DUNDEE Football Club yesterday became only the second SPL side to go into administration in a move aimed at saving it from extinction.
Ernst & Young, the financial consultants, said administrators had been appointed to give the club ''breathing space'' and allow it to restructure its operations and debts of (pounds) 20m.
The Dundee FC Supporters' Association said last night that it believed administration was the only option but claimed it was crucial that the administrators retained as many good players as possible to ensure the club remained in the SPL and attractive to potential investors.
On a bad day for the club, police confirmed that two players were arrested after an incident outside a Dundee nightclub in the early hours of yesterday.
Nacho Novo and Brent Sancho were arrested outside Fat Sam's nightclub and charged with assault. An unidentified third man, believed to be a junior player at the club, has also been charged and a report sent to the procurator-fiscal. Novo and Sancho are expected to appear in court tomorrow.
The appointment of administrators, which is the last step before bankruptcy, highlights the scale of the Premierleague club's financial problems.
The club, which is losing (pounds) 100,000 a week, has been in financial difficulties for several years and must now endure a period of severe cost-cutting like Motherwell, which went into administration 19 months ago.
Ernst & Young warned that solutions to Dundee's ''critical'' problems would not be easy to find.
Jimmy and Peter Marr, who own Dundee, insisted the procedure was necessary to safeguard the club's future.
But Giovanni di Stefano, the lawyer whose directorship of Dundee has still to be ratified
by the Scottish Football Association (SFA), claimed the move would signal the end of its 110-year history and has instructed lawyers to intervene.
The appointment of administrators places a major question mark over the future of high-earning players such as Fabrizio Ravanelli and Craig Burley, who joined the club in September, although Mr di Stefano insisted he would continue to pay Ravanelli's wages, reportedly (pounds) 6000 a week, to help keep him at Dundee.
Tom Burton and Fiona Taylor of Ernst & Young have been appointed joint administrators with the sanction of the Court of Session in Edinburgh. The application was made with the consent of the Bank of Scotland, the company's principal creditors. The fast-track application was made under the Enterprise Act 2003, introduced two months ago.
Mr Burton, who successfully guided Portsmouth and Gillingham football clubs through administration, warned: ''This move stops the clock running on the club's debts and gives us the ability to restructure its operations and debts.
''However, the company is in a critical financial position and solutions to its problems will not be easy to find.''
He added: ''The company has some (pounds) 20m of debt and is losing approximately (pounds) 100,000 per week. This cannot be allowed to continue.''
Peter Marr, Dundee's chief executive, maintained the club could bounce back stronger from administration.
He said: ''These are difficult days for our players, fans and employees alike but, hopefully, Dundee can emerge from this process in a stronger state.''
John Langlands, treasurer of the supporters' association, said: ''I think this was the only option and the only way ahead in which the Marrs might be able to retain some control of the club in the future.''
On the day Dundee were placed in administration, the Motherwell administrator revealed plans to offer creditors a dividend that would allow the club to function fully in January or February.
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