OXFORD United’s finance director has shed light on how a new stadium will boost the club’s coffers.
United are seeking to build a new ground at ‘The Triangle’, south of Kidlington Roundabout, and Tim Davies says the club owning their own stadium will help with sustainability.
Answering questions on BBC Radio Oxford’s Five Minute Fans Forum, Davies discussed topics including the club’s ownership, agents’ fees and a new stadium.
READ ALSO: Oxford United give information to council on ‘long-term vision’ for new stadium
He said: “One of the reasons for the new stadium is to improve our revenue margins, as well as save some costs.
“Having our own stadium that we can use all year round will help us with sustainability as well.
“It’s always the intention that Oxford United itself owns the stadium, which is great news for our long-term future.
“With regards to the funding, we have a good understanding of how the funding structure will be.
“It’ll be a mixture of shareholder equity and longer term funding, so hopefully with the shareholder equity, we don’t have to pay that back and the longer term funding, we’re obviously going to have incremental revenues from the new stadium, which will help us meet any repayments due over time.”
He added: “A bit like when you buy a house, you put down your deposit, as in your equity, and then you take a mortgage out on the rest.
“Our owners are incredibly generous so the equity will be quite large and we’ll have to make sure any funding underneath that is repayable over the right number of years so we don’t harm the club’s ability on the pitch.”
Asked how long repayments on building a ground would take, Davies said: “Normally when you look at stadiums, it’s going to be in the longer term and it all depends on the funding structure that we choose, and the mix between equity and other funding structures.
“It’s difficult to say how long but it’s not going to be over two years.”
READ AGAIN: Oxford United report loss of more than £4m for financial year
It was revealed last week that the club’s owners ‘fully funded’ a £4.2 million loss during the last financial year.
Davies said: “We’ve got great owners. They’re invested in the club for the long-term.
“They’d like to see us, and are pushing us to, become more sustainable but that takes time.
“It’s always really difficult in football, there’s a very strong balance between being competitive on the pitch and then trying to be sustainable as well.”
READ AGAIN: Oxford United double spend on agents’ fees to rank in League One top five
The U’s meanwhile ranked fifth in Sky Bet League One’s top spenders on agents’ fees in the latest Football Association figures.
Davies said: “We want to spend as little as possible on agents’ fees.
“Last year was particularly skewed by one transaction we did, rightly or wrongly that’s what it cost.”
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