Alistair Houghton meets MICK HORTON, chief executive of Tranmere Rovers

NEVER mind fantasy football – for many fans, the world of football feels like a world of fantasy accounting.

But Mick Horton, chief executive of Tranmere Rovers, is happy his club is flying the flag for prudence.

Think of football finance, and you probably conjure up images of multi-millionaire players and multi-billionaire owners.

The reality at Tranmere’s League One level is very different, with clubs having to sell players to survive, while battling to sell tickets to cash-strapped supporters.

Yet, on one of the lowest budgets in League One, Tranmere currently sits proudly at eighth in the table, with fans hoping for a play-off position at the end of the season.

The club’s most recent accounts, for the year to June last year, show the club made a loss of just £23,000 on a turnover of £3.4m.

This isn’t fantasy football – it’s real business. And that’s just how Horton likes it.

He said: “We’ve always financially been really well-run. It’s a tight ship.

“Our aim has always been to break even, which is what we’ve virtually achieved now.

“It’s always been run as a business. It is a business, even though on a Saturday afternoon when you’re willing them on on the pitch, it doesn’t feel like it.

“That has been one of the issues in football over the years. Clubs perhaps haven’t been run as businesses, hence the number of clubs that have ended up in administration.”

Within days, Tranmere faces one of the biggest days in its recent history – not on the pitch but in the council chamber. The club plans to sell its training ground at Ingleborough Road for housing and redevelop the Woodchurch Road Leisure Centre as a training complex shared with the community.

The plan was backed by the Tranmere Rovers Supporters Trust, but it is opposed by some who say the field is a war memorial and should be left as open space.

Wirral Council is due to make a decision on the joint planning application next Tuesday.

When we spoke last week, Horton said, apologetically, that he could not discuss the application ahead of the decision. He also declined to talk about the trust’s ongoing negotiations with Peter Johnson to take the club into community ownership.

But those points aside, Horton was happy to chat about the challenges faced by a League One club.

Horton, 58, grew up in Mansfield, and was a childhood fan of Mansfield Town. After school he moved into banking – but one day, he got the chance to move into football.

“In 1986, Mansfield appointed an assistant manager,” said Horton. “He came into the branch I was working to transfer his account.

“We got talking and he asked me if I’d like to help him set up a youth department. Having the chance to do that for my local football club was just unbelievable.

“In 1990 the club secretary at Mansfield Town retired, and I was fortunate enough to get that job.

“I’d had enough of banking. This was a great opportunity to work for my local football club.”

In 1997, Horton headed to Wirral to join Tranmere. He said: “At that time, it was a Championship club, and it was a great opportunity for me to join a bigger club.”

In 2002, he became chief executive, succeeding Lorraine Rogers.

The club has three main income streams – central funds from the Football League, including television money; season ticket income and gate receipts; and commercial income.

Television income, says Horton, “has had its ups and downs”. Increased income from broadcasters such as Sky has boosted clubs at all levels, though the collapse of broadcaster Setanta in 2009 hit some lower league clubs hard.

Horton and his team are working hard to attract more fans to Prenton Park. He said: “Our gates have dropped over the past couple of years, in line with the majority of other clubs.

“This season we’ve had a good start. If we can continue that certainly until Christmas, then hopefully the gate will start increasing if we can keep hovering around the playoff positions.

“We do pride ourselves on being a club that offers value for money. “We’re always looking at our season ticket packages, keeping them fresh and trying to attract supporters.”

On the commercial side, the economic downturn has taken its toll on corporate hospitality income.

“We all appreciate it’s difficult for companies,” said Horton. “Unfortunately, one thing that tends to get cut down on is hospitality.

“But it’s still great for entertaining clients and a great opportunity for networking. It’s a difficult time, but we’re trying to come up with different offers and different initiatives.”

Tranmere employs 27 full-time staff (excluding players), with five part-timers, 10 members of coaching staff. It’s a small team, but one of which Horton is very proud.

He works closely with club manager Les Parry, the former club physio who took charge of the first team in 2009.

“We have a budget to work with, and we stick with that,” said Horton. “That’s so important. And we’ve got a manager who buys into that.

“I’m certain that at some clubs where problems have occurred, it’s because of the pressure that is put on the board by a manager who wants to bring in player after player.

“That’s not the way we operate here. It’s great Les buys into that.”

Horton is also realistic about the fact that clubs at Tranmere’s level will always have to sell their best players to survive.

He said: “You develop players – hopefully you develop them to a point where they play for your first team. After a period of time, you develop them that well that they move to bigger and better things.

“That’s one thing that we’ve always been successful at, having developed a wealth of players – including Jason Koumas, Ryan Taylor, Clint Hill, and more recently Dale Jennings and Aaron Cresswell.

“We’ll continue to do that.”

But clubs at Tranmere’s level face a period of uncertainty with the introduction of the Elite Player Performance Plan.

The scheme, developed by the Premier League, will abolish the tribunal system for setting fees for the transfer of young players.

Overall there will be more money for youth development, but clubs such as Tranmere will in the future receive less for young players they sell to top-flight clubs.

Horton said: “From a personal point of view, I don’t belive it’s the right way forward. The whole idea is to try to produce better players for the England national team. I’m not convinced that will happen.

“I believe that the only way that’s ever going to happen is to restrict the number of foreign players coming to this country.”

In 2006 the club founded a registered charity, Tranmere Rovers in the Community, to look after its wide range of community activities.

They range from soccer schools to street dance classes and an IT programme for the over-60s, as well as a study programme for teenagers.

“We now have a full-time disability officer and a full-time dance instructor,” said Horton. “That shows how much community work in football has developed over the years.

“We like to feel the football club is the hub of Wirral, because we reach so many different communities.”

Horton, who lives near Ellesmere Port with his wife, Sue, says Tranmere’s players are keen to take part in the club’s community work.

He said: “Every week, we take four first-team players into local schools for Q&A sessions. We did something like 600 player visits last year.

“Players get a lot of bad publicity – certainly Premier League players do. But players, certainly at this level, embrace working in the local community. Our players are great.”