Post by Wicked Cricket on Mar 10, 2017 15:21:57 GMT
The embarrassment of Wales, Glamorgan CCC, have announced an operating loss of £307,778 for the 2016 financial year.
An embarrassment because as some Forum readers may know the appalling and cowardly behaviour of blackmailing their creditors to a 70% haircut 18 months ago including Cardiff City Council who lost £4.4m and led to the local taxpayer being hit was a blight on county cricket. The premise being: If you don’t accept this loss then we will go bankrupt and you won’t receive a penny. At least Durham had the decency to go cap in hand to the ECB and left the locals out of it but not Glamorgan.
A dragon that failed to puff
Another major irritant is that the Welsh CCC are an ECB experiment that went horribly wrong and yet no-one at the Board took responsibility. Instead, Hugh Morris was dispatched to 'The Swalec' to become CEO in an attempt to resolve the county’s increasing debt which only led, after various failed attempts, to the desperate move of creditor blackmail.
The ECB were determined to have international cricket in Wales and due to the old boys network Glamorgan were chosen. Money was lent willy-nilly including from Allied Irish Bank, Club Chairman Paul Russell and the City Council to redevelop the ground in the belief that Test match cricket would bring prosperity to Cardiff. How wrong they were.
At least last year’s loss was better than the £593,000 in 2015 but that is partly because the “Debt write-down” (the official term) means less annual interest paid on the loans.
Like other TMGs Glamorgan’s business model is reliant on the popularity of the international matches they are given by the ECB. Morris affirms, “The club's annual financial results fluctuate significantly depending upon the quality and frequency of international cricket fixtures staged in Cardiff.” He continues, “Consequently, the club's longer-term plan includes some years where it makes a profit and others where it makes a loss." Adding, "Despite reporting a loss this year, the improvement in commercial revenues and a record level of performance for the conferencing and events business is encouraging.”
And why TMGS are desperate for a City-Based Tournament. The extra money offers a further opportunity of survival moving into the future.
Meanwhile, Glamorgan will host Champions Trophy matches in the summer including games involving England, New Zealand, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Pakistan and South Africa; while World Cup games will be staged in 2019. This may, at least, help in paying off the club's remaining 30% worth of loans.
www.bbc.co.uk/sport/cricket/39219285
An embarrassment because as some Forum readers may know the appalling and cowardly behaviour of blackmailing their creditors to a 70% haircut 18 months ago including Cardiff City Council who lost £4.4m and led to the local taxpayer being hit was a blight on county cricket. The premise being: If you don’t accept this loss then we will go bankrupt and you won’t receive a penny. At least Durham had the decency to go cap in hand to the ECB and left the locals out of it but not Glamorgan.
A dragon that failed to puff
Another major irritant is that the Welsh CCC are an ECB experiment that went horribly wrong and yet no-one at the Board took responsibility. Instead, Hugh Morris was dispatched to 'The Swalec' to become CEO in an attempt to resolve the county’s increasing debt which only led, after various failed attempts, to the desperate move of creditor blackmail.
The ECB were determined to have international cricket in Wales and due to the old boys network Glamorgan were chosen. Money was lent willy-nilly including from Allied Irish Bank, Club Chairman Paul Russell and the City Council to redevelop the ground in the belief that Test match cricket would bring prosperity to Cardiff. How wrong they were.
At least last year’s loss was better than the £593,000 in 2015 but that is partly because the “Debt write-down” (the official term) means less annual interest paid on the loans.
Like other TMGs Glamorgan’s business model is reliant on the popularity of the international matches they are given by the ECB. Morris affirms, “The club's annual financial results fluctuate significantly depending upon the quality and frequency of international cricket fixtures staged in Cardiff.” He continues, “Consequently, the club's longer-term plan includes some years where it makes a profit and others where it makes a loss." Adding, "Despite reporting a loss this year, the improvement in commercial revenues and a record level of performance for the conferencing and events business is encouraging.”
And why TMGS are desperate for a City-Based Tournament. The extra money offers a further opportunity of survival moving into the future.
Meanwhile, Glamorgan will host Champions Trophy matches in the summer including games involving England, New Zealand, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Pakistan and South Africa; while World Cup games will be staged in 2019. This may, at least, help in paying off the club's remaining 30% worth of loans.
www.bbc.co.uk/sport/cricket/39219285