Widnes made a loss of £950k in the year ended 30th November 2008 on turnover of close to £1m. This was the first year of the new regime and included significant costs incurred in re-structuring many of the clubs activities. The expenditure (close to £2m) was funded by the £1m turnover and the remainder by money put in by SOC which in those accounts, was not included as turnover.

The results reported yesterday would be for the year ended 30th November 2009, when Widnes average crowd was still 3,900. In addition to this the club shop (and relationship with O'Niells) was fully functioning. The Dream ticket lottery had had a full year running and new sponsorships had been obtained. Costs were cut by the release of several head office staff (Mike Banks, Pat Cluskey etc) aswell as a reduction in first team costs.

It is entirely feasible that Widnes could have achieved a break-even/small profit position on ordinary trading in the twelve month period.

The headline results of £2.5 million "Turnover" and £1 million profit will almost certainly have been achieved by the inclusion in the Turnover of funds injected by SOC (in years one and two) previously carried as Directors loans but now written off as no longer requiring repayment. This would be an "extraordinary" item in the accounts and , though included as "income" in the accounts would not be included as "turnover". However in press releases and reports such as those we have seen in the last day or two, the term "turnover" will have been used disingenuously to "spin" the figures for License bid purposes.

I would suggest the accounts are not incorrect but that the reporting of them is purposefully designed to make the club look better for the forthcoming bid. Not unusual in these days of "Artists impressions" of new stadiums and 5,000 crowds for meaningless games against Batley Bulldogs!

The above post is pretty much what we have all been saying , let's hope some people calm down a bit now

i actually have a copy of the submitted accounts with me at the moment, and the related parties note is rather telling,

while theres not enough information to either prove or disprove whats written above, given the in theory material amount of 1 million pound being written off, i'd expect that to have been disclosed in order to give a "true and fair" view to anyone reading them. given the lack of disclosure i'd still conclude the press release is correct until concrete evidence to suggest overwise

Reply to ' trash ' not me

Starbug, to descibe your recent postings to be tedious would be an understatement greater than saying the Pope is slightly catholic. It's all well and good picking apart this one press release but to do it with the volume you have says the following. One, you can't claim it doesn't bother you or that you are quite the neutral in this matter. You've been posting about this every place there has been a post, and often. You haven't really added anything since the first post, just repeating the exact same speculation and suspicions you have. Two, you have about the same evidence as anyone else at this point. One press release. You are going over old ground and your initial ground is flimsy. Whether we made one million in profit is largely irrelevant anyway. We have hit the target required and also cleared our debts, debts which recently kept us in dire straits might I add. Anything over that is a bonus.

Stop moaning, stop repeating the same old guff and get over it. You have been attempting to douse a very positive financial statement ever since it has been released and like I said, TEDIOUS.

Chris

Sorry but I am with Starbug on this one! When Halifax came out with a comedy crowd figure - we questioned it. When Widnes come out with a surprising financial report - we question it.

It isn't going to effect the Franchise bid one way or another - as has been stated by other posters the most significant fact emerging here is that the club is debt free.

But if there is a significant difference between the actual accounts and the press release (i.e. reporting non-existent turnover) then that does no credit to the club in my book, and it should also be of concern to the fans of Widnes because what it tells me at least is that their "sustainable business plan" merely turns out to be continuing to rely on SOC to put his hand in his pocket and keep writing off director loans, rather than underlying strength of the "franchise".

A positive press release regarding profit and debt free status should be a concern?

I don't feel concerned.

Show me a single scrap of evidence to back up your accusations.

Heres something I posted on the VT

It is good advice.

I, as a Widnes fan, will stand by the integrity of my club until it has been proven beyond doubt that there has been falsification of the accounts. Why the wouldn’t we stand by our club?

Why should we bow down to the conjecture of fans from a rival club?

anyways.....................the fact remains WE ARE SUPERLEAGUE! i for one cannot wait for big greg inglis wearing a widnes shirt and putting ryan bailey well and truley in his immature, tantrum throwing, cowardly place

well i can dream

Chris , have you read Trashs post on the subject ? , it tells the truth of the matter , which is pretty much what I said from the start

Last year when Widnes posted accounts showing a ' loss ' of around a million pounds I spent 2/3 days defending those accounts , trying to explain them to our fans and others from other clubs ( mostly Fax fans as I remember ) that you had not actually made a loss but that it was just an anomaly of the input of funds from your owner

Short memories maybe on yours and one or two others part

As Trash has explained , yes on the books it will show a million profit on 2.5 million turnover , but in reality you have broken even , or made a slight profit on the years trading

Why have I spent a couple of days trying to calm down lots of Widnes fans from boasting all over RLfans boards ? , basically because all it is actually doing is making you sound like arrogant SL fans , you are on the whole mostly better than that , you are on the whole loyal level headed RL fans

I don't want you to look stupid , unfortunately one or two of you , really are that stupid , in the end I gave up , but even then the likes of J 20 still wouldn't let go

As I said , read what trash has posted , In fact it is quite strange that nobody has replied to him or asked him to explain further

Just because you will become SL fans in 6 months time doesn't mean you all have to become (removed) now

All the best

First off, I've told you before recently about swearing. You know better than that, stop getting around the swear filter or you can cool off.

Secondly, suggesting widnes fans in general are all in danger of becoming ANYTHING speaks volumes about your recent postings. This isn't about our accounts. It's about us. Your projections on how we are going to start behaving and how you are all that is bravely standing between us and extreme obnoxiousness. There is some hypocrisy here. I have noticed an upturn in trolling emanating from yourself recently, so those in glass houses.

Thirdly, nothing you have posted has actually negated anything I have said. You are going over the same old ground since the very first post, and yet nobody on here, not the supporters, not the negaters, not people neutral, have the finances of widnes rlfc at hand. You're boring. And as you're having this post everywhere, you're not just boring, you're tiresome. Why don't you go back to patronising people on the VT and change this broken record.

Sounds good to me

So does that £2.5m turnover include the £1.8m which was provided by SOC as part of the trust or some other such financial arrangement?. If so, that would mean that the club only generated a turnover of £700k itself and actually has operating losses of £800k for the financial year in question?

I am honestly not having a go as I am not really that bothered by Widnes accounts and I am sure you will never have financial problems while SOC bankrolls the club, but you have to admit it does trather smack of getting carried away while doctoring a disappointing school report