Lionel Newton has personally paid back the loan that former Chairman Dave Reynolds made to the club when he was the incumbent Chairman in the mid-nineties.

When he resigned after the resignation of former manager Graham Allner in 1998 he demanded all the £212,563 that he had given to the club be repaid back.

After the sale of Lee Hughes from WBA to Coventry City at the start of the season for a sum of £5,000,001, of which we were to receive around £750,000, Mr Reynolds called his loan in but Mr Newton refused saying that there were other more important loans and bills to be paid back first.

Mr Newton has now found that his hand has been forced after Mr Reynolds has recently obtained a court judgment against the Club for his debt. On the 1st November 2001 Mr Reynolds obtained an order against West Bromwich Albion Football Club for the payment of £245,023.38 to enforce his judgment against the Club.

Thanks to Mr Newton digging deep yet again this crisis has now been avoided.

Mr Newton, speaking to the official website, said:
"I am delighted to have resolved this matter once and for all. We can now, as a club, move forward.

A new era for the Club can now begin with its new board members and senior management steering our way to success.
We needed to resolve the dispute with Mr Reynolds before this could happen.
The settlement which has been concluded gives the Club a clean break which I feel will benefit all parties.

Settlement of Mr Reynolds' debt, the purchase of his shares together with recent results on the pitch all point to a positive and successful future for Kidderminster Harriers Football Club."

It just leaves two questions to be answered now, the first being:
When Mr Newton in turn decides to sever all connection with the club will he in turn go through the same process as Dave Reynolds or will the debt be written off.

The other question is where does this leave Jan Molby regarding team strengthening. Will we be seeing a mini clearout or will this be left till the end of the season to see if the crowds improve along with a, hopefully, successful season.