Harrogate Town's financial situation better than 2021/22 accounts suggest, insists CEO Sarah Barry

A recently-published financial statement on Companies House shows that the Sulphurites made a loss of more than £1.1million during their second season as a Football League (EFL) side.

And Town also became more reliant on the backing of chairman and majority shareholder Irving Weaver, who injected another £700,000 of his own cash into the club’s coffers over the 12-month period ending June 30, 2022.

This follows on from the £1million loss posted in 2020/21, though Barry says that the Wetherby Road outfit were significantly affected by circumstance during both of the previous two campaigns.

“In terms of the future of Harrogate Town, I want to reassure the supporters, and I think that our continued investment speaks volumes regarding our commitment to growing the club and our fan-base,” she told the Harrogate Advertiser.

“We have spent the last 18 months investing in the long-term future, including the restructuring and strengthening of the team, developing the stadium and facilities to a standard fit for the EFL and to give our supporters a better match day experience, plus, the launch of our academy.

“Financially, our aim is to become sustainable. That’s where we want to go. Our focus is on getting the turnover where it needs to be, while obviously keeping an eye on the costs - although there is only so much you can control in that regard.

“It’s all looking really positive, albeit that might not necessarily be reflected [in the 2021/22 accounts]. Our financial situation is circumstantial because we were promoted to the Football League during a pandemic. The whole of our first season in League Two was affected by that, as was part of the second.

“So we’ve been on the back foot in that respect. It’s probably cost us 18 months and I believe we would have been 18 months ahead of where we find ourselves now had we been promoted at a different time.”

Town’s 2021/22 accounts show a loss of £1,168,631 following on from a loss of £1,019,999 during the previous financial year.

The club’s liabilities increased by £1,069,482 to the figure of £4,271,385 having been £3,201,903 in 2021.

In June 2022, Irving Weaver was owed £4,406,754, a total of £700,000 more than he was in 2021 (£3,706,754).

The Sulphurites’ accounts do however state that ‘RI Weaver has indicated his intention to continue to make available such funds as are needed by the company, and he does not intend to seek repayment of the amounts due for the period covered by the forecasts.’

Meanwhile, Town’s total assets have grown from £4,313,253 in 2021 to £4,896,969, an increase of £583,716. Of those assets, their land and buildings are now worth £4,283,802, up £372,798 from 2021, when they were valued at £3,911,004.

The club’s workforce also grew during the 2021/22 financial year, with 55 people now in their employment, compared with 33 in 2021.

“The increase in the number of staff we employ is one of the notable differences,” Barry added.

“We had to take on a lot more people because being a Football League club means that there is just so much more than needs to be done.

"It was just something that we had to address.”

On plans for future investment, Barry revealed: “We have exciting plans for the future with the growth of our Player Development Centres, our women’s and girls teams as well as many more initiatives to benefit supporters as we continue to grow as a club.

"We would take this opportunity to thank all our stakeholders for their continued support.”