THOMPSON: UNITED ARE NOT IN DANGER
DUNDEE UNITED chairman Stephen Thompson has categorically stated there is no danger of his club slipping into administration — even if they miss out on promotion to the Premiership this season.
The Tannadice outfit recorded losses of £1.55million as they were demoted to the second tier and have required a £300,000 injection from American-based supporter Alastair Borthwick to prop up the business. With Ray McKinnon’s side now sitting fourth in the Championship, an immediate return to the riches of the top division can only now be achieved by negotiating the play-offs.
Were that to fail to materialise, though, Thompson is adamant
the club will not edge towards insolvency. ‘(Administration) won’t happen to Dundee United,’ he stated. ‘We’ve done various things over the last number of months. ‘Don’t get me wrong, it’s tough but this is about everyone around the club being together.’ Thompson’s ongoing presence at the Tannadice club is being viewed by many supporters as the main stumbling block to progress. But he feels those advocating a season-ticket boycott to help oust him will do more harm than good. ‘We know that a number of people aren’t happy with me but any potential boycott, all it does is damage the club, not me personally,’ said Thompson. ‘One day, I won’t be sitting here. In the past, it was my father, before that it was Jim McLean and before that George Fox. ‘Somebody else will be sitting here at some point in the future and we want to make sure that the club doesn’t get damaged at any point.’ As a result of the drop in income which followed relegation, Thompson claimed the club had already adjusted its position accordingly. But he insisted facilities and budget had been maintained at a high level in line with the ambition of making a quick return to the Premiership. ‘If we get out of this league and get into the Premiership, the club’s actually in a good place structure-wise,’ added the United chairman. ‘If we don’t, then yes, it’s going to be another very tough year. ‘But what we did this year when we were relegated was to keep the whole structure of the club together. ‘So we’ve still got the St Andrews training facility, which costs an awful lot of money to run. ‘We’ve got a fairly big budget compared to other Championship clubs, apart from Hibs. ‘We’ve kept the whole infrastructure. ‘We’ve got the youth hostel, a youth academy across the road and everything’s been kept together. ‘I think if you’re in this league for a few years then you have to review all that. We want to keep the structure of the club and our ambitions the same. ‘If we don’t get promoted then it’s bound to be difficult. A £2m top-line drop from two years ago versus this year has a big effect. ‘Of course it’ll be challenging again. ‘When you look at the money there is in Scottish football overall, there is less than £20m that goes between all the clubs and the majority of that is in the top league. ‘In August, when there’s a payment from the league, you get £700,000 in the Premiership. ‘In the Championship, it’s £70,000.’