Partick Thistle wouldn’t have been able to pay their players’ wages if they hadn’t landed a Scottish Cup draw against Rangers as the club’s dire financial situation was laid bare in a club statement, with the board admitting to “budget errors”.
The Jags Foundation painted a bleak picture on the back of the club announcing a £280,000 loss for the season. The Firhill side missed out on promotion to the Scottish Premiership after a heartbreaking penalty shoot out playoff final defat to Ross County. The board of the supporters group shared a statement with the club before publishing and they claim the financial situation was so dire that a lucrative tie against the Light Blues at Ibrox saved them from even bigger losses.
Eight Partick Thistle board members, including chair Jacqui Low, resigned in December last year with PTFC Trust the majority shareholder. And the club admitted: “Following their appointment mid-season, the club board quickly established that we did not have sufficient funds to complete the season with a substantial cash-flow deficit. We secured our immediate future via loans to the club from directors, with longer-term investment now being sought.
“Despite these measures, the implementation of cost cuts and the benefit of revenues associated with both our cup runs and our progress to the cinch Premiership play-off final, we will still return a significant loss of around £280k for the season just ended. This loss was to a large extent caused by an anticipated investment into the club not materialising, at the same time as the previous board committed to an increased playing budget for the men’s team with the objective of achieving promotion.
“There were also some errors with the original budget which meant costs would always be higher than planned in some areas. As a fan-owned club, we recognise our obligation to deliver a balanced budget for next season, and also the part our supporters can play in maximising our revenues to provide Kris Doolan with the funds he needs to compete as strongly as possible next season.”
The Jags Foundation responded, saying: “If it had not been for a penalty shoot-out victory (against Dunfermline) and a fortunate Scottish Cup draw, the February wages would not have been able to be paid. If it had not been for a committed supporter investing into the club in May, even after the close to £300,000 unbudgeted revenue from the Rangers Cup game, we would not have been able to comfortably pay the May salaries.
“When the 2022/23 accounts are prepared, they will report a loss despite the good fortune of close to £300,000 of unbudgeted revenue from the Rangers Cup tie. Without those proceeds and the late season investment secured from a committed fan, the cash position would have been negative.
“Without the proceeds of the Rangers Cup tie the accounts would show a loss of between £550k and £600k this season. Even after the money from that Cup tie, the loss for the season is expected to be around £280k as detailed by the club in their statement. This is how far awry our budget was for this season. We did not have any margin of safety coming into this season due to the profligacy and losses of the recent past – so we had to get lucky with unbudgeted, unforeseen income or find investment, or both. This systemic budget deficit now gives us problems for the coming season too.”
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