CHAMPIONSHIP club Whitehaven are in danger of folding after chief executive Les Messenger explained the dire financial situation the club finds itself in.
Touching on £14,000 currently being owed to the players with £8,000 to the taxman, Messenger gave a frank assessment of Haven’s financial predicament, pleading with supporters to help them out.
“I need assistance and I need everybody now to dig deep and come and give me a hand,” Messenger said on the club’s Youtube page.
“We’ve got volunteers working down on the pitch and they’re doing a sterling job. We’ve got board members who have come off the board and are still helping the club, but we need your help.
“On a financial footing, we’re behind the blackball. We are suffering from virtually five away games in July, which we had no income coming in.
“We had £1,000 to find for buses to take the players to away games and in the one home game against Toulouse, we had 331 fans through the gates. It was virtually written off as another away game.
“I need people to dig deep. If there’s any company out there that wants to sponsor the club, I’d be more than willing to negotiate terms with them.
“I’ve also been speaking to the RFL to see if they release our payments that they owe us so we can get these lads who go out there on a week-by-week basis and put their bodies out on the line paid. They haven’t been paid their contract money for July. We’re talking about £14,000 here that’s owed. They haven’t been paid their winning pay for Swinton and we’re in the process now of getting their two losing pays.
“We’ve generated enough money for the Widnes game to get us over that little bump. I’ve been in touch with the HMRC, and they’ve accepted my proposal for a repayment plan.
“We owe £8,000 to the taxman. They’ve given us a bit of leeway, but I need the good people of Whitehaven now to come to the aid of the club.
“I’m not going to let the club fold – I’ll be here and I’ll be the last man standing. I’ve told the lads this. They’re not going to be left on their own.
“I will be here until the end, but I want to say to them that I’ve tried my utmost and make people aware of the situation we’re in. We need help. We need some money.”
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