Shrewsbury Town building for long-term success says Brian Caldwell

The Town chief was speaking after figures revealed that the club reversed a six-figure loss to achieve an impressive £1.2 million profit last season.

He cautioned against expectations of a spending spree on the back of the results, and said it made more sense for the long-term future of the club to invest in infrastructure such as the new training ground at Sundorne.

“A football club is very hard to run and be sustainable, but we have to try our best to be exactly that,” he said.

“Any extra money which we can’t guarantee every year we have to utilise in long-term investment.”

He added: “I don’t know whether people quite realise the expenditure involved in the training ground. The building has been purchased, we have spent close to £200,000 on the grass to get it to a certain standard – even the driveway. Everything always adds up.

“It’s about trying to keep control of it and make sure we know what we are doing, and make sure any money we invest in the training ground will be well spent.

“A football club has to be a sustainable business. It’s very hard to have that but it’s really important we reinvest anything we can in long-term projects. It would be easy for a chairman to throw silly money at a team to get into the Championship, then two or three years down the line it’s not there any more.

“It doesn’t become sustainable and supporters say why did we have a great team three years ago and not this year? It’s because all that money we had as extra income three years ago is money you can’t guarantee every year.”

The club’s income was bolstered by cup success which led to a fifth-round tie with Manchester United at Greenhous Meadow, as well as sales of four players – Ryan Woods to Brentford, Connor Goldson to Brighton, Harry Lewis to Southampton and Josh Ginnelly to Burnley.

The figures, which have been released by the club alongside notes from supporter and chartered accountant Ant Thomas, show the club bolstered its balance sheet, which at the year end showed assets worth £13.1 million, up from £11.8 million the previous year. That figure was before the club’s investments, however.

Town’s cash reserves also grew, from £904,000 to £1.98 million.

The club carries no debt – a rare situation for a club in England.