BURNLEY are on target to reduce their annual loss by around £1 million during the current financial year.

The Clarets reported a seven-figure trading loss and an overall deficit of £1.8 million for the year ended May 31 this year.

But vice-chairman Ray Ingleby has told shareholders that despite another loss situation the picture is starting to look brighter.

"Unless things go very wrong for the rest of the season the losses will be in the lower hundreds of thousands. We don't look like losing anything like last last year.

"We have done a lot to cut down losses," he said.

Manager Stan Ternent has spent only one transfer fee in the current financial year, bringing Alan Lee to the club in a six-figure move from Aston Villa.

In addition, the commercial turnover has increased dramatically at Turf Moor, gates are up and further fund-raising schemes are in the pipeline to improve the financial picture.

They include 'affinity schemes' whereby Burnley will profit from financial services, such as credit cards, mortgages, pensions and a telephone package branded with the Clarets name.

And Ingleby revealed that a chunk of the profit from those products will go towards funding the proposed new training complex at Gawthorpe, which is currently at the planning stage with a detailed plan needing to be drawn up to satisfy the secretary of state for the environment. Meanwhile, former Burnley chairman Frank Teasdale has admitted that the Peter Shackleton affair was "a nightmare."

Teasdale and the former board negotiated with Shackleton over a possible takeover at Turf Moor, before Barry Kilby stepped in to save the cash-stricken club towards the end of last year.

Shackleton's supposed consortium never came up with the goods at a time when the board was trying to stave off a hostile takeover bid by Ingleby.

However, Teasdale, who has been re-elected to the Clarets board, insisted that the directors had been acting in the best interests of the club at the time.

He said: "The man was genuine. We spent a lot of time with him, we had portfolios and meetings with the bank.

"Everything seemed kosha but it was always going to be tomorrow.

"He was always on the move somewhere to demand money. At the time it was the best deal. It didn't come about but it was done for the best interests of Burnley Football Club."

Teasdale said his last contact with Shackleton had been in July, 1998, although he had heard that the former school teacher had been involved in further unsuccessful talks with another football club.

He added: "It's in the background. It's gone, it's a nightmare whatever and we have a new set-up now.

"Perhaps I learned a lesson but it was done in the best interests of Burnley Football Club."

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.