Exeter City face a huge cut in their wage bill next season as the realities of life without a blank chequebook owner in the current football climate looms over the fan-owned club.
The Grecians are the poster boys of the fan ownership model. Rescued from near bankruptcy in 2003 by the Supporters Trust, with two of the former owners later being convicted of fraudulent trading, they secured a CVA in 2004 before a fortuitous FA Cup draw with Manchester United cleared the CVA debt.
Returning to the EFL in 2008, the club has usually been a League Two contender or a League One also-ran ever since. Currently in their fourth successive season in League One, they dispensed with their CEO over the summer, later citing a disciplinary process that found 'three counts of gross misconduct' - a matter disputed by the man in question - over financial forecasts and spending that exceeded authorised amounts.
Whatever the course of events, the club now finds itself in deep waters. New Chairman Richard Pym warned fans on Friday night that the playing budget would be slashed by at least £1million to achieve 'cash equilibrium' in the coming season.
Payments from the members of the Supporters Trust will also be expected to rise, from £2 a month to £5 a month to help cover the shortfall in income as the Grecians become an increasingly smaller fish in the pond that is League One.
Analysts suggest Exeter's current wage bill is the lowest in League One, and just a quarter of the largest at Luton. Devon rivals Plymouth are said to be spending twice that of the St James Park outfit, despite being below them in the current table.
If they stay up this season and, being just four points above the bottom four and facing some immediate budget cuts during the January transfer window, that is a far from certain outcome. They would be the financially smallest club in the division by some distance if they did survive.
Chairman Pym, who first held the role in 2020/1 season, says wage inflation in football has seen the sums handed out by the club rise by at least 40% in the near five years since he first left the role. That compares to the around a 20% increase in all UK jobs during the period.
Citing the £10million Plymouth owner Simon Hallett recently put into the club, Pym says rich individuals are skewing the market for players even at the lower levels. He has challenged the owners of the club - the Supporters Trust - to raise £500,000 a year to keep the club competitive. With the more than doubling of Trust membership fees the first move.
(Article written for BN)
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