Tipp warned to tackle €250,000 deficit

Tipperary GAA officials last night revealed an alarming deficit of almost €250,000 for the 2012 financial year.

And chairman Sean Nugent warned that “failure is not an option” as Premier County chiefs try to arrest a worrying slide.

A loss of €246,939 follows on from a deficit of almost €219,000 reported in 2011.

In the last four years, losses totalling over €650,000 have been recorded and for a fifth successive year, spending on Tipperary’s various inter-county teams crashed through the €1m barrier.

A €126,267 deficit in 2010 set alarm bells ringing in Tipperary but was understandable to an extent as senior and All-Ireland U21 hurling titles were annexed.

But last year’s figures came as an enormous shock to delegates.

Tipperary have managed to reduce expenditure by €775,598 over the past 12 months but income has dipped dramatically by €803,434 from 2011.

Spending on inter-county teams has reduced by €56,626 but it effectively remains stable when a figure of €55,306 allocated to a players’ holiday fund in 2011 is taken into account.

Total expenditure on inter-county teams for the 2012 year comes in at €1,115,250.

Nugent explained: “The kind of success we achieved at inter-county level in 2012 comes at a price and a heavy financial one at that.

“I believe we were successful in the area of reduction of expenditure and had we not addressed the matter, the deficit would be far greater, taking into consideration the prolonged level of involvement of so many teams over the season.’’

And he issued this stark warning: “It is my view that bringing our finances back on track is now the biggest challenge we face and failing in this area is not an option.”