£276,711 loss for Magpies (From Dorset Echo)

£276,711 loss for Magpies

9:09am Thursday 18th June 2009 in

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DEPARTING Dorchester Town chairman Eddie Mitchell insists he will never “call back” repayment on a six-figure sum that appears as a loan in the club’s latest accounts.

For the year ending May 31, 2008, the Magpies made a loss of £276,711 while a total of £203,130 is displayed, under related party transactions, as money owed to Mitchell’s property company Seven Developments.

However, the Poole-based property developer, who is set to complete a takeover of AFC Bournemouth in due course, is not expecting to see that amount paid back.

He said: “It’s the loan that we’ve leant the club. From memory it’s the money that I’ve put in to support the club.

“If the club can never pay it back then they can’t pay it back, Seven Developments won’t be calling it back.

“I feel there’s redevelopment opportunities at the club, and I’ve never hidden that fact, and that’s where hopefully the club will be able to generate money. The market’s not brilliant at the moment so I’m waiting for the next boom so to speak.

“If I don’t get the money back then eventually it will go down as a donation because I’ve never envisaged getting it back.”

Of the financial loss made in Mitchell’s first year as majority shareholder, he added: “There was a loss made but it’s not a problem. Chelsea made a loss of some £100 million or so, so I don’t see our loss as being a problem. The situation at the club is okay.

“The previous year’s accounts only showed a profit because some of the money put in was never called back, instead it went down as a donation.”

Mitchell will step down from his post as chairman of the county town outfit at the end of this week with club director Dave Roberts taking over the reins.

Meanwhile, Blue Square South clubs are now permitted to bring in 12 loan players over the course of a season after the number was increased from eight at last weekend’s Conference AGM.

The meeting also saw Dorchester secretary David Martin narrowly lose out to Worcester’s Dave Boddy in a vote to become the division’s Conference Board representative.