FORMER Prestatyn Town chairman Chris Tipping gave a detailed account of the financial mismanagement at the club over the years.

The explosive statement was released on Facebook last week by Tipping following some recent remarks by sections of the club’s fanbase following a turbulent few months that has seen manager Neil Gibson and a host of senior squad members depart, in addition, to be denied promotion by the Football Association of Wales after failing to obtain their Tier 1 Domestic Licence after winning the JD Cymru North in convincing fashion.

Tipping – who has sufficient evidence to back up his statement – took over in 2014 after the club had won in excess of £200,000 in European prize money after winning the Welsh Cup for the first time in their history.

There was just £10,000 left in the account when Tipping assumed the role of chairman, with Prestatyn having three full-time staff members and a wage bill that totalled almost £4,000 per week.

He also inherited a significant amount of debt, including a printer that cost £27,780 that was payable over a 60-month period and incurred costs every time a printing job was done on it.

On top of that, a service agreement for the old printer at a cost of £7,776 for a “contract settlement”, in addition to £5,451.42 for players loans with Wrexham AFC and £5,228.20 for floodlight and electrical services.

The cost so far - £46,236.20.

This is enhanced by the HMRC investigation of £53,000 before Tipping was appointed – taking the figure to £99,236.22 and with the prize-money already gone, this equates to a spend of £300,000 in one year, according to the ex-chairman.

Tipping eventually managed to get the club’s debts down and secure promotion under Gibson with a “break-even” budget, but a winding-up order from the HMRC forced the club into crisis and saw a huge community effort save them from extinction.

The statement read: “So I ask, how can I be responsible for 'plunging the club into £200k's worth of debt' when firstly the club had just spent £200k prize money (who was accountable for this?) and secondly I inherited £99k debt (again who is accountable) but left with £73k debt (this is all plus general running costs/bills).

“Unfortunately one of the people that asked me to take over in the first place, and one of the people that are 'truly' responsible for the reason the club is in the position it is in, forced me out.. and the rest shall we say, is why we are where we are.

“I still love the club to bits, it was my life, but people really need to look at the above and make their minds up who is truly responsible for the position (both financially, and why other chairmen have left) that the club finds itself in today.”

A statement from the Prestatyn Town Supporters Club following the revelations, added: “The supporters club would like to thank former chairman Chris Tipping for his transparent statement released yesterday.

“The supporters of this club have always asked for transparency and we welcome it at all times.

“Transparency and the ethos, which has been engrained in the club over years, is all we ask for and we don’t believe this is too much to ask.”