QPR's Financial Difficulties Reported

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The Times - January 25, 2007 The Insider - Kevin Eason
Queens Park Rangers, the troubled Coca-Cola Championship club, have narrowly avoided a date in the High Court after agreeing to pay the St John Ambulance service an outstanding sum, thought to be about £18,000. St John lawyers lodged a date of February 21 for a winding-up order, but QPR have come to an arrangement to pay in instalments.
Supporters remain worried that the club are a little like a Christmas shopaholic facing up to depressing new year debts. Meetings with Gianni Paladini, the chairman, have not eased their fears after he reported that the club had cashflow problems. Many blame hefty repayments on the £10 million high-interest loan with the Panama-registered ABC Corporation, which helped the club to stagger out of administration five years ago.
With outstanding debts including a large bill from the Inland Revenue, the last thing QPR needed was to be dumped out of the FA Cup on Tuesday night by Luton Town. A third-round victory guarantees prize-money of £40,000, but a Cup run, no matter how modest, could have netted the club £250,000 or more from television income. The Times

DAILY MAIL - QPR sued over unpaid first aid By ROBERT MENDICK -
Queen's Park Rangers football club has been served with a winding up order for failing to pay its first aid bill.
The St John Ambulance, which provides cover at all home games at Loftus Road, sued the club for the non-payment of bills, according to court documents.
The club owed St John Ambulance a little over £17,000 — equivalent to a day’s wages for John Terry, captain of QPR’s biggest rivals Chelsea — but the charity has been forced to drag the club through the courts to extract the money.
The charity served the club with a winding up petition in December.
The petition gives the club until 21 February to settle the bill or be declared insolvent.
A spokeswoman for QPR said St John Ambulance had now received two cheques from the club and the final instalment was due on 1 February.
A spokeswoman for St John Ambulance said: "We are committed to supporting QPR." Daily Mail