Fire funds to help Glamorgan become financially sustainable
Glamorgan chief executive officer Dan Cherry says money from the sale of the Welsh Fire franchise will be used to make the county financially sustainable for the future."We've lived a hand-to-mouth existence over a long period now," admitted Cherry."This is an opportunity to become debt-free, put reserves in place for the stadium or something like Covid, and invest in projects to make us more sustainable."Glamorgan are set to receive around £20m after moves to get private investment into the eight Hundred franchise teams in England and Wales.
Indian-American IT entrepreneur Sanjay Govil, who owns US franchise team Washington Freedom, will take a 50% stake in Welsh Fire.Cherry was speaking to BBC Sport Wales ahead of the county's AGM (Monday, 24 March), where members will hear of a £286,192 operating loss for 2024 despite a profit before tax, interest and depreciation of £272,000."It's a fantastic opportunity for the game, we've had our own struggles over the last 10 to 15 years, but this investment allows us to become more financially sustainable for the future and to invest in the growth of cricket throughout Wales," he added.A remaining debt of £1.32m will be repaid to Cardiff Council, after much of the debt to the authority and the club's banks in 2015 had to be written off following the complete redevelopment of Sophia Gardens.The club will re-examine the possibility of building a hotel and improving conference facilities at Sophia Gardens, in line with several other counties.It will also reconsider how to establish a playing base in south-west Wales after a drop in the number of county players produced from west of Cardiff.Glamorgan play just two days of first-team cricket at Neath after the deterioration of St Helen's, which the Swansea club side will leave in 2025 as the Ospreys rugby team moves back."It's going to be a huge priority, it's something myself and (previous CEO) Hugh Morris have been keen on. We have to develop more home-grown players to represent Glamorgan, and get more Glamorgan players representing England," said Cherry."This investment gives us the opportunity for discussions, but we're going to have to partner with someone to make that happen, so we'll re-engage with partners in Swansea and Neath."Glamorgan men's team have not played in North Wales since before Covid in 2019, though the new women's team will play one match there in June.But Cherry also hopes the benefits of the Hundred investment will spread north."There's a definite desire to create a hub in North Wales, we've had really good discussions about our pathway and how to develop more players," he added."If we could create a hub in the west of Wales and in the north of Wales, with indoor and outdoor facilities to grow the game, that would be fantastic."Meanwhile the AGM is not likely to hear a detailed explanation of the December coaching upheaval, which saw coach Grant Bradburn depart amid allegations of inappropriate behaviour, denied by the Kiwi.The Cricket Regulator, an arms-length body set up by the England and Wales Cricket Board, is yet to publish its findings nearly three months on and does not include the case in its annual report."There's an ongoing process with the Cricket Regulator and there's not a lot we can say while that is ongoing. We took action, we believe we made the right decision and in Richard Dawson we've got a fantastic head coach to take us forward," Cherry said.Glamorgan are still hoping to announce another assistant coach to former Gloucestershire head coach Dawson.
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