JOHN Fenty says Grimsby Town's immediate exit from this season's FA Cup 'cost' the club around £70,000.
The club's director was talking at yesterday's AGM, where the new stadium and greater supporters' involvement on the board were also on the agenda.
Fenty, inset, confirmed that last month's Fourth Qualifying Round defeat to Kidderminster Harriers had left a sizeable hole in the budget.
He said: "The anticipation was that we would get through to the next round and, with the prize money and gate fees, it delivered around £70,000 less in the budget than anticipated.
"We've had a few other additional costs and the home gates haven't correlated with the dizzy heights we've reached in the league because we haven't always performed as well at home as away.
"That shortfall had to be met, so recently there had to be a new injection of cash to compensate for that."
On the subject of a new stadium, Fenty confirmed that no planning application has been made for the proposed Peaks Parkway scheme, but remained optimistic that a relocation would take place in the next 2-3 years.
The Town director also confirmed his support for a seat on the board for the Mariners Trust.
"In order to show credibility and that the fans want this representation there needs to a minimum of 750 members of the Trust, and they need to provide an annual income of £30,000.
"We're optimistic that those two things can be achieved and we're expecting in the next 4-6 weeks for the board to convene and ratify that."
As expected, fellow director John Elsom was re-elected to the board.
