Dumbarton Football Club have yet to receive a penny from the company sponsoring their stadium and home strip, it’s been claimed.
Manchester based Moreroom.com were announced as major sponsors of the Sons in September - with their logo emblazoned on the club’s home shirts, and Dumbarton’s stadium renamed the Moreroom.com Stadium for the season.
However at a crunch meeting between fans, directors and owner Henning Kristoffersen last month, it was claimed that Moreroom.com have yet to pay for their sponsorship.
A statement issued by Sonstrust chair David Brownlee said: “The Trust raised concerns over the viability of Moreroom Extensions Ltd, a small business enterprise based in north-west England, wishing to sponsor the club.
“We asked specifically if any funds relating to the sponsorship of both the stadium and team strip (believed to be in the region of £35,000 from previous seasons) had been received.
“The club board confirmed that, at the time of the meeting, no money relating to this sponsorship, or part thereof, had been received.
“Both the trust and club board expressed mutual disappointment that this was the case.
“For our part, we continue to hold serious reservations about the ability of this sponsor to meet its financial obligation, with the obvious consequential loss of planned income to the club.”
The Lennox Herald contacted Moreroom.com, however they did not respond to our request for comment.
Meanwhile Henning Kristoffersen, who took over the Sons with his Cognitive Capital group last May, confirmed at the meeting that the new owners intend to re-apply for permission to build a new stadium at Young’s Farm, near Dalmoak.
Long-running proposals first introduced in 2012 were rejected by West Dunbartonshire Council in May 2018.
The area is currently classed as greenbelt and not part of the local development plan (LDP), meaning any development would be on hold until at least 2024.
A report compiled in 2020 by West Dunbartonshire Council said that Young’s Farm “has a significant green belt function” and its out-of-town location would leave the new venue “highly dependent on private car journeys” with “any urban development on this site likely to be damaging in landscape terms, particularly due to the erosion of the green belt gap between Dumbarton and Renton”.
The Sonstrust statement added: “The Trust asked for an update from the representative of the club’s ownership, noting that to date no new planning application has been lodged with West Dunbartonshire Council, nor indeed has there been any purchase of this land from the present owners.
“The representative of Cognitive Capital gave an assurance that this relocation remained the primary objective of the owners but could give no further detail of how this would be achieved, when it would be achieved, or how such a move would realise a benefit to the football club.”
