01 July - Devils Trust statement

The Devils Trust have always striven to ensure that the unpaid creditors of Crawley Town Football Club have their hardship and goodwill recognised - it is only as a consequence of the creditors' sacrifice that a Conference level football club was retained last season.

Creditors we have consulted with are deflated that having already agreed to an eight-month extension to the original deadline for the Creditors Voluntary Agreement (CVA), they are now being asked to accept a further extension alongside a derisory interim payment.

Hopefully the creditors will be reassured that the balance will finally be paid within the next few months, if not through new funds then via the enforced disposal of a private asset of the club owner.

The Trust wish to place on record our thanks to the creditors and also joint-trustees (Rob Sadler & Mike Saville of Begbies Traynor LLC) who have had to contend with a very problematic client ever since the club deliberately tore up contracts and entered administration as a "business decision".

Fans of CTFC want to move forward, but some who attended the recent open forum at the club may feel that the executives and officers of the club were disingenuous in their comments regarding settlement of the CVA with deliberate vagueness surrounding the actuality of payments.

Some may also find it disappointing that the club cancelled a meeting with Begbies Traynor in Leeds on Tuesday 19th June after they had announced it only a few hours earlier, that the only unresolved claims were due to a failure by the club to complete two tax returns and by the absence of any new funds.

Most importantly there is disquiet that the club still cannot appear straightforward and open in its dealings with fans and our hope remains that the appointment of Vic Marley as Chairman will herald an overdue end to ambiguity as a first step towards rebulding relationships and uniting the fanbase.

The Trust also has concerns that the level of probity at the club still fails to meet the required level and wish to offer the club every assistance to ensure that adequate checks and balances are in place to satisfy the appropriate standards.

Upon fulfillment of the CVA, the Devils Trust will - as it has always done - canvass its members to see what approach they wish to be adopted in future dealings with the club.

The Trust looks forward to a positive future on and off the pitch, but no new chapter at the club can begin until the CVA is finally paid in full and the club is proven to be run in a manner satisfactory to the football authorities.