Newport facing harsh financial realities says Jenkins

Newport County owner Huw Jenkins has revealed hopes of bringing fresh investment to the club have hit a stumbling block after spelling out the financial realities at the EFL's bottom club.

It comes as the former Swansea City chairman admitted the challenges at the League Two strugglers are bigger than he realised when he took control in 2023.

Jenkins remains in talks with parties to boost the club's finances to aid attempts to avoid relegation from League Two.

But, answering questions from concerned supporters at a fan forum at Rodney Parade, the 62-year-old said issues including share-dilution and the threat of relegation to non-league has so far prevented a cash injection.

Jenkins' deal for a majority 52% shareholding at Newport – that had previously been owned by its supporters trust - was rubber stamped in February 2024 after a vote from fans six months earlier.

The trust disclosed at the event the club had been 48 hours from being unable to pay players – and potential closure - before Jenkins' involvement.

Jenkins told fans he will have invested £3m by the end of this current campaign, claiming "£300,000 went in last month just to keep us ticking along".

County currently pay around £1m a year out of a £4.5m turnover to play games at Rodney Parade on a long-term lease, and Jenkins added: "I took the challenge on so there is no excuses, I know how difficult it is. It can't go on forever, whether it's me in charge, or somebody else taking over."

With Newport four points adrift of safety, Jenkins faced more than two hours of questions from fans who fear the club are sliding back to non-league. When that last occurred in 1988 the club went bust and took 25 years to return to the EFL after reforming.

He argued the "fabric of football has changed" in terms of budgets, claiming some near rivals in the League Two table are paying wages more than double and admitting some non-league clubs are willing to pay more to attract players.

But he insisted the playing budget has increased and is already in talks with clubs over deals in January where a handful of signings are targeted.

Jenkins named Christian Fuchs as new manager last month after sacking summer appointment Dave Hughes.

Results have so far failed to improve, but Jenkins – who admitted he had got some key decisions on recruitment wrong - told fans: "We are all concerned where the club is, none more so than myself.

"I'm here every day sat there watching the club lose and it hurts me. Things need to improve drastically, but I believe we can."

Rodney Parade has felt plenty of frustration this season.

It is only natural when the side is at the bottom of the fourth tier and failed to win a league game at home since March.

With almost half the season gone and worries of relegation thick in the air, this meeting of owner and supporters was never going to be an event where punches were pulled.

There was applause when one of the hundreds gathered in a hospitality suite loudly agreed with the claim that the current side – with its free transfers, youngsters and inexperience - was simply not League Two standard.

Never mind Christian Fuchs, Pep Guardiola would struggle, Jenkins was told.

What the fans had in return was a mixture of mea culpa and a defiant dogma that going young and stylish would reap its rewards.

"It's your opinion and I can't argue because we know where we are," said Jenkins, who also made it clear that financial realities have their say too.

Such honesty diffused some of the anger in the room, although whether fans felt less uneasy about their club's Football League status after more than two and half hours of unducked questions is another thing altogether.

Plenty of rumours were quashed – such as a conspiracy to take the club into the Welsh system or that Fuchs was set to invest in the club himself.

But in the end Jenkins asked for some faith, pointing to his success at taking low-spending Swansea from this same position to the Premier League and an impassioned rallying call for belief.

Yet, as the fans made their ways home, both they and the experienced Jenkins know that ultimately the only thing that offers comfort at times like this is points.