KFC Uerdingen needs 500,000 euros in the near future. Even bankruptcy cannot be ruled out. The chief financial officer provided this information in an interview.
In sporting terms, KFC Uerdingen have recovered over the course of the season. However, the financial situation of the long-established club looks dire. According to board member Bernd Limberg, the Krefeld-based club needs half a million euros in the near future to finish the season in the Oberliga Niederrhein.
The financial expert revealed this in an interview with the club radio station “Blau-Rot”. “We need the 500,000 euros now and not on May 30. We need to get substance that will enable us to continue playing,” emphasized Limberg.
He attributes the shortfall to the lack of payments from former main sponsor “dasbob”. As a reminder, KFC signed a seven-year contract with the company under its former chairman Damien Raths in the spring. According to the club, the sponsor never fulfilled its payment obligations. For this reason, the KFC terminated the contract a few weeks ago.
And now KFC is left without the hoped-for income, which, according to Limberg, would be enough “to get us through the season and tackle our old liabilities”.
Even renewed insolvency proceedings are possible. “Insolvency is always a sword of Damocles that board members have to think about when there is a threat of insolvency.” In sporting terms, this step would have serious consequences: it would mean a forced relegation to the regional league for the ambitious fifth division club.
But Limberg, who was appointed to the board at the end of June 2023 and has already worked as a financial expert in New York, was combative. After just three days in office, he had the option of pulling an escape clause. “But I’m still here and would like to stay.” The tanker is currently on rough seas. It has to be turned around and is listing in the process.
What gives the Krefeld native hope is the rescue measures that the association has recently initiated to plug the “dasbob” gap. “We will be taking further action,” Limberg reports. “My thanks go especially to various fan groups. The fan base stands together and supports us.”