Club turnover dictates what we can spend — Corney

ATHLETIC couldn’t have a team featuring Jose Baxter, Jean-Yves Mvoto, Kieran Lee and Chris Taylor, because of the club’s current turnover, says chairman Simon Corney.

CHAIRMAN Simon Corney says it is “unrealistic” to expect Athletic to field a team of all-stars given its budget restrictions.

Corney - whose ownership of Athletic is apparently being challenged by a bid fronted by Stephen Vaughan (see separate story), points to an increased squeeze on spending under Football League rules as part of the reason why top-performing players have departed in recent seasons.

Failure to follow the Salary Cost Management Protocol in 2013-14 could see Athletic face a transfer embargo, as Swindon did last season.

The new-season’s cut in permitted spending from 65 to 60 per cent of turnover, Corney argues, makes it even more important for the club to build its new North Stand quickly so revenue can rise.

“We know the manager doesn’t have the biggest budget in the division and that there have been many discussions about it,” said Corney.

“But one thing people never talk about is that we are governed by what we are allowed to spend.

“We have to stick to the Football League’s restrictions. We have no choice about that. “If we get 3,000 fans at our matches our budget is £1 million. If we had 6,000 fans, it would be £2 million.

“Fans might ask why we can’t have Jose Baxter, Jean-Yves Mvoto and players we have lost like Kieran Lee and Chris Taylor in the same team. It comes down, simply, to turnover.

“What we can try to do is increase our revenue — and that’s what the new stand is about.”

Though Corney won’t pin himself down to a start date for the new stand, he did reveal that £250,000 has been spent iun the past year on preparatory work.

“We don’t have that kind of money to spend, unless we fully believe it will happen,” he confirmed.


mattchambers@oldham-chronicle.co.uk