Mike Ashley threatens coup at Goals Soccer Centres

Mr Ashley’s company, Sports Direct, said it is planning to vote against the reappointment of Goals Soccer Centres’ entire board at its annual general meeting (AGM) next week as a result of “perceived lack of transparency” over a recent accounting blunder and the resulting loss of confidence.

Sports Direct owns a 19 per cent stake in five-a-side football business Goals Soccer Centres.

Mr Ashley had demanded that independent advisers at Kroll be appointed to look into the accounting errors, which are estimated to be around £12m.

On Wednesday, Goals Soccer Centres said it was continuing talks with HMRC over the blunder.

The group added that it had already engaged forensic accountants over the issue.

Sports Direct responded by claiming that the appointed advisers are not independent, being a division of the company’s auditors.

It also said that, since one major shareholder sits on the board, they will have access to information which is unknown to other investors.

Sports Direct said it would make any Kroll report available for all shareholders.

Sports Direct has demanded that the board of Goals Soccer Centres should allow corporate investigator Kroll to carry out a “cradle to grave” report into the company’s finances. The costs of the probe would be borne by Sports Direct.

Goals Soccer Centres’ AGM will be held on June 28.

Shares in Goals Soccer Centres were suspended from trading on London’s AIM market in March after it revealed the £12m misdeclaration of VAT sales tax.

Goals Soccer Centres, which has 50 sites in the UK and US, had a market share of £20m when its shares were suspended.

Last month, Goals warned over its results for both 2018 and 2019 following the VAT misdeclaration, and said it may not be able to complete its 2018 audit by its June 30 deadline.

Despite the warning, it gave assurances that talks with lenders “remain positive” and added that current trading has continued to be strong in the UK and US.

It was also dealt a blow last month with the news that chief executive Andy Anson plans to quit after a year to become the new chief executive of the British Olympic Association.

Goals Soccer Centres confirmed earlier this week that it has hired advisory firm Deloitte to assess future options, which could see a sale of the listed firm.

Mr Ashley is tipped to be a potential bidder to buy the company outright, adding to his shopping spree which has recently included House of Fraser, Evans Cycles and an ongoing bid for Game Digital.

The bust-up comes just a few months after a showdown between Sports Direct and the board of Debenhams, as the department store turned down several offers from Mr Ashley for rescue funds and his attempts to become chief executive.

The scrap resulted in the ousting of then-chairman Ian Cheshire and former CEO Sergio Bucher, when Sports Direct voted against their reappointment at an AGM.