Latest accounts – for the year to December 31, 2008 – show the club made an operating loss of £324,945, on turnover up from £9,829,658 in 2007 to £10,599,073.

The sale of fixed assets worth £1,466,331 – part of the sale of the cricket ground – turned the operating loss into a post-tax profit of £760,610.

Hetherington said the operating loss was due to expenditure of £500,000 on emergency repairs to the South Stand and other refurbishments at the stadium.

"We increased turnover to a record level," Hetherington said. "We had one of our best trading years on record and we grew the business effectively by a further £800,000.

"That's quite a significant growth, particularly in recessionary times. '08 was a good year, but we got clobbered with the cost of repairs to the South Stand and we had already planned to do a variety of other refurbishments."

Hetherington believes the club has remained "pretty strong in 2009, despite the recession".

But he added: "Our business is robust, but we have done a major exercise in cost reduction over the last six months and we will be faced with a big challenge when we come to the South Stand redevelopment."

Work to replace the famous terrace is scheduled to begin within the next couple of years.

Hetherington said: "That redevelopment will put the club back into deficit, quite significantly.

"We have worked our way out of the inherited debt and we are in a debt-free position, which is an enviable position for most sports clubs.
"But we are facing the prospect of a significant investment in the South Stand.We will go back into debt, but we have got to make sure we can manage that going forward."

Hetherington said the club are not yet ready to confirm detailed plans for the new South Stand, despite "quite a bit of work going on behind the scenes".