Watford chairman Jimmy Russo loans £1m to stay afl

3-4 years back, Watford looked in a geat position. Football has to do something re all these clubs (including ours) so can be self-sufficient. And that has to be in the wages department.

Guardian/Mike Stafford -
\Cash-strapped Watford face administration threat• Watford need £5.5m in three weeks to survive
• Championship club facing 10-point deduction

Watford have until Christmas to secure new funding or they could be forced into administration and face a 10-point deduction. The cash-strapped Championship club's holding company revealed the severity of the situation yesterday, despite being loaned £1m by the club chairman three days ago.

Watford Leisure borrowed the money from Valley Grown Salads – which is controlled by the club's chairman, Jimmy Russo, and his brother, Vicenzo – to meet immediate cash-flow demands, but had to announce on the London stock exchange yesterday that an additional £5.5m would be needed in just over three weeks if the club are to stave off administration until the end of the season.

"The November loan will only be sufficient to cover the company's cash requirements until 22 December," the statement said. "In the event that further funding is not available to the club before 22 December 2009, then the board would seek a suspension of trading in Watford Leisure's shares pending clarification of its financial position."

Watford, who sit ninth in the Championship table with 27 points from their opening 18 matches, have outstanding loans of almost £5m, the vast majority of which is owed to Russo's Valley Grown Salads and secured against the club's Vicarage Road stadium.

The manager, Malky Mackay, has exceeded most expectations so far this season following a summer exodus that saw his predecessor, Brendan Rodgers, leave for Reading after just six months in charge. Rodgers took the midfielder Jobi McAnuff with him to the Madejski Stadium. The striker Tamas Priskin joined Ipswich Town and last season's top scorer Tommy Smith, along with the defender Mike Williamson, departed for Portsmouth as the Hornets tried desperately to cut their wage bill, which was estimated to account for more than three-quarters of their turnover.

There was some good news for the club on Sunday – from a financial, if not a football aspect – as they were drawn away to Chelsea in the third round of the FA Cup. The half share of the gate receipts from that tie at Stamford Bridge will provide a much-needed deposit to the club coffers, which are also boosted by the £489,000 the club receive in annual rent from the rugby union side Saracens. The singer Elton John, the club's honorary life president and former chairman and director, is due to perform a fundraising concert at Vicarage Road at the end of the season.

www.guardian.co.uk/football/2009/nov/30/watford-championship-financial-crisis