A Message To Our Owners
- ECFCST
- 2 minutes ago
- 2 min read
The Exeter City Supporters' Trust wishes to inform members that it has provided Exeter City Football Club with further financial support. The recent fire at St James Park and subsequent postponement of the Burton Albion home fixture on 22 November have further added to the already challenging financial situation at the Club, with the Club requesting a loan from the Supporters' Trust of £200,000 to aid with cashflow ahead of the festive period. The Club continues to explore several paths to ensure its long-term financial stability.
Both the Club and Trust are working collaboratively to ensure we remain an outstanding community-owned club, playing football at the highest sustainable level. The Trust Finance & Governance Working Group, led by newly-elected Trustee Gary Quick, have established a regular communication channel with Club Directors and key members of the leadership team. The Club and Trust have also agreed on a regular schedule whereby the Club provide updated financial data to the Trust to improve the governance process.
The continued inflation of football wages has made sustainability in League One an ever-increasing challenge since the Club's promotion in 2022. Since 2023, the Club has increased its football budget by over 40%, while the average growth across League One in the same period exceeds 85%. For a supporter-owned club like ours, this makes long-term sustainability extremely challenging.
The Supporters’ Trust has also released £50,000 of the funds raised so far in response to the fire at St James Park on 12 November, to assist with the cost of repairing the stadium. The amazing generosity of our fans and the early certainty of these funds being available for use will be instrumental in ensuring that the ground will be ready for the FA Cup tie against Wycombe on 6 December.
The Club is committed to offering the Trust the opportunity to convert this loan - and other previous loans - into shares, with the aim of significantly increasing the Trust’s percentage shareholding in the Club.