As the Friday court deadline approaches, the BBC have indicated that a buyer has offered to stake a claim to Oldham Athletic. The following article explains:
“Laurence Bassini is interested in buying League Two club Oldham Athletic after failing with a bid to take control of Bolton Wanderers last year. BBC Radio Manchester reports that Bassini was at the financially-troubled club for meetings on Tuesday. Bassini's intended takeover of Bolton was announced in April 2019 but the deal fell through the following month. Oldham could be put in administration on Friday because of debts owed to former owner Simon Blitz. His company Brass Bank, which owns Boundary Park, served the club with a notice to the court to appoint administrators on 28 February. Talks are ongoing between Oldham and Brass Bank as they try to resolve issues that emerged last week.
“Oldham, who are 17th in League Two and 19 points above the solitary relegation place in the division, will face a 12-point deduction if they go into administration. The club is also due in court on 18 March for a winding-up petition brought by HM Revenue & Customs. In 2013, Bassini was banned from any involvement in football for three years because of financial misconduct during his spell as Watford owner, which had ended a year earlier. He appeared in position to take over from Ken Anderson at Bolton, then a Championship club, towards the end of last season. However, the deal collapsed, with Wanderers claiming Bassini had failed to provide proof of funds by the club's deadline. Wanderers later went into administration and were close to liquidation when the Football Ventures consortium completed their takeover in August - although that was not before Bassini had been awarded a court order to initially block the sale.”
The news has not gone down well with the majority of the Latics fans who understand the troubled past of Mr. Bassini.