Derbyshire declare small surplus

By Andy Wilson

For the sixth time in the last seven years, Derbyshire have been able to announce a small surplus in their end-of-year accounts. The club was in the black by £23,310 last year, which is about 15% up on the £20,215 surplus declared in 2011.

All counties struggled to absorb the impact of an exceptionally wet summer and the counter-attractions of the Olympic Games, European Championship football and the Queen’s diamond jubilee but Derbyshire managed that better than most.

Good housekeeping – not spending money they do not have – has been the watchword but 2013 will see the club raising the stakes following promotion to Division One of the LV County Championship.

Recruiting a high-profile overseas player in Shivnarine Chanderpaul has come at a price and Derbyshire have further strengthened their squad by signing Billy Godleman and Richard Johnson. They also rewarded members of last year’s Division Two title-winning side with improved contracts.

That is a calculated risk but chairman Chris Grant believes it is still possible for the club to stay in the black again this year.
He said: “The good news recently with increased membership bodes very well for this year but it will still be all hands to the pump between now and the start of the season.

“I cannot say hand on heart that we will be in surplus again this year because we have increased expenditure on the playing squad to prepare for the challenges of Division One. We still have a lot of hard work ahead of us.

“I’m still confident we can attract extra money into the club and, moving forward, we are in a strong situation relative to other counties because we don’t have debt.”

Derbyshire are writing to members this weekend outlining their plans for the future, which includes taking on what Grant calls a “controlled level of debt” as part of their ground redevelopment proposals.

The members are being asked to vote on changes to the way the club is governed, with a reduced management board of nine taking over from the current 15-man committee, to enable the club to press ahead with a £2.5m redevelopment of the County Ground.

Date: 16/02/2013 09:44:32 by Andy Wilson
In: Today | Derbyshire |