Turf Moor buyback set to be completed

Burnley are set to announce they have bought back Turf Moor and Gawthorpe, after the success of bond issue plans unveiled in January.
BUY BACK: Turf MoorBUY BACK: Turf Moor
BUY BACK: Turf Moor

The board have received the necessary support from shareholders and private investors to set up a holding company to resume ownership of the club’s spiritual home.

The ground - home for 130 years - and training base in Padiham have been owned by Longside Properties Ltd since 2006, as the club tried to secure funds to make up for the collapse of ITV Digital, which cost millions in promised television revenue.

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It had been intended to buy back both properties as soon as possible - with a deal on the agenda had Burnley earned a second season in the Premier League in 2010.

But the board, led by joint chairmen John Banaszkiewicz and Mike Garlick, proposed a restructuring, by creating a new property company, Turf Moor Properties Ltd to repurchase these assets.

At the start of the year, shareholders were invited to transfer their shares from Burnley Football & Athletic Company Ltd (BFAC) to the new parent company Burnley FC Holdings Ltd (BFCH), which owns both the football company and the property company.

Once the bond issue is complete, shareholders who accepted the offer would then own shares in the new company.

And the process could well be complete in a matter of days.

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It means Burnley will no longer pay rent on a 99-year lease, and as Banaszkiewicz said in January: “This marks the start of a new era in our illustrious history.

“This arrangement enables us to protect Turf Moor and Gawthorpe from the uncertainties of the football industry and its finances, which have hit other clubs very hard in recent years.”

• The Burnley Express has launched a FREE football app which is now available to download on iPhone and Android devices.