FINANCE director Terry Doyle has given a strong indication that management team Chris Brass and Lee Nogan would keep their jobs should City be relegated.
But Doyle has also confirmed that playing contracts, other than that signed by midfielder Darren Dunning, would now be dependent on which league the club are playing in next season and, although he revealed the club would stay full-time if their 75-year Football League status was lost, he warned that the size of the first-team squad may need to be trimmed if the club was relegated to the Nationwide Conference.
Teams to fall through the trapdoor in recent seasons have tended to remain professional with a parachute payment from the Football League as well as contributions from Sky TV and Conference clubs helping the transition and Doyle has revealed that it is a trend City would not buck.
Newly-relegated sides receive £125,000 from the Football League - half the amount Third Division clubs would be given - while the Conference distributes £30,000 to each club from central funds and Sky TV pay featured teams £5,000 for live matches, which is a figure currently under negotiation for next season.
Conference clubs are also not subject to the three per cent levy on gates that apply to Football League outfits.
Doyle said: "There's no doubt we would remain full-time. The great majority of Conference clubs are.
"But whether it would have an impact on the size of our squad is something we would have to consider if we find ourselves in that position.
"In our current situation, it would also be foolish to enter contract negotiations until we know what division we will be playing in. It's been well publicised that we have renewed one or two contracts and even if we went down to the Conference we would regard them as crucial decisions for the future of the club.
"If we do go down, we have got to have a team that is seriously strong enough to come back up. We regard the people who are under contract for next season as important in that process."
Updated: 11:01 Tuesday, April 06, 2004
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