Harriers were close to administration

New Kidderminster Harriers David Reynolds has revealed the crisis-hit club were just 24 hours from administration before his 11th-hour rescue bid.

The true extent of Harriers' grim financial position was exposed yesterday by Reynolds, who bought the club from Barry Norgrove on Thursday, with the club £250,000 in debt – 50% of which is payable by the end of the week.

And Reynolds believes the Blue Square Premier outfit would have had no option but to go into administration by Friday had he not stepped in.

He said: "It's a crisis, a serious crisis. I couldn't bear to see the club fall into the wrong hands, which may have happened, and the next option was administration.

"We had no offer on the table so I had to step in, reluctantly I must say. I didn't want the club to have the embarrassment of going into administration.

"It would have had a detrimental effect on the team and the supporters. People know my pedigree locally and I had to do what I had to do.

"The club was on a knife-edge and I made that response on the night to rescue it and give it some breathing space.

"How imminent was the threat of administration? Less than 24 hours away."

Mark Serrell, who has joined Reynolds on the new board, added the club are not out of the woods yet.

He said: "The club is still in a very difficult situation. All that is happened is that we've bought time."

The club are hosting a business lunch at the Aggborough Suite for Friday November 12 with a view to getting the business leaders of Kidderminster and surrounding areas involved.

A free fans' forum will be held next Monday at 7:30pm at the same venue, with all supporters urged to attend.

Anyone interested in going to either event should contact Helen MacDonald on 01562 823 931.