• Premier League club issue proceedings in the high court
• They seek ‘to protect the commercial best interests of the club’

Hull City are taking legal action against their former chairman Paul Duffen, with the case due in the high court today. Duffen left the KC Stadium in late October when he was replaced by Adam Pearson.

Hull yesterday issued the following statement: “Hull City Football Club has now issued legal proceedings against Paul Duffen in the high court. This action has been taken to protect the commercial best interests of the football club against the actions undertaken by Paul Duffen while in office at Hull City.”

Duffen left suddenly in the wake of stark warnings that the club was facing a potential financial crisis and Russell Bartlett, Hull’s owner, immediately hired Pearson as chairman.

Pearson was Hull’s previous owner before being bought out by a consortium featuring Bartlett and Duffen in 2007. Once the £12m takeover was completed Duffen became the chairman and public face of Hull. After presiding over promotion to the Premier League – the first time Hull had reached English football’s top tier – he promised substantial investment in Phil Brown’s squad and proved true to his word when the talented but injury prone midfielder Jimmy Bullard became the club’s record signing, joining for £5m from Fulham last January.

By October, though, Hull were being cautioned that their uncertain financial position threatened the club’s “ability to continue as a going concern”. The club’s accounts, filed five months late to Companies House, revealed that in the event of relegation they would need to generate a £23m surplus just to meet their existing liabilities.

The grim forecast from the club’s accountants, Deloitte, emphasised the need for an imminent financial overhaul to safeguard Hull’s future. In the accounts for the year ending 2008, which were due on 31 May but only filed in October, the club made a £9,764,850 loss during a period that culminated in winning promotion to the Premier League.

Most telling, though, was Deloitte’s prediction that Hull would need to raise an additional £16m should they retain their Premier League status this season and a further £7m again if the club slip back into the Championship.

Duffen, a father of five with a love of fast cars who is a former chief executive of Catalyst Media Group plc and earlier worked in sales and marketing for Procter and Gamble, swiftly stepped down, saying: “I must take responsibility for a disappointing 2009.”

No one at Hull City was prepared to comment last night, when the Guardian was unable to contact Duffen.

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