Crusaders' future in more doubt after winding-up order is delayed

The uncertainty over Crusaders' future was prolonged today when a winding-up order was adjourned for a week rather than dropped as the Welsh club had predicted. The hearing provided the first confirmation that the club have applied to go into administration, with a lawyer for the administrators telling the court that the debts owed to Her Majesty's Revenue & Customs and other creditors had been paid. But Matthew Smith, counsel for HMRC, refuted that, and the court therefore refused to drop the winding-up petition as requested. Ian Roberts, the Crusaders chairman, refused to comment, or even to confirm that the application for administration will be heard on Friday. Earlier the club had issued a press release announcing that two more members of last season's squad, Peter Lupton and Frank Winterstein, had signed new contracts until the end of 2012.