Hamilton chief fears for rivals

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Bank support key to SPL clubs - Paterson

Hamilton Accies chief executive George Paterson looks at the debt levels being claimed for Scottish Premier League rivals and wonders how they survive.

Paterson was speaking after Accies announced a trading profit in excess of £200,000 for the year to 2009.

That is even before the sales of James McCarthy and Brian Easton are counted.

"From some of the numbers being banded about, I think it would be difficult to trade out of that particular position," Paterson told BBC Scotland.

"If you believe what you read, from a trading perspective, to service facilities that might be there from financial institutions might be difficult."

Rangers manager Walter Smith recently claimed that his club were now effectively being run by Lloyds Banking Group.

Dundee United manager Craig Levein also said that his club was in need of bank leniency, while Kilmarnock chairman Michael Johnston this week admitted that his club would be forced to make substantial cuts in their playing staff next summer.

I am very, very comfortable with what is going on off the park at Hamilton as well as what is going on on the park Hamilton Academical chief executive George Paterson

But Paterson, who worked for 40 years in the banking industry, was hopeful that the current financial troubles would not lead to a top club going into administration.

"The banks themselves have their own problems and they will take a commercial view on whether or not a club can trade out of the position that they are in," he said.

"But the last thing banks want to do is to put a football club down."

Paterson said he thought Accies, now in their second season in Scotland's top flight, were in a healthy position to not only consolidate their place in the SPL but move forward.

"I am very, very comfortable with what is going on off the park at Hamilton as well as what is going on on the park," he said.

"It is nothing more than another business and the way that we treat our business is that we don't spend more than we earn."

The latest figures do not include the sale of midfielder to Wigan Athletic for £1.2m, defender Easton to Burnley for £350,000 and striker Richard Offiong to Carlisle United for £75,000 because they took place after the timescale of the accounts.

Those transfers will boost next year's figures, but this year's accounts do include £450,000 paid out to comply with SPL stadia criteria following Hamilton's promotion from Division One.

Accies had to replace their artificial playing surface with a grass pitch - and lay under-soil heating.

Paterson pointed out that this had not only meant lost revenue because of the community use of the artificial pitch but meant they had to find alternative venues for their youth and reserve teams.

However, he said that Accies were close to finding a solution to finding a new home for their youth academy.