Barnsley FC chairman Neerav Parekh gives an update on the Reds' 'financially challenging position'

Parekh and club officials including director Julie-Ann Quay met with Barnsley FC Supporters Trust representatives late last week, with an update provided by the trust.

Back in the summer, a £1m cash injection was provided by shareholders to help with costs following relegation last season, which was estimated to cost the club between £7m to £8m.

Sales of Cauley Woodrow, Carlton Morris, Callum Brittain and Michal Helik have brought in funds but a capital call has been made to for a further cash injection as many clubs struggle in fiscally challenging times across the country.

Parekh said: "The football club is in no danger of folding. The long-term goal for the football club, and any football club, should be to do well on the pitch, so we’ll continue to support the team, invest in players, but be conscious we’re starting off from a challenging financial position and it will take time and won’t happen overnight.

"We’ve inherited a club that needs a lot of money just to sustain it, without factoring in the need to invest in facilities, or players.”

Meanwhile, club officials have acknowledged that the decision to agree to a front-of-shirt sponsorship agreement with a cryptocurrency site The HEX.com was a mistake.

The Reds announced the deal in the summer, but the relationship was ended after just seven days following an investigation into homophobic social media posts allegedly made following the announcement of their partnership.

Parekh added: "It was a mistake the club made, but the people at the club deserve credit for working 24/7 as soon as this was realised and addressing it in three to four days. Mistakes will be made, but it’s the reaction to those mistakes that is important."

CEO Khaled El-Ahmad added: “Hex came to the table through a third-party agency and we did the due diligence that we thought was good enough, but in retrospect wasn’t as thorough as it should have been.

"There was a certain assumption of trust, which ultimately wasn’t good enough, because of the partners they had worked with elsewhere. We considered Hex because it was a chance to be innovative, to look at working with crypto, and we could see clubs like Inter Milan getting involved.

"However, the club never knew of the individual people as Hex was presented to us by a third party as a company. When that came to light that was news to everyone and the club acted straight away."

Meanwhile, it was also stated in the meeting with the trust that the club discussed the prospect of contract extension with Helik, who was ‘adamant’ that he wanted to leave the club.

The Polish international defender joined Yorkshire rivals Huddersfield Town at the end of the summer transfer window.