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| BBC H&W Tweet - November 11th, 2013 |
On October 15th last year, Bulls chairman David Keyte unveiled the full - stark - financial picture at Edgar Street. 13 month later, the picture is as bad, if not worse.
Back then the fans raised tens of thousands of pounds for the club. Walks, shaves, auctions, and straight donations raised funds. Coaches were paid for, quiz nights organised, and the club scraped through with the luck of a FA Cup run and a televised game.
This season there is to be no FA Cup bonanza - and seemingly little willing in the fans to bail the board out again even if the crisis is not currently as bad as last term's winding-up proceedings and unmet wage bills. Yet.
To be back in the same boat, lessons seemingly not learnt, after such a short time is pushing the fans' patience to the limit. £30,000 a month equates to over £200,000 through to the May 31st end of year where their budgeting would be set to.
How has this happened?
Several rounds of cost-cutting have taken place at Edgar Street, but the season ticket money went on the summer wage bill - the remnants of the Football League contracts - leaving the club effectively operating on their matchday attendances, and gates have been generally lower than hoped due to the disappointing product on offer.
Remove the 1,100 season ticket holders from the last home match, and the club effectively had a 'paid' gate of just 500. That's Hyde's level of attendance with a squad budget doubled.
What happens next?
Assuming the board continue with their inability to fund the club, a large hole will open up very quickly. The final pieces of October's wage bill will be covered this week, leaving only a Tuesday night home match at the end of the month, and the off-field income, to cover November's bill. Income from that match is likely to only cover 10-15% of the bill. The off-field income a similar amount.
What can the fans do?
The Supporters Trust is holding an open forum on Thursday at 8pm in Radfords, following their Elections, to seek the views of supporters on the way forward for the Trust. It will do what the fans ask, with the fans' support.
What can the fans do?
The Supporters Trust is holding an open forum on Thursday at 8pm in Radfords, following their Elections, to seek the views of supporters on the way forward for the Trust. It will do what the fans ask, with the fans' support.