At the moment Ilkeston Football Club DO still exist!
Whether they do in the future appears to depend on Higher Intelligence Ltd exercising their right to wind up the club over an owed £15,000 debt. This action appears to depend on which if any body agree to takeover the club.
All Eight Management Ltd have agreed in principle to a takeover. Since this was announced Alan Hardy the Chairman of Notts County has also stated he wishes to rescue the club.
The question of which league Ilkeston might play in is still in doubt. The Evo Stik League have thrown Ilkeston out of the NPL. The Northern Counties East League and the Midlands League have already announced their constitution for next season which leaves the East Midlands Counties League, the Central Midlands League or Notts Senior League as possible destinations. However time is quickly running out for any of these options.
Ilkeston United Community Football Club formed by the IFCSG in the event that Ilkeston Football Club disappear have I presume talked to the Central Midlands League and Notts Senior League about joining their organisations. The issue they have is if IFC do not go bust do they keep plans on hold or do they plough ahead and start up in competition with IFC. This will cause a number of problems including the question of where the supporters club play but more the issue of splitting the fan base! The IFCSG has stated that they will not set up in competition to IFC but there will be a call to do so from many frustrated fans!
Nigel Harrop has been interviewed in the Non League Paper and has stated that he believes that the club will continue to exist and will be taken over. However there was no mention of the Academy and this worries many fans. He also stated that Ilkeston's financial issues were caused by not receiving the sell on money from the Che Adams transfer from Sheffield United to Birmingham City. For legal reasons Nigel could not name who the money was paid to but it does not take much to work out where it might have gone!
Overal the future is no clearer than it was last week and it looks like the period of uncertainty might drag on a bit longer still! The reality is that time is running short for football to be sorted for the start of the 2027/18 season!