LINC WON’T SINK, SAYS CHIEF ROB!
LINCOLN United chairman Rob Bradley is confident the club’s longterm future is secure despite a recent announcement about a shortfall in the club’s finances.
The Whites announced this week that some expected income will no longer be forthcoming – and now changes need to be made.
Cuts to playing staff have already been confirmed as the Bradley continues to find a way of making the club more sustainable.
“After two seasons where the behind-the-scenes team have performed miracles and done some fantastic fundraising, the third season in a row is proving to be difficult,” he told The NLP.
“We’ve had some let downs on what was some pretty firm income so we’re having to take some pretty drastic action. We haven’t just sprung this on the manager and the players, we’re working with Steve Housham and looking at a way forward to get a team out for the remaining games.
“We’re hoping this is temporary and we are speaking to a number of people about new investment. But at the moment, the playing staff budget is probably the lowest in the league by a mile. We’re going to be a mixture of young lads and experienced pros.”
The BetVictor Northern Premier League South East host Worksop Town on Boxing Day and Bradley is urging the city to pull together similar to the way local fans did for Lincoln City.
“People in Lincoln rally round when they need to. It happened at Lincoln City and now I’m sure they will rally round on a smaller scale for Lincoln United,” he said. “We’ve already had a really good reaction to the statement we put out.
“The club can’t go into debt; we don’t have the facility to do so. We’re determined to not have loan capital because that it a slippery slope. There are people, including myself, who will make sure we break even. But the longer-term plan is for Lincoln United to be sustainable.
“We’re working night and day all the time to bring in the income, but we can’t take anything for granted,” he added. We love being in this league, so we’re determined to bring our own players through and stay in the league.”