Chesterfield FC Community Trust will have to take "drastic measures" to cut club's losses, according to leading expert

The club made losses of almost £1.845m for the trading year ending June 30 2019 – compared to a loss of £1.061m the previous year.

The club said the losses were a result of relegation from League Two and then failing to win promotion , as well as “a wish by the majority shareholder to maintain the playing budget to try and get promoted.”

The trust is expected to complete a takeover of the club in April.

The trust has said that “financial stability is of the utmost importance” and they plan to break even within three years by “maximising income streams and reducing costs.”

Speaking on BBC Radio Sheffield’s Football Heaven programme , Dr Rob Wilson, a football finance expert at Sheffield Hallam University, said: “The current ownership has not managed to do that (reduce losses) and they need to take some drastic measures in order to cut their expenditure and increase their income and when you don’t have a level of sporting success it is very difficult to stimulate some interest. I don’t think it matters whether it is a supporters’ trust or otherwise it is an uphill struggle and one that is going to take some drastic action and an awful lot of rebuilding unfortunately.”

When asked about the success rate of community trust takeovers in football, Dr Wilson said it is “pretty mixed.”

“There was always this kind of common myth that supporters’ trusts did not work financially and actually the myth was based on the fact that not many supporters’ trusts had ever made the step into full club ownership,” he explained. “If you look at situations like Exeter City which has been okay, if you look at Swansea City they worked their way up through the leagues with essentially supporters’ trust model.

“I think it is down to the business acumen and the people that are running it. I don’t think it matters whether they are private businesses, foreign owners or community trusts; it is the acumen of the people running the organisation.”