WREXHAM FC CLOSE TO SALE AFTER COURT RULING

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After a court ruling cleared the way for the League Two club to hold onto its home stadium, a local consortium has moved close to completing a deal to purchase the financially struggling club.

A group led by Neville Dickens, a local car dealer, has gained an exclusivity agreement with administrators handling the sale of the club.

“The agreement allows for exclusivity until 30 April 2006, during which time it is hoped that contracts will be exchanged for acquisition of the club's assets,” administrators David Acland and Steve Williams said. “We feel that the Dickens bid is in the best interests of the club and its stakeholders.”

Earlier, a court denied an appeal by former club chairman Alex Hamilton that threatened the sale of the club. Hamilton had divided the club and its home ground as separate assets, with the idea of developing the land surrounding the stadium for commercial or housing use. After the club was put into administration and had 10 points deducted, it was dropped to League Two. Administrators then successfully argued in court that the club and ground should not be separated. Hamilton then appealed, which was turned down.

“It may have taken time and dedication but justice has been done,” Supporters trust chairman Bruce Clapton told the BBC after the decision. “The ground is now back in Wrexham's hands and this can only help in the fight to save the club.”

The move cleared the way for Dickens, who was a club director in the 1980s, who originally made a bid to buy the club in April 2005, a move that had the support Wrexham Supporters' Trust at that time. He said he wanted to secure football at the Racecourse and to “put Wrexham Football Club on a secure financial footing to enable it to go forward.” He also said he wished to retain manger Denis Smith and promised “sufficient financial backing to allow them to compete at the top of their division”.