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Oxford United’s stadium landlord withdraws winding-up order

Firoka, the owner of Oxford United’s Kassam Stadium, has withdrawn its winding-up order after the League One club paid its reported £204,000 (€231,461/$258,957) debt.

Tim Davies, the club’s financial director, said the club would meet with the landlord’s company, which is owned by Oxford’s former chairman Firoz Kassam, to “build a better relationship.”

The debt that was related to the quarterly rent and service charge at the 12,500-capacity stadium was settled earlier this month, with the petition formally dismissed on Wednesday in the High Court.

Davies said: “One thing we clearly need to do is to build a better relationship with our landlords. All we have ever asked for is a fair rent, including the service charge, for our use of the stadium.

“We look forward to sitting down with Firoka at a meeting on May 28 in the hope that we can hold open, constructive talks to try to find a way that works for both parties.”

The club has been served with five winding-up petitions since February 2018.

Davies continued: “We have talked at length with the Board and Shareholders about some of the challenges which the club faced last season but hopefully this draws a line under those.

“We are working very hard at board level to provide a more robust financial model within the club. It is still going to be tough but we are currently in a good place to go forward positively.”

Image: Oxford United