Get Real If Town Is To Survive!!

By: Bill Osborne
Date: 26/11/2002

ON paper, Grimsby Town made over £1-million in the last financial year compared to the £2m loss in 2001. But the figures are arrived at through the ITV Digital Company going broke which meant the TV income was allocated to one year.

But without that income, a profit of £332,000 would have been achieved but that included increased directors loans up to £650,000 and the bank overdraft of £490,000.

Because Grimsby Town did not spend this years TV income (which never came) in advance as most other clubs did and by implementing a drastic cost cutting exercise early, the club managed to stay thanks to the board and the bank.

In the annual report to shareholders the directors refer to the serious financial impact the TV Company's collapse has had, particularly in relation to honouring players' contracts.

"As a result of this we have continuing financial commitments for the next two seasons based on the guaranteed income that would have been generated from the television agreement that we will not now be receiving."

"Your board has therefore been forced to implement stringent financial measures to enable the company to continue trading while at the same time making funds available to the manager."

"Our long term aim must be to ensure that the company can continue to operate within its available financial resources."

"We anticipate that in the foreseeable future there will continue to be a period of great uncertainty with the financing of football clubs and as a result the company is likely to experience funding difficulties." END

Billo Says:

The three major financial subscribers on the board have been Messrs Ramsden, Fenty and Graves.

So the extremely bad news we were expecting may not have arrived but has only been postponed until a later date giving the board time to initiate other cost cutting measures to see us through another year during which the club can gain a firmer financial footing.

This report and the accompanying statement is testimony to the commitment of the board members, without whom, the club would have failed to exist and answers those supporters foolish enough to call for their heads in the hope of replacing them with non existent waiting multi millionaires.

These people and the general community in the region should get real!

Grimsby Town Football Club cannot continue to stumble from one financial crisis to another through lack of support. If the community wants a football club they have to support it. The directors have continued to support, but there is a limit to how long they are prepared to continue pouring their money into the club.

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