ROBERT ELSTONE has underlined the intense pressure Everton are under in trying to match last year’s record turnover.

But the acting chief executive is confident that the club can maintain the growth in revenue that contributed towards the £75.7million figure they revealed earlier this week.

Everton’s funds for 2008/09 have been hit by an early exit from the UEFA Cup and a fall in their average attendance which is around 6,0000 below capacity and almost 3,000 down on last season.

However, Elstone is determined to work hard to “plug the gaps” and ensure that they benefit from further financial boosts in the new year.

“Unfortunately we haven’t had the windfall of the UEFA Cup – we had the potential to get it but it didn’t work out,” said Elstone.

“It’s revenue we had last year that we didn’t have the year before so it does put pressure on other areas of the business to grow.

“But it’s something we have to rise to and deal with and work hard. In 2008/09 we have the first year of our record main sponsorship deal with Chang and that plugs some of the gaps – and we have to do that through other revenue streams.

“Another part of revenue is prize money for finishing high in the league and being on TV and it’s encouraging that we are in good shape for securing that at this stage.

“It’s wrong sometimes to look at years in isolation as, inevitably, you will have bumps and blips and 08/09 may not generate the same level.

“But underlying that is the trend of growth and I’m confident we will keep that going.”

Elstone is keen to address the issue of attendances, which have taken a hit from a number of factors including the credit crunch, a poor home record and a summer in which the club initially struggled to invest in the playing side.

A look at pricing will be on the agenda for the second half of the season, as will strategies to increase the number of hospitality seats that are taken up. However, Elstone conceded that the restrictions within Goodison Park is hampering the club in making the most of their potential markets. He said: “It’s a big second half of the season and what we have to do is make sure we get our attendances back on track because they haven’t been great.

“There is pressure on us to do that and we are working on it all the time, looking at how we can get closer to fans, give value for money, maybe have a look at pricing – we have to do that because we can’t rest on out laurels. We have to fill the stadium. But the hospitality is proving most challenging because that is the area most affected by the economic downturn and we are under no illusions that the early part of 2009 will be easy – but we are up for the challenge.

“Capacity is constrained but the quality of seats lets us down as does the quality of the hospitality areas. The size, scale and location of our shop lets us down and in the last few weeks we haven’t been at that ceiling in terms of revenue income potential from the stadium.

“But in 2007/08 we were there and I’m sure we’ll get back to that ceiling pretty soon. But what Kirkby is all about is taking off that ceiling or raising it by a significant amount – and that is why a new stadium is so important to us.”

Elstone also feels the record turnover figures will help attract the much-needed investment that will give Everton the chance to make further inroads into the Premier League elite.

He reckons that if the club is given the go-ahead to proceed with the move to Kirkby at the end of the ongoing public inquiry, it could take as little as three months for cash to be ploughed in from outside investors. “I think a record turnover is a sign of a strong healthy business that is heading in the right direction,” said Elstone.

“But an investor would look at the key assets of a playing squad, manager and facilities. What we have here is a strong squad, we have secured the services of a very good manager and I believe we have the solution to our facility challenge.

“I think we could be as near to three or four months off something coming to fruition, and if we get the green light we are confident of realising that potential.

“Whether we get that is very difficult to predict with any great certainty but if we do get it this club will go to work on it and if we deliver on time then in 2011 we kick off in that new stadium.”