Halifax Panthers provide major financial update

Championship side Halifax Panthers have provided fans with a fresh financial update with the club previously confirming huge debts.

Those debts were to both HMRC and in the form of player and staff wages with the club claiming that they had a cumulative £80,000 in debts, whilst they’d need a further £120,000 to £150,000 to complete the year.

The biggest issue was the HMRC debt with the club set to face a winding up petition from HMRC if they had not paid by Wednesday (11th) morning but Halifax Panthers have now released a statement confirming that their HMRC bill has been settled.

In a statement shared on the club website, Haifax Panthers thanked fans for their generosity as they explained how they had been able to raise the funds.

The club said: “Thanks to the generosity of the Panthers family, the club can confirm it has settled the remainder of the HMRC bill that was subject to the winding up petition due this Wednesday.

“This has been achieved thanks to a combination of commercial activity, accelerated RFL payments and the huge generosity of the fans and sponsors.

“Thank you all!”

Halifax Panthers not in the clear yet

Despite paying off the HMRC debt that was placing the club at “immediate threat”, there is still the matter of long-term financial viability as well as ensuring all staff and players are paid the wages that they were due just over a week ago.

The Panthers’ statement continued, explaining: “As mentioned in previous statements, while this safeguards the club’s immediate future, there is still a lot of work to be done to tackle the long-term financial challenges facing the club. Our attention now turns to ensuring all players and staff receive the remainder of the wages that were due on the 1st of September as soon as possible.

“With only 1 remaining home game this season, which is against Bradford Bulls on Sunday 22nd September, we urge all fans, especially those who haven’t been to The Shay in some time, to mark the date in the calendar and turn up in force.”

Fax beat Dewsbury this past weekend to further distance themselves from the Championship relegation spots.