Source: Bournemouth_Echo
Cherries chairman in plea for wealth distribution
CHERRIES chairman Eddie Mitchell fears the bottom end of the Football League could start to disappear unless the distribution of wealth is spread more evenly.[LNB] Mitchell's comments come after the league this week announced a lucrative new three-year sponsorship deal with energy firm Npower, worth £21m.[LNB] His observations also follow Labour peer Lord Dubs recently telling the House of Lords that the financial problems of a number of clubs had left the national game in a mess.[LNB] Cherries face a date in the High Court at the end of this month after being served with a winding-up petition by HM Revenue & Customs over tax arrears of £314,000.[LNB] The club, which revealed debts of around £850,000 earlier this month, has also been subject to a strict transfer embargo for the past 14 months due to its parlous financial position.[LNB] Mitchell told the Daily Echo: First and foremost, I think the league are doing a great job. I do think they need to be as hard as they can with clubs that fall behind with their payments. I still believe the embargo is the right punishment, it pushes us on and helps us try to see sense.[LNB] Cherries received a welcome cash boost when they made a rare appearance on Sky Sports on Monday, while the club will this season bank a £431,000 basic award payment from the league.[LNB] Mitchell added: I think the money should be apportioned more generously and I also think they should try to get the cameras down more to the lower leagues. We are all trying to play football in our division and it was great entertainment on Monday.[LNB] In my opinion, they need to spread the money a little bit wider, otherwise some of the lower leagues are going to fall away in the future.[LNB] Maybe it won't happen if people could be more sensible about the way things are run, but I think a little bit of financial encouragement would also go a long way as well. We all get a proportion of the money but, at the top end, it is saturated.[LNB] Asked whether he felt the league should adopt a prevention-rather-than-cure policy for all member clubs, Mitchell replied: I don't think that is possible because there are so many people that can pull the wool over the eyes of others. We have seen it with our club where promises have been made which have got the club into trouble because they haven't been kept.[LNB] We want to move on from that. We are not promising anything other than to keep the club afloat and to try to play some decent football. We've got to gradually get rid of the debt, creep up on everybody and, hopefully, try to establish ourselves in the top half of the division above.[LNB] Meanwhile, Mitchell said he anticipated no problems with Cherries receiving their agreed share of the Sky Sports £40,000 broadcast fee after Notts County said they would split the kitty 50-50.[LNB] Mitchell also said the club would be opening its Club 11 Gym on April 1. The facility, which will be open to the public, will also be used by Eddie Howe's squad.[LNB]
