Ten years to clear Yorkshire debt, says chief Regan

Australia celebrate winning the fourth Test at Headingley last summer

Yorkshire chief executive Stewart Regan has warned it will take at least 10 years to clear their £17m debt.

The county posted a record pre-tax profit of £699,000 at their AGM, but Regan knows that financial success has to be repeated.

"We've made a profit for the last four years, but that has to continue each year," Regan told BBC Radio Leeds.

"Once the debt is cleared this club will become very strong, but that is at least 10 to 15 years away."

At Sunday's annual general meeting Yorkshire also announced a club-record turnover of just under £8.5m, which was helped by the staging of the fourth Ashes Test at Headingley last summer.

Regan explained: "The profit we have made is down to the hard work of the people at this club, but one swallow doesn't make a summer.

"Look at the balance sheet, we have £17m worth of debt and a million pounds of interest on our borrowings.

"It's going to take a long time and a lot of hard work to remove that debt, but once that happens things will look good here."

Yorkshire begin their Championship season at Warwickshire on Friday, 9 April and will look avoid the relegation battle they endured last season.

"The whole board has given its backing to Martyn [Moxon, director of cricket]. I think Martyn is the man for the job and has done a great job bringing youngsters through.

"But we are looking for success. We are determined to win a trophy and make as much progress on the field as we can.

"I think with 11 young players in England setups from Under-19s to Test level we have the right quality and capability.

"Maybe with a new captain like Andrew Gale we can emulate some of the success his predecessors have encountered in years gone by."

BBC Radio Leeds will once again provide ball-by-ball commentary of every Yorkshire game this season online at bbc.co.uk/leeds or bbc.co.uk/westyorkshire. Twenty20 matches will also be broadcast on 774 MW.