Setanta crash costs City £12,000 (From Worcester News)

Setanta crash costs City £12,000

9:00am Friday 26th June 2009

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By Steve Carley »

WORCESTER City are facing a £12,000 black hole in their finances following the collapse of Setanta.

The troubled Irish broadcaster, who went into administration this week, had a £3million-a-year deal with the Football Conference, which formed part of a central funding pot shared among the 68 member clubs.

City, along with the other 21 clubs in Blue Square South, received a minimum of £15,000 from that but will now see the figure reduced to around just £3,000.

Keith Stokes-Smith, finance director at St George’s Lane, admitted the lost revenue, equivalent to the income from two home games, would “hurt” City, but said it would not effect the playing budget.

He said cuts were planned in other areas but they were “not significant”.

Manager Richard Dryden is already working under tight financial constraints as he attempts to build a squad for the 2009/10 campaign and has seen Worcester-based midfield target Matt Birley opt to drop down a league to join King’s Lynn.

Stokes-Smith said: “It could have up to a £12k impact on our budget, it may be less, it may be more. It’s a substantial chunk of cash relative to our bottom line. Both in cash flow terms and our bottom line, it will hurt.

“I am going to assume in the budget for next season that the £15k we were getting from the league will drop down to £3k. It certainly wouldn’t have been a bonus so it will be a significant loss to us.” But he added: “We have no intention of doing anything about the team budget we agreed with Richard Dryden.”

Setanta’s demise will also hit Kidderminster Harriers to the tune of around £50,000.

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