Swindon's Cup pay-day is blocked by Ruddock
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Your support makes all the difference.The wages dispute between Neil Ruddock and Swindon Town took a new twist yesterday after the former Liverpool defender succeeded in freezing the club's share of an FA Cup gate.
Ruddock, who claims he is owed £86,000 by the Second Division club, obtained a High Court order to block their £140,000 share of last Sunday's second round-tie at Oxford United. Swindon insist they have no money to pay Ruddock, and the two parties will meet at an industrial tribunal today.
Since signing for Swindon as player-coach in August 2001, the veteran centre-half has played 17 games, his last appearance being last December. His contract, which still has another 18 months to run, is believed to be worth £5,000 per-week, and accounts for 25 per-cent of Swindon's total wage bill.
The club's majority shareholder had agreed to fund a pay-off for Ruddock, who turned down the amount on offer. The 18-month remainder of his contract, plus the amount he claims he is owed, would total around £426,000.
A knee injury has prevented Ruddock from playing and affected his struggle for fitness. Last season, Swindon had to commission their Far Eastern kit manufacturer to make specially large shorts for Ruddock, who tried on 86 pairs at the club and was unable to find a pair that fit him.
Swindon's chief executive Mark Devlin said: "We cannot pay him because the money does not exist within the club. We have said all along that any settlement with Neil Ruddock was going to have to be met by a third party and that has always been the case."
Ruddock's solicitor Stephen Welfare claimed money owed to the player could be paid out of what had been frozen. Welfare said: "The club has always said that the basic wages of its players are budgeted for. They also said before the FA cup match that this was an unbudgeted for windfall, which says it all really."
The Millwall chairman Theo Paphitis claims a £40m cash injection for the Nationwide League will only ensure clubs can pay their players in the short-term.
The Football Association, Football Foundation and Premier League are joining forces to make extra money available in the wake of ITV Digital's collapse. First Division clubs like Millwall are set to receive £332,000 each before Christmas.
Millwall lost around £2.5m from the fall in television revenues, and will use any hand-out to help pay wages, but Paphitis insists clubs will only survive if succeed in controlling their budgets. He said: "Clubs now have a bit longer to put their houses in order and secure their futures by managing themselves better."
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