Quinn defends spending

Quinn: Defends spending

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Sunderland chairman Niall Quinn insists the club's latest accounts will only be negative due to heavy investment in the playing squad.

The audited figures are due to be released in the next few weeks, but Quinn and chief executive Steve Walton insist the Black Cats remain on a firm financial footing.

Quinn believes the Stadium of Light side could have opted for a positive statement, however, that would have meant they missed out on a host of big-name signings.

The Black Cats supremo is not worried about the club's current financial plight and believes they remain in a strong position to move forward.

Enlightenment

"We are about to release our audited figures in the next few weeks and I'm happy that will provide more enlightenment for our fans," he told the club's official website.

"The accounts will show the word 'loss', but that should really be interpreted as 'extra signings'.

"We could easily have shown a profit, but we wouldn't have [Michael] Turner, [Darren] Bent, [Lee] Cattermole or [Lorik] Cana.

"We have a situation now where we have a great chance of going forward."

Owner Ellis Short converted a £48million loan into shares last summer and Walton has thanked the American for his endeavours.

Although Sunderland spent more than they brought in last season, Walton believes their efforts have all been for the benefit of the club.

Headlines

He said: "I'm glad to say Sunderland aren't making the headlines for financial reasons at the moment.

"The really important thing for the fans is that we have a solid financial base, and that's what having a solid owner does for us.

"There's one thing I want to emphasise: recently, we have seen Chelsea and Manchester City come out and say their owners have capitalised their loans.

"What that means is they have taken loans they have put into the club and converted them into shares. The money is then effectively there forever and can't be withdrawn, so it's a very powerful thing to do.

"Well, we did that last year. With the help of Ellis Short, we capitalised £48million last July. We just did it and didn't make a song and dance about it. That made us much stronger.

"We spent more than we earned last year and we did that because we wanted to take the club to another level. We could only do that because our owner allowed us to.

"I can't believe that many clubs will show a stronger balance sheet and reduced debt. Not only did we cover off the investments, Ellis Short gave us money to reduce our external bank debts as well. It's a really strong and powerful picture going forward."