Dicky Evans hopes fans will part with as much as �5,000 to help the Pirates

Cornish Pirates owner Dicky Evans will tell Monday night's fans' meeting that he needs their help to plug the gap between what the club earns and spends.

Evans says the club will need to make up a �600,000 shortfall to successfully compete in next season's Championship.

"It costs quite a lot to run a fully professional rugby club and I've made up the difference which is a large sum of money," he told BBC Radio Cornwall.

Evans made up a shortfall of �300,000 this season after a sponsor pulled out.

He says that in real terms the club will raise �1.3m next season through gate receipts, merchandising and other commercial activities and he predicts that it will cost �1.9m to have a club which is competitive in the fully-professional Championship.

"Next year's championship will be a minimum of 28 games, all of which will be of a very high standard," he said.

"It will bring us closer to Premiership standards, but the alternative side of the coin is it will increase the gap between the current National Two, which will be National One next year, and the Championship clubs."

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