Northants debts grow despite cutbacks

Concerns over the future of Northamptonshire are likely to deepen as the extent of the club's debts become clear.

ESPNcricinfo understands that Northants owe local councils over £2m and that, despite strong talk of new business plans, the year-end financial figures will show that turnover has dropped and losses grown.

Northants declared a loss of £305,636 last year but, despite cutting the cricket budget by around £300,000 this year, that loss is expected to rise to somewhere approaching £500,000. Alarmingly, despite having invested in improved facilities, the club's turnover - £3.7m last year - is expected to have dropped by around £200,000. Membership, meanwhile, has dropped well below 2,000 and appears oddly passive.

It was announced in recent weeks that Northampton Borough Council had lent the club £100,000 with a further £150,000 to be made available as required. But it has now emerged that the club borrowed £2m from the city council (there were two separate loans of £1m each) for ground redevelopment work a couple of years ago, with the loan to be repaid by the ECB out of proceeds from the next round of broadcast rights expected at the end of 2019.

It is understood that all counties can expect an additional grant of up to £2m from the ECB for investment into facilities at this time.

Should the club go out of business before then, the council could expect to recoup no more than £700,000 under the terms of the agreement, meaning that £1.3m of public money is in jeopardy. They therefore have a keen interest in ensuring the club survives until the end of the decade, at least.

The ECB has been offering advice to the club for some time. There has been a reluctance to loan more money - the club had requested up to £500,000 - however, until there is greater confidence in the club's plans and management structure.

While officials at the club continue to deny it, insiders maintain that the chief executive, Ray Payne, conducts the role in a part-time capacity and is a relatively rare visitor to the ground. Typically, that has meant he has been at the ground for a day or two each week.

The club have also taken loans from directors - thought to be worth around £550,000 - and received grants from supporters. It is understood some players have accepted new deals on reduced salaries and that at least two players have been told their contracts cannot be confirmed until it becomes clear whether the ECB will lend more money. With the level of debt approaching £3m, the ECB have a difficult decision to make.

Professional sport in Northampton is in a parlous state. The council this week has also announced an independent enquiry, to be conducted by KPMG, into the management of a £10.25m loan to the town's football club and they are working with Northamptonshire Police to ascertain how the money has been spent. They have also loaned the rugby club over £5m. News that a further £1.3m of public money is at risk is likely to be acutely politically embarrassing.

In August, ESPNcricinfo revealed that the club had approached the ECB for extra funding and had considered a ground move. The club originally denied the story and told the ECB there was a covenant on the ground that forbade development. They later admitted that they had approached the ECB for funding, had "briefly" explored the possibility of a ground move and admitted that the covenant had been lifted several years ago.

They maintain it is not relevant that the chairman, vice-chairman and other board members have a background in land or property development. ESPNcricinfo understands that more than £10,000 was spent on drawing up plans for the move.

The scale of the losses this year is especially disappointing given that the club should have benefited from several one-off events. They hosted a three-day game against Australia - which had been budgeted to bring in around £100,000 - they raised around £30,000 from the transfer of David Willey to Yorkshire (Willey was released from his contract a year early; Yorkshire paid a fee), they gained 25% of the gate for the T20 quarter-final at Hove and prize money of almost £50,000 for reaching the competition's final. They also had the new conferencing facilities to sell that had been improved at a cost of around £400,000.

Northants' struggles do not come at a good time. While the ECB has found what amounts to emergency funding for several counties in recent years, there is currently a debate about ways in which to cut the domestic schedule. The other first-class counties appear well disposed to help, but there are those in prominent positions within the ECB who feel that losing a couple of counties would be no bad thing.