in League One, Plymouth Argyle are on the verge of being saved from liquidation. The club’s administrators have asked everyone with an ownership stake in the club to support a purchase by hotel chain the Akkeron Group after Kevin Heaney, chairman of Southern Premier League side Truro City, pulled out of the bidding for the team. Unless a new owner is found by the end of the season there’s a very real chance that the club, which has a proud 125 year history, could be dissolved.

The Akkeron Group is believed to be interested in redeveloping land around Plymouth’s Home Park, and would buy the stadium and lease it back to the club, who are so short on funds that players and staff haven’t been paid since February. Administrator Brendan Guilfoyle was quoted by the BBC as urging shareholders to engage with the Akkeron Group:

Akkeron’s offer will provide a better solution to all Plymouth Argyle’s stakeholders than liquidation. Time is running out, and I would encourage everyone to engage with Akkeron in a constructive and timely manner to save Plymouth Argyle.

The very future of the club is on the line here, and although I can’t imagine that Akkeron’s offer is a particularly attractive bid, it’s probably more worthwhile than seeing the entire club go away (which would of course make an ownership stake fairly worthless). Plymouth don’t look like they’d have much chance of emerging from the dust as a Football League powerhouse after the deal, but it’s certainly better than not emerging at all.