Carlisle United no longer have access to the Edinburgh Woollen Mill “loan facility” from which the Blues have borrowed more than £2m since 2017, it has been confirmed.

It follows the recent sale of EWM, which had fallen into administration.

United, though, say the club’s move towards being “self-sufficient” in recent years means they have already seen less need than before to rely on the “backstop” of funding from Philip Day’s firm.

The Blues also say their finances are now stable enough to cover other areas linked to EWM funding in the past, such as the director of football position which had previously been covered by "ring-fenced" EWM cash.

The prospect of a different shirt sponsor, meanwhile, also appears a possibility next season, although chief executive Nigel Clibbens said discussions on that area are yet to be had.

On the loan facility – provided four years ago by EWM after the collapse of United’s long-standing investment talks with Syrian businessman Yahya Kirdi – Clibbens told the News & Star: “That business [EWM] is in administration, and therefore it technically can’t pay its debts as they fall due, so it can’t be lending money to somebody else when it has its own debts to pay.

“The fact of the matter is, whilst it’s been there as a backstop, a comfort and a support, we’ve moved to become more self-sufficient since May 2019.

“That’s the crucial bit of having backing – it’s there when you need it, but you don’t use it as a first resort, it’s got to be a last resort.

“But that’s where we are with it. There’s no ability to do that now [receive more loans from EWM] because of its own issues.”

Clibbens confirmed that director of football David Holdsworth’s position would now be funded by the club, not EWM.

He said: “In terms of David’s funding, etc, essentially the club is now self-sufficient of borrowings from EWM – that includes everything.

“Whilst at the start we couldn’t afford to do it on our own even if we’d wanted to, we can now and, being self-sufficient, we’ll do that.”

The recent sale of EWM to an international consortium has seen the Blues’ debts to the firm now owed to another company.

EWM and certain other parts of Day’s retail empire are now under the umbrella of Purepay Retail Limited, which is led by some previous EWM directors.

EWM's group finance director John Jackson - also a director of CUFC Holdings - is one of two listed Purepay directors.

United recently described the fact the loan had been transferred, rather than called in, as good news for the club. 

Clibbens said the club’s approach to that debt - which stood at £2.1m in United's last published accounts - “will be dealt with in the fullness of time, but it’s not something that we’re spending a lot of time thinking about at the moment.”

The loans are secured against United's assets and subject to personal guarantees by club owners.

Asked where United would turn if circumstances dictate a need for similar external financial support in the future, the chief executive said: “You can’t predict the future, but we’ve already come through nearly nine months of coronavirus on our own.

“Prior to that we’d had another 12 months being self-sufficient.

“The steps that we’ve taken even during coronavirus stand us in really good stead going forward. We’re working on the basis of being a self-sustainable club, and that’s how we’re looking at it.

“We’re not thinking, ‘Right, what does the future hold in terms of that [needing more help]? We’re not considering that. I’m sure [CUFC] Holdings and the shareholders will consider that in time. But it’s not something we’re exercised with at this time.”

Clibbens said the shirt sponsorship issue was yet to be determined but the director said that he would expect plenty of interest in the opportunity to be on the front of the Blues’ kit.

EWM have been the Blues' main shirt sponsor since 2017 as they stepped up their long-standing commercial relationship with United.

“That’s something we’d talk about in a few weeks,” Clibbens said. “Because of our relationship with [kit manufacturers] Errea it means we can get whoever we want on the shirt at short notice, so we can think about that.

“They’ve got things to think about, so we’ll have a discussion on that, but it’s not something we’ve sorted out just yet.

“I’m sure that there’d be plenty of people who’d be interested in being on the front of our shirt if the opportunity was there, so we’ll see.”

It is likely, meanwhile, that United’s accounts for 2019/20 will appear later than normal.

Last year the Blues’ 2018/19 accounts were published in March but it may be three months later this year.

“There’s an extension of all accounts now until June 30,” Clibbens said.

“So normally we file near the deadline and we haven’t thought about when we’re filing just yet, due to the uncertainties around coronavirus.

“But there’s a general exemption to allow all businesses to file three months later now.”