One of Scotland’s oldest community football clubs has admitted plans for a new £13.5m greenbelt stadium are unlikely to go ahead.
Dumbarton FC’s offshore owners had hoped to fund a new ground outside the town by selling off nearby land for housing.
However, its own planning consultant has admitted that councillors are unlikely to approve the scheme.
Roddy Macleod told fans at the club’s current iconic ground - in the shadow of Dumbarton Rock - that such a stance was problematic.
He said: “We’ve tested the market thoroughly and we know there’s no commercial opportunity to bring in any other operations or any other opportunities that level of funding to support the development, so residential development is the only realistic values to cross-fund the proposed stadium development in the community sports hub.”
The plans involved selling 28 acres at £500,000 per acre to fund their proposed £13.5m stadium relocation at Young’s Farm in Dalmoak. The club had a provisional offer for the land.
Dumbarton is controlled by an English shell firm called Brabco 736, which in turn is owned by an offshore entity called Granada Enterprises Limited.
An investigation by The Herald’s sister paper, The Dumbarton Reporter, revealed that one investor, Andrew Hosie, 45, had admitted a charge misleading investors, giving them false information on a number of occasions. He has been banned being a company director for 12 years.
Chris Stainton, a director of Brabco 736 – the company which owns 75 per cent of Dumbarton FC – made his first public appearance at the meeting, which took place last week.
Mr Stainton, who recently settled an HMRC bill out of court, said Brabco 736 directors originally wanted to take the “silent investors approach to the club, with no expectation of running it”. Some investors are understood to continue to be anonymous.
Mr Stainton has replaced another director of Brabco - who was embroiled in a tax controversy - as the public face of the owners.
Simon Barrow, of Sonstrust supporters group, said: “Dumbarton fans made it clear that we would like to secure a larger say and stakeholding in the club moving forward.”
Mr Barrow added that the meeting had been “constructive”.
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