Torquay United's finances back in the black
TORQUAY UNITED have staged a dramatic turnaround in their financial fortunes, transforming two massive losses in previous years into a £116,000 profit last season.
Key factors in the Gulls' 2010-2011 success story include:
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£125,000 from the sale of striker Elliot Benyon to Swindon Town
£160,000-plus in prizemoney and gate receipts from an FA Cup to Round Four
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£75,000 in compensation from Bristol Rovers for manager Paul Buckle
United also made money, though not as much as expected, for reaching the League Two Play-Off Final.
And they DIDN'T have to pay out the £100,000 it cost them to part company with former chief executive Colin Lee in 2010.
"Our revenue last year was certainly bolstered by our FA Cup run," said United chairman Simon Baker.
"And I don't think our figures will be as high this year, because we haven't had a run like that this season.
"But the balance-sheet is looking much better than it did.
"A club like Torquay United must operate on a break-even basis, and that's what we are aiming for.
"If we can make a profit, we can plough that back into the team and into the club."
Baker paid tribute to the work done behind the scenes at Plainmoor.
"Both in generating revenue and saving costs, we've got a really good backroom team which is helping us enormously," he said.
United lost £711,714, a record, in 2008-2009, when they won promotion from the Conference back into the Football League.
And they had another deficit, of £681,430 in 2009-2010.
But last season the picture was very different.
Turnover (total income) was well up, from £2.1 million in 2009-2010 to £2,728,867 last season.
It enabled United to come out with a profit of £116,582 on the year ended June 30, 2011.
Since then United have sold two more players for £100,000, which will help their 2011-2012 balance sheet.
Chris Zebroski moved to Bristol Rovers for £40,000 last summer and, in the recent January transfer window, defender Chris Robertson joined Preston North End for a fee believed to be around £60,000.
But United are currently committed to major expenditure on Plainmoor's new 'Bristow's Bench' grandstand and to supporting manager Martin Ling's attempts to keep the Gulls in the League Two promotion race.
In the wake of Tuesday's seventh successive league win, a 1-0 victory at Cheltenham which lifted them up to third place, United take on Bradford City at home on Saturday.
The Bantams, who include last season's Plainmoor Player Of The Year Guy Branston on their roster, are having another lean campaign.
But they have beaten promotion chasing Southend away and Shrewsbury in the last couple of months.
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