Trust Meeting to Discuss PFA Loan

The Exeter City Trust Board met yesterday (5th June) and have issued a statement.

The Trustee on the Club Board was not available for the meeting with the Club where the loan was discussed.

The Trust Board met on Thursday (5 June) to discuss the Club’s recent £100,000 short term loan from the PFA. The Trust Board is disappointed with the recent turn of events. The background is that the decision to take the loan was made at one of the Club’s regular cash flow meetings held on 29th May. Unfortunately, the Trust Board representative who would ordinarily attend this meeting was out of the country. The Trust representatives on the Club Board learnt of the loan at the Club Board meeting on 2nd June. This was immediately reported to the Trust Board.

The Trust Board had expected that if the Club needed money over the summer, it would find other sources:-

It should be said that the Trust Board were aware that the Club was investigating the possibility of a short term loan over the summer, but had anticipated this would be by way of an advancement of monies due from the Football League. However, the manner and type of loan has raised issues relating to Trust and Club governance and the financial position of the Club. As a result of this the Trust Board will meet with the Club and resolve these issues.

The Trust is concerned over information about finances and therefore it’s ability to govern:-

The Trust Board have already communicated to the Club problems they have had in receiving financial reports. To address this kind of issue, the two Boards had already started a process of reviewing the way they work together. These events underline the importance of taking these to a satisfactory conclusion.

he Trust itself is not able to help with a loan, as it does not have much left in the way of reserves as it has almost all already been lent to the Club in addition to the normal monthly donations..

In regard to Trust Finances, the Trust currently has a balance of £15,000. There are short term loans to the Club of £60,000. These are recent examples of the way in which the Trust has supported the Club over the last 10 years, which amounts to £1,750,000 to date. This is on top of the huge number of hours provided by volunteers, which has saved the Club considerable money.

The Trust remains committed to this ownership model.

The statement can be read at http://ecfcst.org.uk/2014/06/06/trust-statement-2/