Carlisle chief denies cash crisis

Allen (centre) has reduced the playing budget by �200,000

Carlisle United chief executive David Allen has denied suggestions that the League One club are currently in severe financial difficulty.

The Cumbrians have slashed their playing budget for next season after narrowly avoiding relegation on the final day of the campaign.

"The club is alright financially," Allen told BBC Radio Cumbria.

"We don't have a few million pounds in the bank or anything but we are certainly not in difficulty."

Carlisle had an average attendance of 6,267 last season, a significant drop from 7,835 in 2007/2008.

"All that I can tell you about the budget is that we have had a very, very disappointing year looking back. We would have liked a lot more money coming in through the gate," said Allen.

What we have got to do is tell the supporters that we are not going to have seven or eight players on massive money

Carlisle manager Greg Abbott

"We have gone into a recession, we have also had some very, very bad results and some very bad play down there, which has reduced the gates."

Allen highlighted the recession hitting local businesses as a major reason for a reason for the club's decision to cut the budget.

"A lot of our sponsors and sponsoring companies have had difficulty and had to back out of sponsorship, so the finances are not there that where there in the past, and they are not going to be there going forward.

"We are going to do everything that we can to get fans down there and boost the gates.

"The fact is though that we can't just be throwing a lot of money at it hoping that it is successful, when really we have just got to be managing it a little bit closely," he said.

Allen has told manager Greg Abbott that he must trim "a couple of hundred thousand pounds" from the playing budget.

But he added: "When you think that our playing budget is around about £2 million, it is still a very substantial figure.

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"Greg is very, very confident that he can work within that. It is not that far away from where we were last season when we had the highest playing bill that the club has ever had."

Abbott has warned supporters not to expect more than two or three new signings over the summer, with a left winger and an attacking midfielder his transfer priorities.

He is also hoping to identify local talent who can add depth to the squad.

Abbott told BBC Radio Cumbria: "I have got to carry some hungry players and youthful players that can push these senior players and make sure that we haven't got an amount of money sat on the bench or in the stands twiddling their thumbs. I don't think that the club can any longer can afford to do that.

"I have been under instruction to work to a figure, which I am going to do...to start enabling us to find some local talent, some youthful talent, that comes at the right end of the scale financially."

He continued: "What we have got to do is tell the supporters that we are not going to have seven or eight players on massive money.

"I don't want this to be budget driven but I have got a job to do and I have been given an amount of money to fit in a squad that is going to challenge with teams that have got treble our budget, possibly even more.

"I have got a list of 200 players...whether we can afford them, whether they are available, whether they are first or second or third choice. Clubs like Carlisle, Rochdale and Bury and people like that don't always get first choice, because we get muscled out of it financially by the big boys."

Carlisle released six first-team players last week - Danny Carlton, Chris Lumsdon, Luke Joyce, Chris Howarth, Lewis Neal and Jeff Smith.

The club has have offered new two-year deals to Danny Graham, David Raven, Tony Kane and Ian Harte, along with Workington goalkeeper Adam Collin.