It is budget time in the boardroom as we look ahead to the 2022 season but as you would imagine it can be really difficult to put together anything with great accuracy. There are so many variables and unknowns. The pleasing thing is that we do have some cash in the bank as a buffer. I’d personally like that money invested and working for us but the reality is that we have to keep a fairly decent-sized sum back to cover all the risk.

We know that the funding from the RFL is going to be much reduced and we must prepare for at least a 50 per cent reduction; possibly worse still if we don’t gain promotion from League 1. Promotion itself is another unknown variable. While we are sat at the top of the league, we are now finding that Covid is starting to hit the camps and we must prepare for some disruption. We have players isolating due to close contacts but thankfully the majority of our squad are at least single jabbed.

We are hoping to put a budget together to be challenging near the top end of the Championship but to do that we need to be talking to the better players now. Top-end Championship players are unlikely to come to Barrow while we are still in League 1, unless of course you pay way over the odds.

In terms of success off the pitch we have put an events programme together that has generated life-saving funds. We can’t be totally sure that we can replicate the successes. There won’t be European Championship football next year that has proved so popular, but I’m sure we will endeavour to put an events programme together to still entice the crowds. Our big screen has proven really popular, and we have had plans to show movies on a regular basis for all the family. We are now just waiting for approval from the council to continue.

Our crowds have grown massively considering we are in league 1 and I would like to think that if we could make the Championship, we could start to entice some very large crowds, especially from clubs with large travelling support. We also think that the addition of our ladies team has added to the match-day experience and has been a large contributory factor in the growth.

We would like to think that if we could keep the crowds, we could keep our sponsors happy and we hope that the improved game-day experience results in more sponsorship packages acquired. Similarly, if we keep the crowds then our bars, food outlets and merchandise sales should improve. Let’s hope we can keep that upward spiral, that we can continue to boost the economy by employing more staff and that we are able to redirect any surplus funds into an improved team and facilities. Sounds easy, but it is all a risk. Thankfully, when we have such magnificent support from the terraces, we can set that budget with a certain degree of confidence.