BLACKBURN Rovers recorded a day-to-day trading profit last year - but continued big spending in the transfer market brought an overall loss of nearly £4 million on the championship season.

The new Ewood Park and Brockhall training ground are now listed as assets worth £33.9 million in the club's accounts today.

But the value of the playing staff, worth tens of millions of pounds, is never actually shown or counted as a financial asset.

The overall loss at Ewood was £3,954,000, compared to a deficit of £8,209,000 the previous year. That was due to a net loss of £4.6 million on transfers.

But the club showed that they can pay their way on a day-to-day basis, with a trading profit of £605,000, as opposed to a trading loss of £970,000 in 1993-94.

And chairman Robert Coar revealed today that owner Jack Walker was still prepared to make money available to the club - a message that will be ominously received at places such as Old Trafford, Anfield and St James's Park.

The issued share capital at Ewood, virtually all of it having been bankrolled by Mr Walker, stands at £40 million.

And Mr Coar explained that it is not intended, for the time being, to increase that to the £60 million figure which has already been authorised.

The accounts also show outstanding loans of £17.6 million.

Mr Coar said: "In addition to the issued share capital, the company have received interest free loans from its parent company Rosedale (JW) Investments Ltd totalling £17.6 million.

"Of these loans, £5 million is due for repayment on June 30, 1999. The balance of £12.6 million is on a long-term basis without a fixed repayment date." This amounts to little more than Mr Walker shuffling his own personal assets.

Looking ahead, Mr Coar said: "Jack is a businessman. Everything he does is run as a business and the same applies to a football club. You can't run it as a fan nowadays.

"But we have the infrastructure there now, the foundations are in place and we have to try to continue to improve, especially in the areas of commercial activities and marketing.

"We haven't had a full year yet with all our facilities fully operational.

"In the last five years the football business has turned around. There is a ceiling on how much you can actually take from games. Sales and marketing is non-finite.

"We know that we will never be in the same League as the likes of Manchester United, they are a big city club but we can make the best of what we have and aim to emulate a lot of Premier League clubs.

"It's also important to try to get into Europe. The extra money is something all clubs want access to."

Although the deficit on transfer fees, which includes the £5 million paid for Chris Sutton and the £1.5 million fee for Jeff Kenna, meant Rovers showed another huge loss, the accounts actually reveal an encouraging trend.

Rovers' income showed a massive increase on most fronts and underlines that, given success on the field, a top-class club can be funded. Mr Coar said: "I am confident that, with continued success both on the field and on the commercial front, the club will generate the necessary incomes to cover the operating costs committed."

Turnover increased by a staggering 80 per cent last season to £14.1 million (£7.8 million in 1994).

Match receipts rose 87 per cent to £5,682,000 (£3,035,000) with more than 14,000 season-ticket holders, a figure that has increased to more than 19,000 in the current season.

Television, broadcasting and FA distribution brought in a massive £3,719,000 (£2,646,000) with 11 "live" games on Sky TV, 14 BBC Match of the Day appearances and a merit award from the Sky money of nearly £900,000 for finishing top.

On the commercial side, record sales of merchandise and increased sponsorship and hospitality packages saw a jump of 118 per cent to £4,667,000 (£2,145,000). Costs, of course, also rose. The average number of employees during the year was 149 (108), while wages and salaries went up by £3.2 million to £9.2 million.

The companies of three directors, Mr Coar, Richard Matthewman and Iain Stanners, are shown as having done work for the club during the year. Caton and Duckworth, run by Mr Coar, carried out work worth £827,865, Neales Waste Management (Mr Matthewman) did work worth £9,193 and S G Aluminium (Mr Stanners) £19,870. And payment to another director represents the latter end of Terry Ibbotson's spell as a full-time employee at Ewood.

Rovers' annual meeting of shareholders will be held on February 29, when both Mr Coar and Keith Lee are due to retire as directors and are standing for re-election.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.