The last few months have been a challenging time behind the scenes at Exeter City.
Earlier this year a potential cashflow issue in June was identified which required a contingency loan from the Supporters’ Trust in case we were unable to meet that month’s financial obligations, which included substantial payments. June is a financial low point and a traditionally challenging month and the Club is grateful to the Supporters’ Trust, and therefore our supporters, for their continued backing. That they were able to provide this financial support, as any owner would, is testament to its members and the way Exeter City operates - a club owned by its supporters, which supports the day-to-day operation of the club as required.
In addition, we had two senior departures at a critical time of the season. Following this we undertook an internal review of our position; this was conducted by a small team of staff who have been working extraordinarily hard on this, supported by both boards. This review was then scrutinised by an external financial partner. This was a thorough and complicated process which took around six weeks.
The review identified that a number of ambitious financial forecasts were not realised as expected. The findings have necessitated a programme of financial realignment across all areas of the club to address cost increases which were linked to those initial projections. All income and expenditure have been fully accounted for through this process. This has been an exercise in evaluating projections against actual income, ensuring the club is on a stable financial footing going forward.
This process also affected the playing budget and forward planning for the future. There was an expectation that the budget would be increased over three years and Gary and his team had begun to build a squad on that basis. Unfortunately, the re-forecast does not allow for this increase, therefore the playing budget for the men’s team is the same as it was at this stage last season, although there was an uplift in the January window. We are always keeping this under review.
Going forward, we know that League One is a very competitive league, which is getting harder each season due to uncontrolled wage inflation, exacerbated by wealthy owners underwriting increasingly unsustainable losses. This is something that is not only very challenging for our model, but other clubs across the pyramid as well.
We know we will have one of the lowest budgets in the league, this is nothing new, it has been the case over the last three seasons, which is why we have to do things differently. We have to be innovative, something which Gary and his staff have done consistently well over our time in League One and will do so again this season.
We’re all passionate about supporter ownership, but the reality of the football landscape makes it more challenging than ever. The average loss for a League One club in 23/24 was £5.20m. Average wage bills increased by 43.6% over the five-year period to 23/24, while average turnover increased by only 22.5% - this is unsustainable.
However, we stand by our vision statement to make Exeter City an outstanding community owned club playing football at the highest sustainable level. There are no quick wins in football, it takes everyone pulling in the same direction and getting behind Gary and his team, with the knowledge that we are the underdog. The challenges are great, but that makes our achievements so much sweeter.
Thank you for your support, let’s meet those challenges together.