Blackburn chairman John Williams has admitted almost half of the money from this summer's transfer fees had to be used to balance the books at Ewood Park instead of being ploughed back into new players.
Despite the likes of Roque Santa Cruz, Matt Derbyshire and Stephen Warnock being sold off for around £26million, manager Sam Allardyce has spent just over half that amount on acquiring replacements.
"For years we have stretched ourselves budgeting a league finish above that suggested by the wage bill," admitted Williams.
That has led to a plenty of disquiet among Rovers fans but Williams said economies had to be made at the club with £12.5million of their transfer income being used to cover budgetary deficiencies.
The sacking of Paul Ince and his backroom staff and the appointment of Allardyce and his team plus a drop in the number of televised matches Blackburn were involved in led to a £7.5million hole in the budget as the unplanned January arrivals of Gael Givet and El-Hadji Diouf pushed the annual wage bill to £46million.
"That is the gap that had to be plugged from the Santa Cruz deal," said Williams, who revealed the club received an initial fee of £15million for the Paraguay international with further cash coming from "contingency payments".
"This year we took a more pragmatic approach to our mantra of break-even; a 13th-place finish would support circa £41million annual wage bill.
"Therefore we needed to get £5million off the wages. We have failed to do this."
Because of that failure other measures had to be taken so when Aston Villa bought Warnock for £7million just days before the transfer window closed, Allardyce was allowed only £2million to buy Pascal Chimbonda from Tottenham.
"Not surprisingly wages are running very similar year on year," Williams told the Lancashire Telegraph. "So we have filled the resulting £5million hole with the difference in transfer fees between Stephen and Pascal. I'm not entirely comfortable about funding wages from transfer fees but developing players, buying low and selling high has, by necessity, become part of our business."
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A ship of lost souls methink.
Please inform negative people like Mr James to keep these kind of comments to themselves. I am sure the people of Burnley have been looking forward to the season starting after the triumph last May & what a start they have had especially beating the reds from Manchester they could not have dreamed for a better start which is also based on a limited budget,but do not go telling Burnley fans to look forward to life back in the CHAMPIONSHIP. I would likwe to take this opportunity to wish both Blackburn & Burnley all the best for the coming season. From Royston A life long Rovers fan from Qatar.
I would like negative people like Mr James to keep their comments to themselves.I would point Mr James to Burnley & who probably could not wait for the season to start after the triumph of last May & what a start especially beating the reds of Manchester which is always sweet for the small town clubs of the North West, so Mr James go & tell a Burnley fan to get ready for life back in the Championship who by the way are also on a limited budget. I would like to take this opportunity to wish both Blackburn & Burnley all the best for the coming season.From Royston a life long Rovers fan from Qatar.
Please inform negative people like Mr James to keep these kind of comments to themselves. I am sure the people of Burnley have been looking forward to the season starting after the triumph last May & what a start they have had especially beating the reds from Manchester they could not have dreamed for a better start which is also based on a limited budget,but do not go telling Burnley fans to look forward to life back in the CHAMPIONSHIP. I would likwe to take this opportunity to wish both Blackburn
I would like negative people like Mr James to keep their comments to themselves.I would point Mr James to Burnley & who probably could not wait for the season to start after the triumph of last May & what a start especially beating the reds of Manchester which is always sweet for the small town clubs of the North West, so Mr James go & tell a Burnley fan to get ready for life back in the Championship who by the way are also on a limited budget. I would like to take this opportunity to wish both Blackburn & Burnley all the best for the coming season.From Royston a life long Rovers fan from Qatar.
its good to see a club being run correctly and not in massive debt,arsenal are trying to balence the books as well .the new owner of man city is not putting the debt on the club either,only it seems man u and liverpool are in massive debt put there by there owners it shouldn't be the clubs debt but the owners so maybe its about time for these two to clear those debts or not being allowed a debt over around 50 million ,about a years income then we may see the league levelled out
When we see clubs amassing millions of debt with the purchase of players, and then see the likes of the once great teams like Leeds United, I find it refreshing in a way that chairmen like Mr Williams are adopting a sensible approach towards the long term future of his club. Maybe the glamour days have gone from Ewood Park, at least for the time being, but by remaining solvent, at least the fans will have a team they can go and watch. Much better than going into receivership, I would suggest.
sounds like its not long before we are down in the championship then.
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