Chief executive Steve Waggott says that while Rovers remain compliant with Profit and Sustainability rules, the club continues to face a financial balancing act.

The sale of Adam Armstrong in August 2021 to Southampton will ensure that Rovers fall within Championship spending limits, with those funds able to be included in the accounting year to June 2022.

The sale of Rovers’ Senior Training Centre to a company that falls under the Venky’s ownership avoided any embargo or financial penalties for 2021/22, though the club continues to run at a deficit.

Waggott says Rovers are on track to exceed the £4m revenue target for ticketing, though costs across the club are continuing to rise, alongside the ongoing funding of the Category One academy.

Player trading is a key area that Rovers are looking at in a bid to raise finance, though that also comes with the desire to have a competitive squad able to challenge at the top end of the league.

“We’re okay for this year,” Waggott said of P&S rules.

“We have to be careful with what fans want, which I get, because they want competitive ticket pricing, beer to be discounted, food not too expensive, but a successful team on the pitch and a Category One Academy coming through.

“All of that adds up to a number, and we have to be P&S compliant.

“It’s delicate, and it has to be a balanced view of how we operate, understanding the socio-economic climate we’re in, but working alongside the owners who have been absolutely steadfast, right through Covid, the economic climate and what’s gone on in the world.

“They have been steadfast.

“We’re trying to develop a competitive, but Jon has been brought in, Gregg as well, and looking to accelerate the pathway and an asset base.

“My first game was at Northampton five years ago and if you look at the profile of that squad to the profile now, the value of the asset base is quite interesting.”

The appointment of Gregg Broughton as director of football sees his focus be on the running of the football side of the club.

Under his remit comes the academy, as well as recruitment, with player development an essential part of Rovers’ model.

Rovers hope that a strong production line of players through their Category One Academy, as well as others brought into the club and sold for a profit, will reduce the reliance on the continued funding of the owners, while giving the head coach the best possible tools to win promotion.

Championship clubs all face similar challenges, and Waggott believes Rovers are ahead of the curve when it comes to their focus on bringing through young players, with many more starting to follow suit.

Jon Dahl Tomasson has already handed debuts to five prospects this season, with the average age of the players used by Rovers being 24.2, the third youngest in the division.

And Waggott says the appointment of Broughton was key to building on Rovers’ work on player development.

He added: “It’s a big part of his remit.

“He’s very strong on the Academy, was part of an exceptionally good young team at Bodo/Glimt.

“We have a model that we’ve been in transit for about five years and we now need to give it more resource, because that’s the model, and a lot of clubs are following us.

“When I talk to some clubs they’re saying that we’re three or four years ahead of them.

“You have to be brave and have to have a fanbase, and I think they are with us, in terms of creating a development for young players coming through.

“It’s a transitional stage and with a young squad we all know there will be bumps in the road.

“You can’t get a starker contrast in that you either win or you lose.

“It’s about putting together what we call an elite performance plan and pulling that through with Jon in terms of how we have a similar environment between the academy and here.”

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