Lenders reluctant to provide Yorkshire with £20m loan over concerns to the club’s financial forecast

Yorkshire could face running out of money to pay player and staff salaries before the end of the season with banks reluctant to provide a £20m loan due to concerns over the club’s financial forecasts. 

Mail Sport has learned that several potential lenders have queried Yorkshire’s claims in their pitch to investors about the money they can pull in through naming rights deals, pop concerts and compensation from the ECB.

Yorkshire have been seeking a loan to pay off the £15m owed to former chairman Colin Graves and a further £5m needed to get through the season since last December. 

City insiders have told Mail Sport that the club are in danger of following the path of another fallen sporting giant in Wasps, who entered administration and were kicked out of the Premiership earlier this season after failing to refinance a £36m bond.

Mail Sport has seen the sales deck circulated to banks on Yorkshire’s behalf by corporate refinancing specialists FRP Advisory, which includes some eye-raising claims. Several of the forecasts made to demonstrate Yorkshire can afford the interest repayments on a £20m loan have been rejected by would-be lenders, including:

Yorkshire face running out of money to pay player and staff salaries after potential lenders queried the financial stability of the club

The club are now facing trouble after struggles in their search for a loan to pay off £15m debt

A) Yorkshire’s claim that they will receive £1m in compensation from the ECB for not hosting Test matches in 2024, 2027, and 2028, when the governing body are on record as stating the correct figure is £550,000.

B) Yorkshire’s contention that the naming rights for Headingley will grow from their current value of £1.5m-per-year to £2.8m by 2028.

C) Projections that staging pop concerts at Headingley will raise between £800,000 and £2m-per-year based on holding three in 2024, five in 2025, seven in 2026 and eight in 2027, despite the fact no such events have been lined up. In addition sources at the club have questioned whether Headingley can attract major acts given its capacity of 18,000 and lack of on-site parking facilities, while Leeds City Council have raised doubts about whether they would sign off such an extension programme given the ground is in a residential area, as well as pointing out that the city already has a thriving live music scene with established venues such as Roundhay Park, Elland Road, the Leeds Arena and O2 Academy.

Yorkshire have been able to pay staff salaries so far this season despite the wage-bill increasing to £3.2m-a-year, but club insiders have warned that they will experience serious cash-flow problems by the end of the summer. The club’s accounts show they have outgoings of £10.3m due to creditors before the end of the year, as well as £15.9m of long-term debt, most of which is owed to the Graves Family Trust.

Yorkshire’s options if they fail to secure a loan appear limited to entering administration and reforming as a so-called phoenix club, or asking the ECB for a bailout, which may meet resistance from other counties. The ECB provided a £3.8m bailout to Durham in 2016, but also stripped the club of their Test match status, which would be ruinous for Yorkshire, whose debts are also far greater.

Yorkshire could also ask Graves to waive interest payments due to his family in return for resuming his previous role as chairman, but his application for that position is currently being resisted by several figures on the Board. The 75-year-old waived an interest payment of £500,000 that was due to be paid last month which has now been put back to October.

Yorkshire declined to comment.

Club insiders have warned that they will experience serious cash-flow problems by the end of the summer