Refinance package now in place at Turf Moor

Last updated : 05 February 2003 By Tony Scholes

Much work has gone on behind the scenes and finally this week it all came to fruition when a refinance package was signed, sealed and delivered, bringing to an end seven months of hard work.

In a recent meeting Chairman Barry Kilby heaped praise on two people for their commitment to bringing this about, accountant Roger Spencer and Vice-Chairman Ray Ingleby, but this is only the start of the rescue.

Basically the club have been boosted by a £1 million loan from the Chairman and a further £1 million guarantee from the other directors but more importantly the creditors have now signed up to an agreement that gives us a two year holiday regarding our payments to them.

All this will help the club as it tries to cope with the loss of over £5 million over the next two years. This was money that was budgeted for and money that the club were assured of with the Football League telling clubs that the deal with ITV Digital was a secure contract.

The hard work starts here now and over the next two years the club will have to bring costs down and in line with the new level of income. There have been recent suggestions from the club that there is currently a shortfall of £50,000 per week which will reduce next season to £30,000 per week.

In two years time it has to have been reduced completely to then allow us to re-start the payments to creditors. Chief Executive Andrew Watson spelled it out this week that without this package the club would without doubt have been in administration. He admitted that we were very close to being in administration.

He did though also thank the fans for their support, through attending matches and through commercial activities such as lotteries and the club shops. Without that he said that the package could not have been put in place.

So the first two of the difficult years are reducing costs whilst the following two years are repaying the creditors. What all this really means to us, the supporters, is that we can expect Burnley Football Club to be playing league football in the 2006/07 season and beyond.