Chief executive Simon Clegg says Town’s debt will continue to grow while the Blues continue to be a Championship club. The recently released accounts for the financial year ending June 2009 showed the club make a £10.32 million loss and its debt, almost entirely owed to Marcus Evans, rise to £35.7 million.
Clegg says fans shouldn’t be too concerned at this rising level of debt: "I’m afraid debt in the Championship is a matter of life, it’s just the way it is with football clubs. What is important is that we try our utmost to get the balance right between investing in the club to allow us to get promoted but operate in a lean, efficient way. That’s one of the balances I have in this job.
"What’s also important is the ongoing commitment of Marcus Evans. Marcus has made it very clear that he’s in for the long run. He recognises that in the Championship no clubs are making money and therefore it’s going to continue costing him money.
"That’s why we have to operate efficiently and effectively to mitigate that and ensure that any benefit that accrues as a result of those efficiencies can be invested into the playing squad.”
Clegg says Town’s debt is likely to continue to increase until such time as the club is in the Premier League - "That is not an unfair assumption” — and admits the spending can’t go on ad infinitum, however, he expects Marcus Evans’s millions to ultimately return the club to the big time: "Marcus is hugely committed to the club and is desperate to see this club playing Premier League football.
"He runs a highly successful business which continues to be extremely profitable and he feels that through that he can continue to invest in the football club.”
Clegg says the manner in which the club’s debt would be reduced once Town are in the Premier League is yet to be set out: "I have to say we’ve not laid that down in terms of how that would happen.
"The most important thing here - and this is why we want to build a solid foundation for this football club - is that we don’t become a yo-yo club.
"It’s about going into the Premier League and staying in the Premier League and then we can mitigate those losses over the period of time that we’re up there. To go up and come down, even with the parachute payments, does make it quite challenging.
"That’s why we made the massive development at the training ground over the close season to try and bring the facilities up to the standard which you would expect of a Premier League club.”
Clegg says that while moves will be made to reduce Town’s debt once in the Premier League, that won’t be done at the expense of improving the club’s infrastructure: "[We will be make] sure that we are continuing to properly invest in the club to allow us to stay up there, if that includes a new Cobbold Stand, a new pitch, new pitch covers, because they are coming to the end of their working life, and further enhancement of the facilities up at Playford Road, then so be it.”
The chief executive says a short spell in the top flight would give the club’s finances a boost but nothing compared with a longer term stay: "We need to go into the Premier League and then stay in the Premier League going forward.
"Coming down again is going to improve our current financial position but this is a very hard division to get out of, so we want to make sure that once we do get up there, we stay up there.”