Fath: FC Edmonton to slash budget by 30-35 per cent By Steven Sandor Posted on September 28, 2012 2 0 720 Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Tom Fath and Harry Sinkgraven FC Edmonton will slash its budget by an estimated 30 to 35 per cent in the 2013 season. That’s the estimate from owner Tom Fath. The dismissal of coach Harry Sinkgraven and assistant Hans Schrijver is just part of a larger plan to cut expenses, he said. “If you look at our budget, and the number of fans we have been getting, we have to make some tough decisions,” said Fath. “With our coaches, we had to go in a different direction… We haven’t seen any significant successes on the revenue side.” While the search for replacements hasn’t begun, Fath said the club will “spend a lot of time” considering its options. The candidates have to fit in budget and have the qualifications. That would likely make other coaches with NASL experience — or a Canadian coach looking to make his mark — viable candidates for the job. League sources had confirmed that Sinkgraven was the highest-paid coach in NASL. Jeff Paulus, the coach of the academy and the man who led NAIT to an undefeated season and a college championship last year, is still on staff. FC Edmonton had hoped to be playing in a revamped Clarke Stadium that could hold between 4,000 and 5,000 fans. The club announced the renovation before the 2012 season, but didn’t get the new stands into the facility because of issues with the Alberta Code. So, FC Edmonton regularly drew crowds between 1,250 and 1,700 — which was actually not bad considering that the current Clarke capacity is just 1,700. But not being able to get the seats into the facility put a real damper on the revenue picture. So, what else will change? FC Edmonton will not train through the winter in an indoor facility, like the club has done over the past two years. As well, the team has held spring training camps in Arizona ahead of their previous two NASL seasons. For 2013, that’s on the chopping block. “We likely won’t be going to Arizona this year,” said Fath. As well, the team will look at travel costs. This year, the Eddies would often leave two days before scheduled road games, spending more nights in hotels than other teams in the league. Those could be scaled back. As well, when the team was on a road trip in the Deep South — something that will likely happen again in March-early April of 2013 — the team would establish a training base in Florida or Georgia and not come home between games. That could also be axed.
