Finn Harps chairman eases fears
Credit: Extratime Team (ETPhotos)
(courtesy of the Donegal Democrat)
Finn Harps chairman Derek Wilkinson has moved to quash rumours that the cash-stripped club might not survive until the end of the season.
A crisis meeting was called on Friday night in the Finn Valley Centre where the board asked supporters to make donations to help the club through the current hardship. In January at a public meeting, club officials stated the club’s debt was in the region of €290,000.
A number of fundraising initiatives were launched to eat into their arrears, including a draw for a Bulgarian apartment with a €40,000 cash alternative, as well as an Easter draw, and friendly fixtures against the Manchester United legends and Roy Keane’s Ipswich Town.
However, the club are still struggling financially with gate receipts and the level of sponsorship down, so a meeting was hastily arranged on Friday. Although the attendance at the meeting was “disappointing” according to Wilkinson, he did say that a number of people have said they were willing to donate €50 a month to the club for the next 12 months.
“There is not question about us not being able to complete the season,” he said. “I can rule that totally out of order. We spoke to our supporters at the last couple of games, so we invited them to the meeting and told them the exact situation. They appreciated the plight we have at the moment. The meeting was positive and people will be reporting back to the directors within a week.
“We’re having difficult financially because of dropping gates; sponsorship is down in the recession and the fundraisers we had were not as successful as we might have hoped. It puts us under a strain at the moment.
“A few things went against us. Being relegated was a serious problem, and the recession has been tough. What we really need at the moment is more people coming through the turnstiles. I’d like to see another couple of hundred and I don’t think that’s too much to ask.”
Finn Harps chairman Derek Wilkinson has moved to quash rumours that the cash-stripped club might not survive until the end of the season.
A crisis meeting was called on Friday night in the Finn Valley Centre where the board asked supporters to make donations to help the club through the current hardship. In January at a public meeting, club officials stated the club’s debt was in the region of €290,000.
A number of fundraising initiatives were launched to eat into their arrears, including a draw for a Bulgarian apartment with a €40,000 cash alternative, as well as an Easter draw, and friendly fixtures against the Manchester United legends and Roy Keane’s Ipswich Town.
However, the club are still struggling financially with gate receipts and the level of sponsorship down, so a meeting was hastily arranged on Friday. Although the attendance at the meeting was “disappointing” according to Wilkinson, he did say that a number of people have said they were willing to donate €50 a month to the club for the next 12 months.
“There is not question about us not being able to complete the season,” he said. “I can rule that totally out of order. We spoke to our supporters at the last couple of games, so we invited them to the meeting and told them the exact situation. They appreciated the plight we have at the moment. The meeting was positive and people will be reporting back to the directors within a week.
“We’re having difficult financially because of dropping gates; sponsorship is down in the recession and the fundraisers we had were not as successful as we might have hoped. It puts us under a strain at the moment.
“A few things went against us. Being relegated was a serious problem, and the recession has been tough. What we really need at the moment is more people coming through the turnstiles. I’d like to see another couple of hundred and I don’t think that’s too much to ask.”
