Finn Harps need to raise €150,000 – or they could be out of football next season.

That’s the shock news that has emerged over the past few days following discussions with FAI representatives about the criteria that the club needs to meet if it is to be granted a licence for next season.

It is understood that the club has debts in the region of €290,000. 

And the FAI is stipulating that about half of this – or €150,000 – must be raised by January 26th 2009.

Board members met over the weekend to discuss matters further and it was decided to make an appeal to the public to get behind the club.

“We have called an egm for January 5th which will be followed by a public meeting,” club chairman Derek Wilkinson revealed.

And he expressed confidence that soccer followers in the north-west will rally behind the Ballybofey-based club.

This was echoed by a statement from the club which noted: “In the past the public of the north-west have supported Finn Harps in times of difficulty and we are asking the public to support the club on this occasion so we can successfully resolved this matter and secure  our future in  League of Ireland football.”

And it continued: “We are aware that this is a difficult time to deal with this issue as we are in the Christmas period but once we became aware of the situation in the last few days we felt it was important to make our shareholders and the general public aware of the situation and seek their support and assistance’

The club is asking fans to support the club by; purchasing season tickets; joining the 500 club, and, in particular, supporting the Apartment Draw.”

Other supporting measures will also be announced at the egm.

Last season Harps were forced to cut impose a 50% pay cut on all its staff, as income dropped below forecast levels.

“Gate receipts were a major disappointment and were down around €100,000 on projections,” Wilkinson revealed.

Last season Harps’ budget was around €900,000 and for the first time ever the club had a full-time professional set-up.

However, next season’s budget for players is likely to be well below half the figure for 2008 and the club will revert to a largely part-time set-up.

The challenge for Finn Harps is quite simple. Unless the club can raise €150,000 by January 26th, it will not be granted a licence to play in the eircom League next season.

This is arguably the most serious situation to face the club in its entire history. While some club insiders feel that the deadline is tantamount to blackmail, the reality is that unless things can be sorted out the future appears bleak.

On the plus side, the club has everything in order when it comes to its dealings with the Revenue Commissioners and it has largely worked out agreements to pay off the remainder of monies owed to employees from the season just finished.

Club sources are also confident that work on the new stadium – which is based on an agreement with a contractor that should be largely self-financing – will continue to proceed in 2009.

But the reality is if the €150,000 is not raised, a major question mark will hang over whether the club will actually compete in the eircom League next season.

“What we really need is a group of dedicated people who can come on board and give a bit of real help in fundraising and driving the club forward,” one club source stated.

The egm will be held in the Finn Valley Centre on Monday, January 5th at 7 p.m. This will be followed at 8.p.m. by a public meeting in the same venue.