Weymouth in Trouble - 28/11/2004

Considerations of time and space do not allow us to spend much time on the problems of non-league clubs, even though the writer of this page is vice-president of a non-league club. Thus, for example, we have not discussed the recent troubles at Hornchurch after the high spending club was hit by the sudden financial difficulties of its owner. However, events at Weymouth are of particular interest after the club featured in the excellent Football Diaries programme on BBC2. The ambitious Conference South club attracted the limelight after it brought in Steve Claridge as player-manager. Every time a crowd of over 1,000 turned up at the glamorous Wessex Stadium, Claridge pocketed 20 per cent of the extra gate. Claridge departed with a reported £200,000 pay-off in October, seventeen months into a five-year contract. Now the club has revealed record losses of £252,000 to the end of May, against a loss of £80,000 in the preceding year. Outgoings soared from £403,000 to £781,000 as the club tried to buy its way into the dizzy heights of the Football Conference. The club's bank overdraft doubled to almost £105,000. On the bright side, turnover doubled to £474,000, showing that there is an appetite for a higher level of football in a town with a population of just under 54,000 and Yeovil or Bournemouth the nearest league clubs. The Wessex Stadium has been valued at £2m, but where would the Terras go if it was sold off for the customary supermarket? Hopefully not to ground share with local rivals Dorchester Town.