After 99 days of lurching from despair to hope and back again, the takeover of Southampton FC has finally been confirmed by the administrator.

Markus Liebherr, a 61-year-old Swiss national with a personal fortune believed to be in the region of three billion Euros, has bought the club using the company DMWSL613 Limited, incorporated only last week in London for the sole purpose of buying the club.

The administrators released the following statement:

Southampton Leisure Holdings Plc (”the Company”) Joint Administrator (the “Administrator”) Mark Fry today confirms that DMWSL613 Limited (”the purchaser”) has acquired the Company’s assets, principally Southampton Football Club (”the Club”), for an undisclosed sum.

The purchaser is owned and controlled by Markus Liebherr, 61, who is a Swiss national. Markus Liebherr also owns and controls the Swiss-based Mali Group, which consists of five companies engaged in technologically advanced engineering.

Mark Fry and his team from Begbies Traynor who have been in talks with a number of interested parties, were impressed by Markus Liebherr and his team’s commitment and plans for the Club.

Joint Administrator Mark Fry commented: “The sale of the Saints to Markus Liebherr is a fantastic opportunity to rebuild the Club.

Markus Liebherr was attracted to Southampton by a number of qualities which include the Club’s rich sporting heritage, loyal fan base, first class stadium and training facilities and the potential for the Saints to regain their rightful place at the higher echelons of English football.

“I would also like to take this opportunity to thank all Saints’ fans for their support and patience in what have been uncertain times for the Club. I would also like to wish both Markus and the Club well for future success.”

It would be fair to say that Saints fans have been put through the mill over the last six months, so there will be a collective sigh of relief breathed by fans both in Southampton and from further afield.

It appears likely that Liebherr will appoint his own board over the coming weeks, which means it’s unlikely there will be a place for either Matt Le Tissier - who would have been appointed chairman had the Pinnacle bid succeeded - or Leon Crouch, whose personal generosity kept the club running through the first two months of the administration period.

That’s the question on all Saints fans’ lips this morning after he was revealed on Sky Sports News as one of the men behind the Pinnacle bid to buy Southampton FC.

The Daily Echo - and indeed a number of SaintsWeb Forum members - has done some digging into the 32-year-old, and the results don’t appear to make pretty viewing.

They reveal that:

• Fialka has lived in a modest semi-detached house in Mandeville Road, Barnet, North London for at least 13 years with his parents Sandra and Stephen - his brother Simon, 35, moved out last year;
• his neighbour confirmed that he is a “letting agent”;
• a search on Companies House reveals two directorships, both registered to an accountants in London - Kitestone Ltd, which generated a profit of £31,124 (turnover of £51,845) for the year ended 30 June 2008 and NW8 Ltd, which turned over £51,000 with a profit of £27,905 during the same period;
• a similar-named company, NW8 Holdings Ltd, was involved in a property deal in St John’s Wood, North London, worth £39m, but there are no obvious links between Fialka and this company.

This clearly opens up a whole new can of worms, particularly after Tony Lynam - who is fronting the Pinnacle bid - had amended his claim that there was one backer worth “several hundred million” to the situation now where there are a number of backers.

Lynam claims that Fialka has access to “substantial funds” - I would politely suggest that now is most certainly the time for them to emerge from hiding as well to demonstrate that they’re not just another bunch of tyre-kickers.

The big question that remains from all of this is how this group got to this advanced stage of discussions with both the administrator and the Football League - with “proof of funds” having been demanded right from the outset, it’s difficult to see how they could have possibly got as far as they have without actually having access to these “substantial funds”. It seems, based on the evidence available, that these funds won’t be coming from Fialka - if he does indeed have backers himself, as is claimed, then he’s simply another layer of middle-men after his own cut of any deal, which is naturally of concern.

Wages are yet to be paid for June, mostly because the club is still in a state of limbo where it can’t (or won’t) sell any season tickets for next season, which would have comfortably covered the wages until at least October - with that in mind, it’s even more important that a deal with anyone gets concluded very soon, even if it involves bending over for the Football League - it’s widely rumoured that the disagreement is not over the 10-point deduction we have already received but over their desire to deduct a further 15 points as a CVA is guaranteed to not be agreed due to the fact that the football club itself is not in administration and therefore doesn’t need one!

The Pinnacle consortium who have been in discussions with the administrator for a number of weeks with a view to taking over the club has today been granted a period of exclusivity after they agreed to lodge a £500k deposit.

That deposit will ensure the club’s staff will now be paid this month - it had been revealed yesterday that it appeared as though they WOULDN’T have been paid for May under the then-current circumstances, despite reports of former chairman Leon Crouch continuing to fund the day-to-day running of the club. Fortunately that has become irrelevant with this deal, and also with the completion of the transfer of Nathan Dyer to Swansea City for a fee believed to be around £400k.

The consortium now have a period of 21 days in which to finalise the overall purchase of the club, so a new deadline of Friday 19th June has now been set for when we should finally be able to move forward into next season.

The Daily Echo has today revealed that an Irish consortium has made a sudden move to the front of the queue of bidders aiming to take control of Southampton Football Club.

While the identity of the financiers behind the deal are not known, it’s believed to consist of just two people, and as they appear to be willing to put down a £500k deposit to gain a period of exclusivity - something the Pinnacle group, the main frontrunner up until this point, has so far failed/refused to do - they are now in pole position.

Administrator Mark Fry is hopeful that he will be able to announce a preferred bidder within the next 48 hours, but it’s worth bearing in mind that he’s said this on more than one occasion this month, so fans should probably not get carried away just yet.

Of course, there’s also the danger that any group not announced as the preferred bidder might then back away, and if the preferred bidder then fails to come up with the goods, it might leave the club without any potential buyers and therefore pretty much doomed.

Regular SaintsWeb Forum readers will be well aware of what that title has come to mean, but Mark Fry has issued an ultimatum to one of the groups interested in buying Southampton Football Club to put up or shut up by the end of today.

He is hoping to be able to name the Pinnacle group, publicly backed by Matt Le Tissier in recent weeks, as the preferred bidders for the club, but he has also stated that there are other bidders who he could turn to if Pinnacle fail to deliver the goods today.

So for once, it looks as though there will actually be some takeover news on a Friday for once - for the past two years, various people have claimed to be “in the know” on the Forum and have always suggested that announcements will be made “this Friday”; claims which, until now, have all proven to be complete rubbish. With very few information leaks regarding the current situation, it looks as though those involved have been professional enough not to be shouting from the rooftops before anything’s signed and sealed.

Here’s hoping any announcement on Takeover Friday is a positive one so we can all relax and start looking forward to the summer and then next season. I’m not sure many Saints fans will be able to take much more of the torture that’s been dished out in recent times.

After much speculation from all angles and plenty of posturing from others, the Echo has revealed that two formal offers have been made for the club to the administrator.

It is believed that Mark Fry, the administrator, set a deadline of yesterday for all interested parties to submit offers, and it’s thought likely that one of them could be recommended by Fry as early as tomorrow.

The actual identity of the bidders still remains a closely guarded secret behind a number of non-disclosure agreements, but it’s believed that the group who have made contact with Matt Le Tissier in recent weeks are one of the two to have lodged a bid.

The Echo are speculating that the other is from “a consortium led by Southampton and London based businessmen with one major financier behind it” which, let’s face it, doesn’t really narrow it down an awful lot!

While there’s been a lot of talk in recent weeks, it’s good to know that a milestone has been reached and that it’s entirely possible that we may finally see an end to the confusion and uncertainty.

We are likely to find out today whether Saints still have a chance of survival in the Championship as the Football League meets to discuss Southampton Leisure Holdings’ entry into administration.

Common sense would dictate that a decision as to whether we are to receive any sporting sanctions will be made today - although of course common sense isn’t often something attributed to the footballing authorities - although that clearly won’t be the end of the matter.

The club believe they’ve got a watertight legal case, so if a points deduction is imposed, I’d expect the case to go straight to the appeals process. On the other hand, if no penalty is imposed, the likes of Luton, Bournemouth, Rotherham and Darlington who have been hit with the deduction in the last year or so will be asking why there is no consistency, and then Norwich, Nottingham Forest, Blackpool, Plymouth and Barnsley will launch their own appeals as the decision could directly affect them.

I have a suspicion that the Football League might take a bit of a “compromise” approach to placate all sides of the argument. This will probably still involve a points deduction, but not to the same degree as the 10-point one. Unless we suddenly start to turn our form around and pick up some wins, it’s going to make sod all difference to next season anyway.

Saints’ parent company Southampton Leisure Holdings plc has today entered administration, which has also resulted in the resignations of Rupert Lowe, Michael Wilde and Andrew Cowan from the board.

It follows yesterday’s news that trading in the company’s shares had been suspended by the London Stock Exchange because the company’s interim financial report was not filed by the due date of 31st March - the reason for which being the exceeding of SLH’s £4m overdraft facility with Barclays Bank.

Mark Fry and David Hudson of Begbies Traynor (South) LLP have been appointed joint administrators, and take over full control of the PLC from Messrs Wilde, Lowe and Cowan, who have resigned from the boards of SLH and Southampton Football Club Ltd with immediate effect.

They will now be working with David Jones, the Finance Director, to either refinance or find a buyer for the company.

At this stage, the football club itself is not in administration, but the administrators have warned that the effects of this will filter through to the football club by the end of the season if no buyer is found by then, as there is insufficient cash within the club to cover its costs over the summer.

Fry commented “Southampton Football Club has a long history in English football, and could be an extremely attractive investment for the right buyer.  We are working hard to preserve the value of the football Club and produce a positive outcome for all stakeholders, and I ask that fans continue show their support for the team for the remainder of the season, as we seek to show the best face possible to potential investors.”, and the Daily Echo believe a number of wealthy Saints fans have already been in contact offering cash to help the club stay afloat, which seems like a severe case of shutting the stable door after the horse has bolted. It’s not as if the club’s financial situation has been a secret, after all.

Sale of season tickets for next season will not commence until the future of the club is guaranteed, which seems to be a case of cutting your nose off to spite your face, as season ticket revenue is the single biggest revenue stream the club has!

Tickets for the three remaining home games of the season are likely to be sold in large numbers following the various bits of news today, and the only hope is that this sudden enthusiasm and intent to rally round to help the club out of the mess it finds itself in isn’t going to prove to be too little, too late. At the time of writing, more than 20,000 tickets have already been sold for Saturday’s six-pointer against Charlton.

In the Echo yesterday, Michael Wilde blamed Barclays for the situation as the PLC is believed to have exceeded its £4m overdraft limit by a relatively small £110,000, which is equivalent to you or I exceeding a £100 overdraft by £2.75 and your bank forcing you into bankruptcy. It’s not clear whether that overdraft figure, believed to have been £6.5m a year ago, has been below the £4m limit and then crept back over, or whether it’s just that we have fallen just short of the target.

Either way, it seems on the face of it to be a rather heavy-handed approach from the bank who, until now, had appeared to be very supportive, which makes me think there may be more to this than has been made public thus far. Barclays themselves are known to be pretty pissed off that they’re being made out to be the bad guys in this story, so I suspect we’ve probably not heard the last of this particular chapter.

With regards to the football club’s future, I don’t think there has ever been a better time for every single Saints fan to unite as one and do everything they can to keep the club afloat. Without wishing to go all happy-clappy, it really is a case of all hands to the pumps, which means going to the three remaining home games, buying merchandise, anything that will show potential investors that there is a viable business just waiting for the right person to come in and rescue it. Certainly without such investment, we may not even have a club to support in 6 weeks’ time.

The administrators have set a virtual deadline of after the final home game of the season - when the last of this season’s income will be brought in - for investment or a buyer to surface; after this time the club simply won’t have enough money to carry on running. It’s a situation many of us have feared for a while, but now we’re in it, it feels a hell of a lot worse than I ever anticipated it could be.

This really is make or break for Southampton Football Club. There’s no other way of saying it, really. It’s now time for differences to be put aside - all those who have been the subject of various arguments are now gone, their shares are worthless, so there’s no reason to boycott or feel apathy towards the club anymore. What’s happened in the past is history, we need to work for the present to ensure there is a future at all.

Reports are suggesting that shares in Southampton Leisure Holdings plc will be suspended when the London Stock Exchange reopens for business this morning.

The Times are reporting that Barclays Bank have refused to sanction an extension to the club’s overdraft - the limit of which is believed to be in the region of £4m, but has been exceeded for most of the season - which has now left an even bigger hole in the club’s finances, particularly with transfers forbidden outside of the transfer windows.

While this could lead to administration for SLH, it’s unclear as to the impact it would have on Southampton Football Club, which itself is a subsidiary of SLH. There are some suggestions that even if the parent company went into administration, it wouldn’t necessarily result in sporting sanctions (i.e. a 10-point deduction) for the football club. However, it’s difficult to see the Football League taking any sort of view that the two organisations aren’t linked and therefore the football club can get away without the points penalty.

This idea seems very far-fetched to me - the PLC and football club are effectively one and the same, unless the club’s lawyers have found a loophole in the Football League rules which, let’s face it, wouldn’t be a particularly shocking development after they allowed Leicester to cheat the system entirely in 2003 and still gain promotion and then Leeds and Boston United going into administration and taking the 10 point penalty when it was mathematically impossible for them to avoid relegation anyway. Both clubs ultimately paid the price for that chicanery the following season as Leeds were deducted a further 15 points and Boston were refused entry to the Football Conference and demoted to the Conference North.

Of course, this could all be jumping to conclusions. Millwall suspended trading in their shares at one stage but that was to allow for refinancing to take place. It’s possible that a buyer may be found at the 11th hour in much the same way as Coventry did last season when SISU made their move on the Sky Blues with just half an hour remaining before a deadline to appoint an administrator passed.

Unfortunately, the likelihood of all of this is that Saints will be in administration within the next week, which would mean almost certain relegation to League One. With a three-point gap from us to safety with just seven games to play, it seems unlikely in the extreme that we would be able to end the season 11 points clear of the bottom three which would then render a points deduction irrelevant, meaning it would be carried over to next season.

It’s difficult to gauge what the reaction from the fanbase to this news will be - will they rally round behind the club or will they think it’s the straw that broke the camel’s back and desert it in its hour of need? That much is unclear right now - clearly I’d prefer it to be the former, but given the general apathy surrounding the club these days the latter wouldn’t surprise me in the slightest. Many fans would argue that the situation ceased to be about football a long time ago - they’re probably right.

The power battle at St Mary’s continued at a pace this week with the news that Leon Crouch had an investment proposal rejected by Michael Wilde and Rupert Lowe.

It’s understood that Crouch proposed that all three major shareholders injected a sum of £2m apiece in the form of an interest-free loan in order to clear the club’s overdraft with Barclays Bank. However, Lowe and Wilde rejected the proposal, believed to be on the grounds that they simply don’t have that money available to them.

Instead, they made a counter-proposal to Crouch which would see Crouch assume control of the boardroom in exchange for him clearing the whole of the overdraft with a loan of £6m. Crouch has since told the Daily Echo that he cannot afford that sort of money, particularly with the chances of seeing that money again looking increasingly unlikely the longer the club’s financial struggles continue.

Both sides of the table seem determined to make proposals that they know the other side can’t or won’t agree to, but I suppose the one positive to take from this news is that the three of them have managed to do most of their talking around the table. Perhaps the short-term ideal of the three of them being mature enough to work together in order to drag the club out of the League One-sized hole we’ve dug for ourselves.

While Crouch has been fairly renowned for his outbursts via the Daily Echo since he first came onto the scene in 2006, he does deserve a bit of credit this time around for realising that he’s not doing anyone any good by shooting from the hip without really thinking about what he’s saying first. He’s clearly disappointed that his proposal wasn’t accepted, although there does seem to be a bit too much coincidence that he also proposed the removal of Jan Poortvliet in favour of a manager with English experience. It seems as though he got half of his wish there, and to his credit has said that everyone should get behind Mark Wotte for the remainder of the season.

I don’t think anyone is in any doubt that there are sure to be more twists and turns in this saga before the end of the season. Perhaps even before March 24th, which is the deadline for clubs entering administration in order to collect the 10-point penalty this season rather than next season.