New Chesterfield FC owners "very disappointed" after missing out on six-figure sum from Liam Cooper's Leeds United Premier League promotion

When the Spireites sold Cooper to Leeds in 2014 they negotiated a clause which would entitle them to an additional sum of money if the Whites won promotion to the Premier League and if the defender made a certain amount of appearances during the same season.

Leeds won the Championship title this campaign and Cooper played a large chunk of games, triggering the windfall.

The Spireites were taken over by the Chesterfield FC Community Trust last week, and they had been “assured” by the previous ownership that the payment, believed to be around £150,000, would arrive this week.

But to the trust’s “surprise”, they have since found out that the money had already been received by the club before they took over.

Spireites chairman, Mike Goodwin, said: “We are naturally very disappointed to have missed out on receiving a six-figure sum from the sell-on clause, but the matter was out of our hands.

"Having been assured that the payment was due to be received by the club this week, it was a great surprise when we took charge of the company bank account to learn that the money had already been transferred prior to the community trust taking ownership.

"It is disappointing, but we had factored in the possibility that this sum of money may not be available to us as it was all down to the timing of the payment and we had no way of influencing that.

"On a positive note, we have been very encouraged by the terrific response from supporters since the takeover was announced.”

In response, former Chesterfield owner, Dave Allen, said in a statement: “The long and protracted takeover has consistently been delayed by the community trust and the councils, not us.

“If they had got all their ducks in a row earlier then they would have obviously had the benefit of the money.

“If they had also conducted a final audit prior to purchasing the club they would have seen that the money had been already received before they went public in the press conference. You don’t buy a house without taking a final meter reading,

“During the delays I had to inject a further £500,000 into the club, so I don’t see a problem.

“They will of course benefit from any sell on of Sam Morsy in the future, so I guess we are even.”

Former Spireites company secretary, Ashley Carson, added: “We were surprised to see the Liam Cooper money enter our bank account earlier than anticipated. However the six figure sum was only used to pay off CFC 2001 Ltd debt prior to the takeover.”