Tax Ruling: Amorgan Blues also in financial trouble.

by Ryan Solis, PFL Reporter

The Amorgan Blues, one of the PFL’s oldest teams is in financial trouble. The news broke on Monday, following another tax appeal decision that went against the PFL team.

The Commissioner will meet with representatives of the Blues franchise in the coming days. It is mentioned on SportsMax that the last financial report showed there was a loss made last year, with an adjustment to be made and a few million to be paid over in taxes, Amorgan could be in real trouble of bankruptcy.

More to follow when we get it. What a year this has been for team finances.

PFL GOTW- Giants at Bulldogs

PFL Game of the Week

   MELBORG GIANTS  31

   CALIGARA BULLDOGS 24

	Q1	Q2	Q3	Q4	ET	FT
MELBORG	14	7	7	3	–	31
CALIGARA	10	7	7	0	–	24

Summary:
The Melborg Giants won a thrilling contest in Caligara on Sunday. The Giants’ mean defence shut down both the Caligara run game and the Slater-to-Slater passing connection. Alternate winger Dennis Morales had 9 catches for 144 yards, including a 76 yard catch and run.

The Giants ran a simple and effective gameplan aginst the Bulldogs, running quick straight-ahead plays and quick passes. The Bulldogs had two opportunities to draw level in the fourth quarter, but both fourth downs resulted in incomplete passes- one to which brought a huge reaction from the home fans who insisted there was a defensive hold on the play.

Scoring:
1st Quarter:
MEL Hand 10 pass to Miller (Williams Kick)
CAL Wright 39 FG
MEL Beckett 98 yard kick return (Williams Kick)
CAL Slater 76 pass to Morales (Wright Kick)
2nd Quarter:
MEL Higgins 10 run (Williams Kick)
CAL Slater 5 pass to Slater (Wright Kick)
3rd Quarter:
MEL (Williams Kick)
CAL Slater 9 pass to Morales (Wright Kick)
4th Quarter:
MEL Williams 31 FG

Stats:

	Giants	Bulldogs
First Downs	22	18
Third Down Converts	6/13	6/15
Third Down %	46.2 %	40 %
Fourth Down Converts	0/0	0/2
Fourth Down %	0 %	0 %
Double Pointers	0/0	0/0
Double Point %	0 %	0 %
Run Plays	32	31
Run Yards	97	64
Run Average	3.0	2.1
Passing	20/28	20/34
Net Pass Yards	244	299
Touchdown Passes	2	3
TOTAL YARDS	341	363
Defensive Marks	1	0
Defensive INTs	0	0
Punts	5	6
Punting Average	45.4	38.3
Field Goals	1/2	1/2
Field Goal %	50 %	50 %
Fumbles	1	1
Fumbles Lost	0	0
Penalties	3	5
Penalty Yards	15	42
Turnovers	0	0
Handovers	0	2
Possession (Time)	29:42	31:38

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Back to the Field!

After a week of uncertainty over certain teams finances, it was back to business as usual for the teams – on the field.

And here’s five things we learned:

1. The Melborg Giants’ defence is stout. Can’t run, can’t pass. Eeek! Coles  and Franklin are beasts!
   
2. The defending champions, Adelphia Phoenix are wobbling. With Marshall Knight out injured, the team is looking a bit thin on the ground- and the defence is seemingly very suspect. That decisive week one win seems a long time ago.
3. Slater-to-Slater works! Rookie QB Zack is finding his namesake Seth, and there have been biiiiig gains. Teams are going to have to double up on Seth, methinks.
4. Ballymore, National Conference Champions last year, are finding the going tough this year. Teams have locked down their ground game, forcing Mills to pass more. The Tigers’ defence is also needing a few tweaks, as holes are appearing. Not the force they were in 2015-16.
5. Number one draft pick, Panthers’ QB Kelvin Stewart needs some people to hold onto the ball. There were six dropped passes this weekend. If he can find his go-to receiver, they could catch on fire. 

PFL Executives: Contingency plans in place.

-Scott Thomas, PFL Columnist.

An unnamed PFL official has been quoted as saying that there is a contingency plan in place for any eventually with the upcoming financial reviews for the Victoria Panthers and Pottsburgh Cardinals.

It is suggested that the league may have to contract to 18 teams, if the troubled teams cannot keep their league licenses, due to funding issues. Teams that go bankrupt lose their eligibility. The Victoria Panthers are currently working with league administrators and insolvency  experts as the league is temporarily running operations as the League Insolvency Protocol System (LIPS) has now been activated.

It would appear that the league will still have two conferences- with nine teams each. The play-off pool would be reduced to eight, from ten. The league has always maintained that there should never be more than half of the teams qualifying for the play-offs.

As the dates for the next three Crystal Bowls are already set, one decision would be to start the season a week later than planned, or to have a bye week for the eight play-off teams to begin the play-offs.

There’s still time, of course, for the two teams to fix their situations. The Panthers are in a deeper hole than the Cardinals at this point. But, it’s interesting to note that the league is already working on a plan b (and maybe a plan c).

Statement from the Commisioner

Pottsburgh Cardinals

Victoria Panthers

PFL Commisioner David Thomas has released the following statement, following the news of financial uncertainty involving two PFL teams.

“We, at the PFL, are looking into the financial situations involving two of our teams- the Victoria Panthers and the Pottsburgh Cardinals. Both teams may end up breaking the financial regulations and standards that league members are required to adhere to. If this is going to be the case, the league executive will hold an extraordinary general meeting to decide the futures and fate of both members.

Nothing will be decided until financial plans and administrators have spoken with us. Games are still going to be going ahead as scheduled. I would like to thank the players, the fans and the whole football community for showing patience and tolerance whilst we are working through these trying moments for two valued members of our league”

Commissioner David Thomas,

The Professional Football League.

 

Chaos! Cardinals lose Tax case.

So, it’s not just Victoria Panthers in trouble…. things just got worse for the league, following a two year court case involving the Pottsburgh Cardinals and the ERS Tax Authority (Eborian Revenue Service). Payments and accounting mechanisms have been scrutinised and ruled illegal.

The Cardinals now face a hefty tax bill, with interest and big penalties- as it appears to be have been deliberate evasion. With the Cardinals having borrowed money to update the aging Cardinals Stadium, they might be in the same situation as Victoria.

Reports that deal are attempting to be struck with the ERS are fluctuating. Time will tell if the league has two teams facing a potential axe- or suspension. Troubling times indeed.

 

Panthers Bankrupt! What’s going on?

The long battle in Victoria for financial stability appears to be over. Rumours coming out of the Panthers camp is that they are headed for bankruptcy.

Borrowing heavily has caught up with them, attendances have been down for the last five years- something that hasn’t helped the cashflow in Victoria.

Players had reported that they had not all received their wages for the past few weeks, which is where the rumours started from. USN Insiders announced the story on Monday morning.

What does Bankruptcy do for the team’s status?

Teams are not allowed to be in the red. If this is temporary, with the team proving to have have a cohesive plan for staying afloat, they can be given temporary reprieve.

If there is no prospect of the money coming- new investment, etc. The league may temporarily take over the team, who will be barred form the playoffs. The league office will then decide whether to pull the license from the team. If that happens, Victoria Panthers can still exist (if they survive the bankruptcy) but not in the PFL.

Worrying times in the Panthers camp. They should be guaranteed to last for 2016-17 season, at the very least.

What happens to the players?

The players, if not paid for two months, can cancel their contracts and become free agents. They would be free to sign with any other team. If they have been paid, they will enter a reallocation draft- if the team does not survive.

MNG: Chakota 31-38 Landor

What a great start to Monday Night Games on EBC! Chakota vs Landor had it all, big plays, broken plays, injuries and comebacks!

Trailing 31-24 going into the fourth quarter, the pressure was on Elijah Brooks and the Knights’ attack to get going. Brooks and Mackenzie ran well and as the team put the ball in the playmakers hands to get the job done. It really paid off. Having struggled for three quarters, the Knights’ defence finally got some stops and put pressure on QB Billy Humphrey.

Brooks was 19 for 31 for 229 yards and two touchdowns, ran for 41 more. Mackenzie had 118 on the ground and two touchdowns.

For the visitors, Humphrey was 25 for 38 with 323 yards and three touchdowns.

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Monday Night Game! Tonight!

Tonight we have the first Monday Night Game on it’s new home- EBS! The Chakota Wasps travel not very far to meet the Landor Knights. This one should be a shoot-out!

Pre-game show 7.30pm-8.25 pm | Kick  off: 8.30 EET

Offensive Options! 

Wasps: Billy Humphrey, veteran gun-slinging quarterback. Teemed with good receivers.

Knights: Good catchers, Great multi-threat QB (Elijah Brooks) and MacKenzie is an exciting prospect in the running game.

There may, or may not, be defences on show(!) it really will be time for them to show up strong!

#MNG #LANvsCHA #HereWeGo

Kickoff16: Steelers 13, Phoenix 41

The season has now officially kicked off, with the defending champions getting off to a great start with a deserved 41-13 win over the Iomagh Steelers.

Iomagh held the Phoenix to 20-13 at halftime, but with three second-half touchdowns, the Phoenix romped away with it.

The Steelers tried out Jared Millard and Cam Rogers at Quarterback. Rogers impressed early and will probably get the start next week! Millard started 1-6 with a fumbled snap.

For the Phoenix, the carried on from where they left off last season. Despite missing several stars in defence, captain midfielder Michael Keys recorded nine tackles and forced a fumble. On the attack, Marshall Knight had 112 yards on the ground and 2 touchdowns, QB Matt Kelly threw for 241 yards and three scores (one to Knight) with no interceptions.

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