Championship Place Important For Future

Last updated : 23 May 2006 By Rob Miles (barnsley Boy)

Barnsley FC Chairman Gordon Shepherd has admitted that winning Saturday's Play-Off Final against Swansea City and thus gaining promotion to the Championship would be a huge boost to the club's ailing finances.

It was only 4 years ago that former chairman John Dennis was forced to put the club into administration. His successor Peter Ridsdale then nearly sent the club under again but Gordon Shepherd with the help of Chief benefactor Patrick Cryne have started steadying the ship and even though Barnsley Football Club recorded losses for the year they are well on their way to getting the club back to being self-sufficient again.

Shepherd has admitted that promotion in 4 days would help speed this process up significantly.

He told www.barnsleyfc.co.uk:

“It is an extraordinary game for a club which has been losing money heavily for the last few years.

We have been funded by Patrick Cryne to the tune of around £5m in that time so any extra revenue we can bring in has to be beneficial.

We could get between £400,000 and £500,000 from the Play-Offs.

The bottom line is promotion to the Championship would be extremely important for this club.

It is a bigger division and money form the Football League distribution would go up by around £600,000 to about £1m should we be in the Championship next season. Hopefully the attraction of teams like Wolverhampton Wanderers, Leeds United, Ipswich Town and Leicester City amongst others will see an increase in revenue through the turnstiles as well.”