Major cash boost allows Chesterfield to back boss and pay historic debts

Chesterfield vs Leyton Orient - Sam Clucas brings the ball into the Leyton Orient box - Pic By James Williamson

The final installments of the money owed to the Spireites by Hull City for Sam Clucas, a sum in excess of £300,000, have been paid in one go after his move to Stoke from Swansea.

And payments for the sale of Will Russ to Leicester City, Kristian Dennis to Notts County and Jon Nolan to Ipswich have all been received in recent weeks.

A Spireites spokesman told the Derbyshire Times that the money has helped to facilitate Allen’s squad rebuild, which continued this week with the purchase of Tom Denton from Alfreton and has brought the departure of many of last season’s team.

“The remainder of the Clucas money has now been received,” said the spokesman.

“A small portion was owed to Mansfield due to a sell on clause within the initial contract with Chesterfield FC.

“However, north of £300k has been banked and in addition, we saw Will Russ sold to Leicester City and a further payment received from the sale of Kristian Dennis.

“A further bonus has been the first payment received from the sale of Jon Nolan.

“Finances have consistently been very tight and the reduced attendances at the end of the season all hit cash flow.

“The recent departure of players having their contracts cancelled has also cost the club in excess of £150,000.

“This has all been met to support the manger in reshaping the squad to deal with the National League.

“ We are obviously well aware that the manger may need to boost his squad at some stage and we have already made provisions for this.”

The transfer fees have also allowed the club to pay off historic debts, although the money the club owes to owner Dave Allen and his firm remains the same, with the interest also on hold.

“There have also been many historic debts that have been on hold and we have now finally been able to pay these off.

“As a company we want to meet our financial commitments and now aim to pay our creditors within a normal business time scale.

“The debt owed to Dave Allen and A&S Leisure has currently been parked and is not attracting any interest.

“It is the first time in a long time that we are operating with some money in a deposit account.”