Finn Harps chairman explains debt
Monday, 22 December 2008Finn Harps have become the latest club in the Eircom League to confirm their financial difficulties with their club chairman confirming their debt stands at €290,000.
In the season just ended, Paul Hegarty's side were relegated from the Premier Division and now face a dire financial battle to survive. This leaves them in the same boat as Drogheda United and Athlone Town; both of whom appealed to their supporters for assistance in the last few weeks.
After a meeting of the club's board on Saturday night it was announced that somewhere in the region of €150,000 will be needed to set a 'workable budget that comes with the licensing regulations'. The club hope to have the money raised by 26 January - although it will take a massive push over the coming five weeks to raise that sort of finance in the current economic climate.
Derek Wilkinson, who returned to the position of chairman only last week, said: 'The €290,000 is the overall deficit but the club require €150,000 in the next month.
'It's very serious and we need to get money in a hurry to get sorted. We need the money to get an agreed budget to make ourselves viable. We need this to set a workable budget that comes with the licensing regulations.
'In the past the public of the north-west have supported Finn Harps in times of difficulty and we are asking the public of the north-west to support the club on this occasion so we can successfully resolved this matter and secure our future in League of Ireland football.
'We are aware that this is a difficult time to deal with this issue as we are in the Christmas period but once we became aware of the situation in the last few days we felt it was important to make our shareholders and the general public aware of the situation and seek their support and assistance.'
After an official press release from the club, a number of media outlets reported Wilkinson as stating that Finn Harps would not receive a licence from the FAI.
However, Wilkinson wishes that the following clarification be put on record: 'Finn Harps would not receive a similar licence to the present licence unless substantive inroads were made to the club debts as part of a feasible financial plan be in place. This will result in a licence for Finn Harps.'
