Imps News

Sincil Bank Sold For Development

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Following this morning’s shock announcement that City are to leave Sincil Bank at the end of this season, the club has now released a lengthy 192-page document detailing the sale of the ground, headline financial details and interim plans for the next five years. The main points are:

Sincil Bank sold to South African venture capital specialist Stancevile Investments for £2.13 million.

PlayZone mortgage (transferred to Bob Dorrian in December 2015) and all loans from directors to be repaid immediately.

Last game at the ground will be the National League match against Woking on 23 April.

The 5,700-seater Co-Op Stand sold to Stamford AFC for £125,000.

Demolition of remainder to commence on Wednesday 4 May; site cleared by Wednesday 29 June.

Sincil Bank Stadium site to be developed as luxury flats worth approximately £13.3 million; construction to commence in early August.

City to ground share with Lincoln United FC at Ashby Avenue for an initial period of 5 years; option to extend the agreement for a further 25 years should the new stadium plans not have been revived by date of expiry.

Ashby Avenue to be upgraded temporarily to National League North standard.

Floodlights transferred from Sincil Bank.

Club offices to be relocated to premises above Wetherspoons, 13-14 Silver Street, Lincoln.

The remaining two temporary stands from Brighton & Hove Albion’s former home at the Withdean Stadium, Tongdean Lane, Brighton to be re-erected at Ashby Avenue at a cost of £370,000.

Improvements made to existing terracing at a cost of £94,000.

Total capacity will be 4,800 (2,900 seated, 1,900 standing).

Lincoln City to remain full-time for 2016-17 season; to be reviewed in June 2017.

Selected comments from Chairman Bob Dorrian (taken from various parts of the report):

“I appreciate that supporters will be unhappy at leaving Sincil Bank. It has been our home for the last 121 years, but unfortunately it is no longer fit for purpose. Supporters must realise that the club is at an important and very critical juncture in its history.”

“We were approached at the end of January by Stancevile Investments with an offer that we had to consider very seriously. Whilst our plans for a new stadium have not progressed beyond an initial assessment of what we now know to be an unsuitable site in the Beevor Street area, we cannot be sure that an offer of this magnitude will be forthcoming at the time we do come to sell Sincil Bank. Therefore we have taken the difficult, but ultimately level-headed decision to sell now and work steadily towards finding a permanent new home, which we hope will be within the city.”

“The money left after all director loans are repaid will be invested in South Africa by our new director Clive Nates. Hopefully the positive action we have taken at this point will secure the future of the club for a few years while we seek new sources of investment to fund the construction of our new stadium. Once we have the financial wherewithal, we will look into it more seriously.”

“Now we are out of the play-off race, there seemed little point in prolonging the sale beyond our last scheduled home match. Once approval for the ground share was received from the National League, it was full steam ahead. We are very grateful to Lincoln United FC for accommodating us at this difficult time and look forward to a long and happy relationship with our new landlords.”

“Ashby Avenue is the perfect home for us right now. Access to the ground, being close to the by-pass and on good bus routes, is actually better than at Sincil Bank. We are not expecting to challenge for promotion back to the Football League in the foreseeable future, so the capacity will be adequate for our present needs. In fact, it is very similar to the planned capacity of our new stadium, which will be around 5,000.”

Selected comments from Stancevile Investments UK Managing Director Scott Timpish-Rowe (again, taken from various sections of the report):

“We are delighted to have reached such a satisfactory arrangement with Lincoln City FC. It is a great deal for us financially and also secures the future of Lincoln City for the next couple of seasons. I wish them all the best in finding a suitable site for their new stadium and sincerely hope they can overcome their current difficulties.”

“Having recently invested heavily in neighbours Grimsby Town FC, we are delighted to have further input into the finances of another of Lincolnshire’s great football clubs.”

Stancevile Investments Vice-President for South Africa & Europe April Floydosa added:

“I would like to thank Lincoln City FC and in particular Chairman Bob Dorrian for concluding the deal so readily and so quickly. We were surprised and obviously delighted that little time was lost in negotiation, which means we can get started on the redevelopment of the site immediately. We hope to have the first of our luxury flats on sale no later than the end of February 2017.”

Comment from Lincoln City Acting MD Kevin Cooke:

“At the end of a very worrying two or three years for Lincoln City, it is a great relief to recoup some of our personal losses and be in a position to wipe out the club’s extensive debts in one fell swoop. This is a new start for the club. It will be a very long journey back to where we want to be, but we are all very excited by the challenges ahead.”

No further comment is expected from the club.


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