Newport County

[SteveS]

I see their lottery winner backer has left the Board. He was supposedly covering the 30/40k monthly losses himself but said in March he would not continue to do so. They have had to make big budget cuts, hence Sandell and others leaving.
Wonder what the future holds, perhaps we will be meeting up with them again sooner than I thought.

[Luton Roman]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/33192017

Interesting development, they claim Butcher knew the budget when he came but confirms why Edinburgh walked.

[county exile]

It has been known for some time that Les Scadding was intending to step down, due to health issues and his desire to spend more time in his Caribbean home.

He funded an increase in budget last season which, many would argue, Justin Edinburgh spent unwisely and all upfront with no contingency held back  for emergencies such as injuries. He brought in several strikers who failed to score a handful of goals between them. It was known Les was scaling back his investment and the budget has therefore been cut back to previous levels (approximately the same as the playing budget Rochdale had in their promotion season from League 2 and Burton had when they won the league last season).

Last year Les converted his Director's loans to shares, leaving the club in a better financial  position (lower net debt level) than most in League 2.

Terry Butcher has himself stated that he was well aware of the budget available to him and the decision to release so many players was his alone. Many of the squad had come up from the Conference and the general feeling is that, aside from 2 or 3, none of those released come as a great surprise. It is telling that, so far, the only released players to find new clubs have been at Conference level and below. Despite the league position most of the football on show last season was dire.

Five were offered new contracts, 1 has signed, 1 followed the money and went to FGR, 1 to Mansfield and 1 followed Edinburgh to Gillingham. The final one is a  17 year old with 2 offers from Fulham rejected and he has had recent trials at both Liverpool and Manchester United.

With only half a dozen signings so far though our friendly match at Twerton in July might be a 5-a-side  

[comrade powell]

Getting your excuses in early!

[county exile]

Think I'll need to unless we start getting some players in quick.

[SteveS]

Exile, I assume Newport will continue to play at Rodney Parade. Never been there but it must be better than the athletics track which was pretty soulless. Obviously rent must be paid but how do you get on regarding use of bar facilities? Thinking it must be difficult to raise funds / hold events etc if the facilities are not yours. This must make the books even more difficult to balance. Is the relationship with the rugby club a good one?

[county exile]

Yes it's a 10 year lease, which was a requirement for Football League entry. League rules also state we have to have primacy of fixtures even though we are tenants.

Much better ground than Spytty, more atmosphere - although because of the rugby pitch there is still some distance between the stands/ terracing at either end of the ground. Also only a short walk from the City Centre, train & bus stations, pubs etc.

Even though I believe we pay a reduced rent to compensate the loss of bar takings (we just get a small percentage) is a big loss. The club own the old Baramber building at Spytty and this has been converted to Club offices, treatment rooms etc.

The pitch is a big improvement on Spytty. Teething troubles when the drainage relaying job was only partly done before 2013/14 but last season it was excellent despite three clubs playing on it.

Relationship with the Rugby clubs is ok. We and Gwent Dragons are Tenants and Newport RFC are landlords and I think they need us as much as we need them. As you enter the ground the immediate impression is that it's a Rugby Stadium but the signs that there is also a football club there are gradually increasing.

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