THE very future of Livingston has been plunged into fresh doubt as Ged Nixon, their former chief executive, bids to have the club's money frozen.
THE very future of Livingston has been plunged into fresh doubt as Ged Nixon, their former chief executive, bids to have the club's money frozen.
Nixon's legal team will ask Lord Tyre at the Court of Session in Edinburgh to authorise an 'Arrestment of Funds Order' tomorrow morning. If he is successful, funds will be ring-fenced ahead of a scheduled court hearing next March, with Nixon intent on sueing the West Lothian outfit for £311,000.
The latest off-field development has left supporters fearing that their club could be forced into administration for a third time after suffering insolvency events in both 2004 and 2009. Livingston are scheduled to pay their monthly wage bill on Christmas Day and the club officials were yesterday looking at how this court ruling could affect their cash flow.
With much of Livingston's estimated £1.5m debt due to the chairman Gordon McDougall, vice-chairman Robert Wilson, shareholder Neil Rankine and Nixon, it is thought that the club is not under threat in the short-term. McDougall, Rankine and Nixon were all unwilling to speak publicly yesterday, while the manager John McGlynn was only willing to confirm that he was aware of tomorrow's court date.
Don Paul, a board member of Livi For Life Supporters Trust, said: "There is a fight going on between Ged Nixon and Neil Rankine and they appear to detest each other, and the club is stuck in the middle.
"It has nothing to do with the players and the fans, or the club for that matter but it's the name of Livingston Football Club that is having its name dragged through the mud again."
Nixon and the aforementioned McDougall, Rankine and Wilson pooled their cash to take the club out of administration five years ago but Nixon stepped down from his post in October last year following a fall-out with Rankine, who controls a 50 per cent shareholding, and the pair have been at loggerheads ever since.
In a statement on the club's website in August, Livingston admitted to having paid undeclared bonuses to players in 2010 and 2011 and pinned the blame on Nixon. The Championship outfit was subsequently given a five-point penalty and fined £10,000 by the Scottish Professional Football League last month.
The Scottish Football Association's Judicial Panel are also currently investigating whether Rankine has any official link with East Fife and is in breach of any club ownership rules. On the pitch, McGlynn's side are four points adrift of Cowdenbeath at the basement following Saturday's 5-1 win at Raith Rovers.
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