WHITEHAVEN director Gary Eilbeck has turned the dial on his involvement at the LEL Arena back up with the aim of getting the Cumbrian club on a sounder financial footing.
Fears over the club’s future viability had been expressed, with fans launching a bid to raise funds to help save professional Rugby League in the town, where it was first played in 1948.
Fiscal problems are unfortunately nothing new – the club re-formed in 2010 following administration – and Whitehaven coach Jonty Gorley has been operating on one of the lowest budgets in the Championship.
In addition, he has had to deal with delays in players and staff being paid, and last month said: “If we don’t do something and don’t get funds in from wherever we can, there won’t be a Whitehaven.”
Now, as he strives to keep his side in the second tier with six matches remaining, local businessman Eilbeck and his fellow directors are working to find new income streams with current attendances falling below the 1,200 break-even figure.
“All the late payments have now been made, and we haven’t tried to cut wages,” said Eilbeck who, while stepping away from active involvement, had retained the place on the board he has held since 2014.
“The club have been operating in challenging circumstances with a big reduction in central funding and there have been some cash-flow problems, given the timing of home matches.
“In addition, we went out of the Challenge Cup early, and that was away to London Broncos, so we didn’t get the kind of financial boost we had last season.
“But we’ve been working to get things back on course and get some new directors and sponsors into the club and we have some things in the pipeline which will help us move on more positively.
“Clarification of central funding going forward would help, because we’re currently negotiating contracts for next season not knowing how much we’ll get.
“There’s also uncertainty over how the IMG club-grading system will change the playing field.
“I believe quite a few clubs will be in a similar situation to us, but they haven’t gone public.”
