EWM support to continue through next season, say Carlisle Utd - but longer-term plans for Blues no clearer

United chiefs say Philip Day’s firm, who have loaned the Blues money since 2017, are maintaining their support of the club.

Carlisle chief executive Nigel Clibbens says many other clubs could only “dream” of having a backer such as EWM.

But the company are showing no sign of changing their approach to discussing United affairs.

They again declined to comment in response to the News & Star’s latest invitation to speak about the Blues.

Many supporters, including fans’ trust CUOSC, have called on EWM to elaborate on any longer-term intentions.

There has remained persistent speculation on whether billionaire Day’s firm – whose loans to United had reached £1.3m by the end of the club’s last accounting period – could get involved in the Blues on an ownership basis.

Some fans would also like the company to discuss its current role at United and its influence on the Blues’ tightened spending approach.

Clibbens said the long-term potential of the relationship was “not something we [United] can affect”.

But he stressed the importance of having such support.

United’s chief executive said: “There’s nothing new – the arrangements that we’ve had just continue as they have done.

“There’s a continuing support and comfort that’s been given to the club and that runs through this [forthcoming] season.”

Asked if and when EWM’s support would evolve into something even more significant, Clibbens said: “I can’t answer that – that can only come from others.

“All we can do is try and do the best we can with the resources that are available to us, and that’s what we continue to do.

“I can understand the supporters wanting to know that – it might be important to some of them – but that’s not something we can affect, so we just carry on.”

Clibbens claimed the financial crises being faced by other lower-league clubs means United should be grateful for EWM’s help.

Their loans to the club are secured by a charge against United’s assets.

Clibbens, who is currently representing United at the EFL clubs’ summer conference in Portugal where the financial state of struggling clubs will be discussed, said: “The club is in a position that many other clubs would dream of.

“Financing football clubs and operating in the football business that we do requires a level of funding either coming in or being there as an emergency if you need it, to protect your club.

“If you haven’t got that, then it can get very difficult very quickly.

“With us having the support of EWM, that puts us in a far better position than we might otherwise be.”

He added: “When I came in [as chief executive in 2016], one of the things raised as a concern was the reliance on Andrew Jenkins and Pioneer as funders of the club.

“That was seen as a big risk - not because he was ever seen as someone who was going to stop supporting the club, but being honest, because Andrew was close to 80 when I arrived, and all these things can’t go on forever.

“That position has changed for the better, which puts the club in a better position, which I think is good for everybody. Where that takes us in the end, only time will tell.”

Some fans have asked if EWM will ever step up their financial input in order to try and propel United to success.

Clibbens, though, argued it was not all about money.

“Ambition can often be linked to spending - the more you spend the more ambitious you are. I don’t think that is necessarily the case,” he said.

“I don’t agree with it. I think that’s sometimes a bit of a cop-out.

“Ambition comes from what’s within, your desire to succeed, do whatever you can within your power, make use of every single resource you have to try and get the best out of it, aspiring to get somewhere however long it takes, and never settling – that’s what real ambition is.

“As a club we have that ambition. Often we don’t have as many tools as other people so it makes it more difficult for us, but that’s life. We do have that ambition to try and progress.”

Clibbens added that being “prudent” was the sensible way forward.

“In my time here, we’ve had a period at the start when the club had the financial benefit of selling players and cup runs, big games like [against] Liverpool [in 2016] that were financially lucrative.

“The club made the decision at that point to ‘have a go’, and spend that money on ‘having a go’. It got quite close but not there.

“In the absence of having those windfalls you have to operate your club in a prudent fashion that means that you’re there to compete next season. You can’t be starting on -12 [points] and having questions of whether you’re going to be in existence.

“Once you get past that, you’ve got to do all you can with the resources you’ve got to progress and develop.

“From what I’ve seen, that kind of approach, of making the best use of everything you’ve got, is something EWM support and that is how we’re going about our business now.”

EWM's latest accounts, meanwhile, have been filed with Companies House.

The group accounts for EWM (Topco) Limited show a profit after tax of £73.27m for the period to August 25, 2018. As in previous years, there is no direct mention of Carlisle United in the document.