Newport County: Club could lose £400,000 if relegated from League Two

Newport County director Gavin Foxall says the club would stand to lose around £400,000 if they are relegated from League Two this season.

The Exiles are two points clear of the relegation places with two games to go and could secure their survival if they win at Carlisle United on Saturday.

The club will hope to avoid relegation from the EFL after a four-season stint.

"For us financially as a club, it would have a big impact," Foxall told BBC Wales Today.

He continued: "As a revenue the club turnover is about £2m a year.

Newport County have won four of their last five games in League Two to pull two points clear of the drop zone

"In impact terms as we sit today we are looking at losing around 20% of that, about £400,000, direct money from the Premier League which comes from being in the Football League."

Having been nine points adrift of safety when Mike Flynn was appointed caretaker manager in March after Graham Westley parted company with the club, the Exiles will remarkably clinch survival if they win at Carlisle and rivals Hartlepool United lose against Cheltenham Town.

Newport were promoted from the Conference, and back into the EFL after a 25-year absence, when they beat Wrexham in the play-off final at Wembley in May 2013.

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Planning for the worst, hoping for the best

Foxall says he wants the club to avoid a return to non-league football after less than five years back in the EFL but has planned for the event of relegation.

"To lose that status again, in a relatively short space of time would be pretty devastating for the fans, but also for the city of Newport," Foxall added.

"As a board we are looking at ways we can plug that gap in the event we do have a negative output.

"Given the job Michael has done, we are hopeful that is not the case."