Crawley Town owner and chairman fully committed to the club during tumultuous period

Technical director Erdem Konyar revealed that Crawley Town owner and chairman Ziya Eren is ‘100 per cent committed to the football club’ during this tumultuous period for English football.
Technical director Erdem Konyar revealed that Reds owner and chairman Ziya Eren (pictured) is fully committed to the club. Picture by Jack BeardTechnical director Erdem Konyar revealed that Reds owner and chairman Ziya Eren (pictured) is fully committed to the club. Picture by Jack Beard
Technical director Erdem Konyar revealed that Reds owner and chairman Ziya Eren (pictured) is fully committed to the club. Picture by Jack Beard

The FA have said the Premier League, EFL and Women’s Super League would not restart before April 30 because of the coronavirus pandemic – and in fact football’s shutdown is set to last much longer.

The governing body also confirmed the current campaign had been extended indefinitely, going beyond the standard June 1 finish.

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Konyar has revealed the workings of the club while in lockdown and reiterated the ‘importance’ of the continued support of owner and chairman Eren.

He said: “The club is strictly following EFL guidelines and suggestions.

“We officially stopped training the week before last on the Friday when we were told by the EFL that we shouldn’t be training any more.

“We’re in communication with the staff every day and there is a furlough in process as well.

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“Most importantly the chairman is in a very good spot and 100 per cent committed to the football club.

“That’s a very good thing to come out of this and it shows the importance of having a chairman of that stature.”

The Reds have not played a competitive fixture since the 3-0 home win over Oldham Athletic on March 7.

The coronavirus pandemic has left some EFL clubs in deep financial problems.

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The Football League is set to release £50 million to ease the financial burden on clubs in the short-term.

Konyar admitted that the Reds, who had not received any matchday revenue since the game with Oldham, had seen a serious number of cashflow streams hindered by the coronavirus outbreak.

But the technical director revealed a club like Crawley ‘don’t have many variables’ when it comes to finances.

He added: “If you look at everything at the moment, you’ve got your matchday revenue and your potential sponsors.

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“Your hospitality revenue is taking a hit because you can’t hire out your facilities.

“Possible new agreements with companies have taken a hit.

“How is it going to affect the evaluation of your players? Only in time will we understand that.

“Only the future will show that because I think it’s too volatile a market to say anything at the moment.

“We’re a small club anyway. If you’re a smaller club you don’t have many variables that can change.

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“For a club like us, the matchday revenue has taken a big hit, the season ticket sales haven’t gone and we don’t know what’s happening with that.”

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