Sporting Digest: Football

A TAKEOVER bid for Hartlepool United has been delayed by the Inland Revenue. Harold Hornsey, a local businessman, asked creditors yesterday to agree a voluntary arrangement under which he would take control and pay off pounds 500,000 debts over the next two years. But the Inland Revenue, who are owed pounds 102,000, objected to coming second in the pecking order to football creditors and the creditors' meeting was adjourned for two weeks while further negotiations take place.