LLANELLI IN CRISIS

ASSISTANT manager Steve Jenkins, defender Martyn Giles and midfielder Mamadou Diallo have joined manager Andy Legg in quitting crisis club Llanelli.

Coach and long-serving club stalwart Gary Lloyd is understood to be considering his future.

Legg and Jenkins met chairman Nitin Parekh in Oxford last week for crunch talks after the squad did not receive their wages for October and were already owed money before that.

"We were given promises and assurances on what was going to happen, but they never materialised," Legg told the South Wales Evening Post.

"Things are not getting any better. I can't continue because it's affecting my family life.

"It's affecting me as a person. I want to talk about football, not wages and money."

Veteran Giles, who started his career with Cardiff City, played for Barry Town, Port Talbot and Hereford United before joining the Reds in 2010, while Guinea-born Diallo was a summer signing from the Bluebirds.

Jenkins was a team-mate of Legg's at both Swansea and Cardiff.

Legg stressed that his decision to quit was not a reaction to Sunday's 6-1 home defeat at the hands of Gap Connah's Quay.


It's down to ongoing things. We can't do our jobs - our hands are tied.

"It was nothing to do with Sunday's result, I told the players before then, I had already made my mind up," Legg added.

"It's down to ongoing things. We can't do our jobs - our hands are tied.

"I'm dealing with situations I shouldn't be dealing with.

"I stuck with the players because they wanted me to be there, but there are so many false promises I can't continue."

Assurances

Meanwhile, in a further development, the Football Association of Wales is withholding money earned by the club for representing Wales in the Europa League until they receive assurances that players owed money will be given priority.

Welsh Premier League secretary Gwyn Derfel told Radio Wales: "Llanelli are still owed some European money.

"That money has arrived with the FAW in the last couple of days... what we've said to the chairman is we'd like past and present players to be treated as preferential creditors and we've said we won't release the money until we get certain assurances from the chairman about that.

"Now once we release that money we've got no right to demand what happens but we can certainly make strong suggestions about where the money should go."

LLANELLI could lose the right to play at their Stebonheath Park home if outstanding rent of more than £18,000 is not paid to the town council in the next four weeks.

Concerns about the Reds' future surfaced again this week after news that the club faces another winding-up petition over unpaid tax in London's High Court later this month

Not, it has been revealed that the club owes £9,147.60 in rent for use of their Council-owned ground and a further £9,109.82 in respect of the social club.

As a result, members of the council's Stebonheath development committee have instructed solicitors to write to the football club to notify it of its breach of contract with regard to non-payment of rent.

Both the football club's licence for the ground and the lease of the social club will be terminated by the town council unless payment is received.

"While it is within its rights to take immediate possession of the ground and social club, the council has given the football club 28 days to contact the council and negotiate new agreements and settlement of their arrears,"

town clerk Mel Edwards told the South Wales Evening Post.

"During this period the football club, while the company remains a legal entity, will be permitted to use the ground to fulfil their fixtures and the social club will be allowed to continue to trade."

Council leader Carl Lucas added: "The town council has been very patient with Llanelli AFC Ltd with regard to the payment of their rent.

"The council has heavily subsidised Stebonheath Park and has invested in its future with improvements of the football pitch and infrastructure.

"It is very disappointing to see the football club in such dire financial trouble but the council has to do what is right for the council tax payers of Llanelli.

"It is hoped that, with the period of grace we have given the club, a dialogue will take place that will resolve the situation to the benefit of both parties and the club can continue to bring credit to the town."


The council has to do what is right for the council tax payers of Llanelli.

Following a meeting with Reds' chairman Nitin Parekh in July, assurances were given that an immediate payment would be made to the council against the arrears, with the remainder being settled before the end of July.

But the council says these payments have not materialised.

Llanelli's financial woes surfaced in the summer when they staved-off a winding-up petition from HM Revenue and Customers.

Club bosses then said all outstanding debts had been paid and, in October, chairman Parekh made some outstanding payments to players after they threatened to boycott a Word Cup clash at Haverfordwest, which could have seen the club hit with a fine of £10,000.

But others were still owed five weeks of wages at the time.

Parekh has also been involved in talks with Welsh Premier League officials in a bid to solve the club's crisis and save it from obscurity.