Outgoing Gloucester chairman Alex Petheram has issued an interesting statement about how difficult it is to run the club and in particular the financial side.
With my position within the club now coming to an end, I wanted to update fans on the current position within the club and from myself.
We’ve got a crazy number of injuries within the club and that has led to the football budget running over budget for way too long now. I fully accept that no one could of known that when we signed the likes of JJ Hooper on a full time contract, he would then get sadly injured within a week of signing, as just one example, would ever happen. But it did and has and I can’t just keep spending and spending more and more money to overcome these issues. If you just take February’s wage bill, I had to personally pay £30k from my own account, just to pay the lads. As the current climate/ whatever the reasons, have meant are gates are a lot lower then hoped. So, we’re massively down on income.
The current climate has also affected/ is affecting my own businesses, our clients have hugely cut back in spending and project, meaning I have had to cut costs and place several people on redundancy notice. I can’t and therefore won’t cut from my own businesses and just pump more and more cash into the football club, that would just be unfair and wrong in so many different ways. I also won’t borrow money to place the football club into debt.
From my point of view fans have got what they wanted, I’m leaving the club in a matter of weeks now. I’ve already given my notice to the FA and National League and I’ve stepped down as a director.
I personally feel I’ve more than supported the club this season, injecting 6 figures of cash into the budget, but I just can’t keep doing it, even if I wanted to, times and the world has changed. I’m also not going to apologise for that and I’m not ‘taking my ball away’, as I keep bring accused of, or not supporting, or not caring or any of the other things I’m being accused of. I’m just not in the position to keep doing throwing more cash a month into the club so many would earn a year.
Do I still want and dream of the play offs, yes 100%, but I can’t, and won’t just pump in more and more cash in my last 7/8 weeks at the club. Why would anyone do that, I’m just asking everyone at the club in all positions to stay within the original lines and or, get back to them for the overall year. Does that mean budgets have been cut nope, does it mean everyone needs to reduce costs if they are overspending, yes 100%.
Everyone at the club is very grateful for the boost the budget by the fans, but that raised enough money for 1 player for 5 weeks and I now won’t be covering that deal for example to the end of the season.
I’m personally struggling with all this currently, as I feel there’s a sense of entitlement within the fan groups that I must have too just keep spending my own money to push us on this season and I’m just not in a position to do that. But if anyone current, new and old wants too, I’ll 100% support it.
I just can’t do anymore and I won’t put the club at risk.