KittenMittens
Midfield
I have been through all of the details and commentary by Stewart Donald and Charlie Methven on the Close Bros loan of April 2019, and I'm now even more certain that the 'short term advance' they took out was used specifically to pay Ellis Short somewhere between £7-10m for the balance of Donald's shares that was still outstanding, and - critical part here - never paid back, or considered part of the debt they owe the club, meaning the amount of club money that has gone out to service their deal was at least £32m.
Here's what happened, including time-stamped links to all of the relevant quotes by Donald in the RR video of 2019.
The Close Bros loan is one of the things they've hidden well in the accounts, but I can guarantee it is shady.
How do we know? Because throughout his interview with RR in May 2019, at multiple times, Donald brags about how little money he had to put in over the 2018-19 season vs what they expected to put in and proved they had to the EFL. He even gives a blow-by-blow breakdown of the club's ins and outs, noting that they broke even in the end even when taking into account the Alvarez ruling. Translation: Why would they need a short term loan for any reason at all except to pay off his debt?
He then admits that the Close Bros loan was to 'get Ellis done', meaning there is no ambiguity here.
And if you think I've left that utter repulsive snake Charlie Methven out, then think again.
A month later, at the RAWA meeting of June 2019, Methven is asked specifically about the Close bros loan by our very own Grumpy Old Man. He replies "all that has happened is that we pulled forward the parachute payments from April, May, June and a bit of July to clear up various black holes that had to be sorted out by the end of May/June."
But of course, we know, from Stewart Donald's own words, that the specific financial black hole that Charlie refers to was the share purchase of SAFC by Stewart Donald and Madrox.
It wasn't a club debt, it wasn't running costs, it was the club literally paying for Stewart Donald to own Sunderland AFC, and it never appearing on a loan document, charge sheet, or ever being accounted for as part of what Madrox owe us.
MADROX OUT.
Here's what happened, including time-stamped links to all of the relevant quotes by Donald in the RR video of 2019.
- Stewart Donald said on the RR podcast in May 2019 that £25m of his deal to buy us was secured against the club's parachute payments for a debt to SBC. This is what we all generally refer to as 'the parachute payment money' and was secured via a charge on Companies House from April of 2018 directly to SBC.
- However, he then adds that after looking through the books, £10m more was secured against the club's parachute payments specifically for his shares, meaning that in total £35m of their £40m deal to purchase SAFC was secured against SAFC's future income.
- This is a very important line in the sand - Donald secured his own personal debt of £10m against the club.
- Donald then claims that he paid off his £10m (which would later become £7.6m when he negotiated a reduction from Short) in September of 2018. This simply did not happen.
- How do we know? Because Drumaville (Ellis Short's company) did not remove their charge for the debt, indicating that it was not paid in full. Conversely, SBC removed their charge (charge no. 000491160028) over the parachute payments in August of 2018, indicating the £25m portion of the debt had been paid.
- Conversely, the two charges Drumaville (Short) had - one for the club and one for the land and buildings that the club owns - which both related to the satisfaction of the money Donald owed Short specifically for the shares he bought from him - both remain on the club's file, indicating that the charge has not been settled.
- In April of 2019, approaching the anniversary of Donald's agreement with Short, the club - not Madrox, not Donald - take out an £11.92m loan from Close Bros. A baffling transaction that has no obvious purpose, but is mistaken by the Daily Mail as the club being in short term financial difficulties.
- However, in fact, the reason is even more simple. The explanation for this is 'to finish off getting Ellis done' - despite Donald claiming mere minutes earlier, that he had already paid Short for his shares.
- Miraculously, both of the charges Short held over the club are satisfied mere weeks later, less than a month before the anniversary of Short's sale.
- The club - not Madrox, not Donald and Methven - then pay off however much of the £11.92m Close Bros loan is left. As Donald says, they are an advance on the monthly installments of the club's parachute payments, and 'they right themselves by July' - indicating that the debt is paid off by the club as the installments are received and sent to Close.
- This means that somewhere between £7m and £10m was paid to Ellis Short's Drumaville company in April of 2019 by the club for Stewart Donald's shares in SAFC. This money was financed by a loan from Close Bros, and paid back using the club's parachute payments, meaning that it never saw the light of day as a specific charge or debt
- Why £7-10m? Because we do not know how much of Donald's £5m 'deposit' was paid up front, and how much was outstanding when this loan was taken out.
- This money is completely separate to the original £25m we talk about them owing the club, £20.5m of which they wiped off the balance in May of 2020.
- In total, I believe they used at least £32.6m of the club's money to fund their purchase of the club, only £25m of which ever appeared as a debt they owed, £7m-10m has been put directly through the club and they have never had to declare as a debt they owe back.
The Close Bros loan is one of the things they've hidden well in the accounts, but I can guarantee it is shady.
How do we know? Because throughout his interview with RR in May 2019, at multiple times, Donald brags about how little money he had to put in over the 2018-19 season vs what they expected to put in and proved they had to the EFL. He even gives a blow-by-blow breakdown of the club's ins and outs, noting that they broke even in the end even when taking into account the Alvarez ruling. Translation: Why would they need a short term loan for any reason at all except to pay off his debt?
He then admits that the Close Bros loan was to 'get Ellis done', meaning there is no ambiguity here.
And if you think I've left that utter repulsive snake Charlie Methven out, then think again.
A month later, at the RAWA meeting of June 2019, Methven is asked specifically about the Close bros loan by our very own Grumpy Old Man. He replies "all that has happened is that we pulled forward the parachute payments from April, May, June and a bit of July to clear up various black holes that had to be sorted out by the end of May/June."
But of course, we know, from Stewart Donald's own words, that the specific financial black hole that Charlie refers to was the share purchase of SAFC by Stewart Donald and Madrox.
It wasn't a club debt, it wasn't running costs, it was the club literally paying for Stewart Donald to own Sunderland AFC, and it never appearing on a loan document, charge sheet, or ever being accounted for as part of what Madrox owe us.
MADROX OUT.
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