Cheltenham Town fans forum - full report

CHAIRMAN Paul Baker called for financial investment as he addressed Cheltenham Town supporters at a Robins Trust fans' forum last night.

Baker described the last 18 months as the toughest time of his 14 year spell as chairman, saying "we need help" as the club battles against cashflow difficulties as well as the ongoing saga regarding suspended manager Martin Allen.

"It has been a massively difficult time over the last 18 months," Baker said.

"It is a hard job running this football club and the board need help. We are swimming against the tide to keep the club going.

"If anyone could lend us £20,000 or £25,000 it would be massive and would help my club and our club."

With attendances on the slide following the Robins' relegation to League Two last season, Baker criticised the people of Cheltenham for failing to support their town's football club.

"This town does not really deserve a Football League club," he said.

"The support we attract is not enough and the people of Cheltenham who don't come are to blame.

"We are struggling like hell to keep the ship afloat and luckily we have been given two generous interest free loans.

"The problem is with cashflow because we are operating within budget and the aim this year is to break even."

Baker was questioned as to why the club are facing cashflow problems once again after going perilously close to entering administration last season.

"We receive Football League money in October and April, but we have cash flow issues from November to February and we are clear by the end of the season," he said.

"We bank with NatWest, who have been very supportive and we have an overdraft secured against property but we need more help."

Baker revealed the club have lost £21,000 in gate receipts compared with this stage last season and commercial revenue has also dropped by around £11,000.

There has been no commercial manager employed by Cheltenham Town since the departure of Debbie Goodwin earlier in the season and the club shop, franchised out to former player Jerry Gill's company Pro-Tech sport, is struggling for business.

Baker also said the wage bill has been slashed from £1.4 million last year to £900,000 this season, which he regards as being middle of the road for a League Two club.

Skipper Shane Duff, currently sidelined with a long-term Achilles injury, is the highest paid player at the club.

A break even crowd figure of 3,200 has been set for home matches and the current average stands at 3,136.

"Some of the football has been poor and it has to be said the novelty of new players has worn off," Baker said with a wry smile after sanctioning the signing of more than 30 players in 13 months.

"The players were paid on time this month, but it was not easy and our financial director Arthur Hayward has done a fantastic job."

Baker was asked about the large amount of loan signings last season and he was quick to admit the club overstretched itself in an effort to remain in League One

"We gambled and gave it our best shot, but we had to clear the decks in January. I had a lot of sleepless nights last season," he said.

"The quality of some of the signings was disappointing. One of the best ones, James Wesolowski, arrived on loan and was being paid £2,000 a week by us, but he was injured early on and we had to carry on paying that money for six weeks, so that was unlucky."

The two loan signings made yesterday by acting boss John Schofield, Ashley Eastham and David Pipe, have been privately funded by directors.

Baker hit out at some of the comments made on internet forums and message boards, rubbishing claims that Simon Keswick was set to return.

"Some of the comments have been unreal," he said.

"I have read someone is going to buy me out and if they want to and put their own house on the line, they are welcome."

While unable to comment on the Allen situation, Baker praised Schofield for the way he has gone about the job in difficult circumstances.

"He is a good guy and he has made some brave decisions already," Baker said.

"He fined a player two weeks wages for not turning up to training one day and he has made an outstanding signing in Ben Marshall, who is the best loan player we have had for a while."

Baker said that the application for a £100,000 loan to Cheltenham Borough Council became "nasty", prompting him to withdraw the request and he said it is unlikely the club will be making any more loan requests to the borough.

The proposed move to the racecourse is still an outside possibility, but Baker hinted he would favour remaining at Whaddon Road and redeveloping the Stagecoach West Stand, saying he is yet to be convinced the move to Prestbury Park would be viable.

If the club were to move, an indoor football pitch which could be hired out and profitable would be part of the new development.

Baker asked that if the new stadium were to cost £16 million and the current lease on Whaddon Road cost £5million, where is the other £11 million going to come from.

"I remain to be convinced," he said.

Baker is confident the Robins will be remaining at their current training ground at Seasons in Swindon Village for another three years, having come close to agreeing a more favourable deal for the impressive facility.

He also revealed that Cheltenham Town would like to become a training base for one of the teams in the World Cup of 2018.

"We would like to pitch in with our training facilities and the De La Bere could be used for accomodation," he said.

"We'd have to provide media, hotel and training facilities but I think Cheltenham would be an ideal location for a team to use as their training base."