Preston North End Hit Financial Trouble - 9/10/2004

Preston have a reputation as one of the better run clubs in football. Last year they reached the Championship play-off final. But now the club has hit financial problems that may lead to the sale of top players such as David Nugent, a £5 million rated striker who has attracted Premiership interest. Manager Billy Davies could well follow. Preston announced trading losses of £864,000 for last season and while chairman Derek Shaw played down talk of a crisis, he admitted that the club is keeping its head above water only because of a patient bank manager. Preston have one of the lowest wage bills in the Premiership - less than £5m - but are losing an estimated £5,000 a week. Not a lot by Premiership standards, but annual income of less than £8m a year and nearly £9m in outgoings is not sustainable in the long run. One short-term problem is that the cost of constructing a new £6.5m stand has reduced Deepdale's capacity to 20,000 this season.