BASINGSTOKE Town chairman David Hunt has issued a stark warning that the football club faces an uphill battle to survive in the Nationwide South league unless it gets more financial support from the town's businesses.

While Town manager Ernie Howe's young, cut-price side have surpassed all expectations with their start to the campaign - they are placed second after 11 games - attempts by Basingstoke Town Limited directors to solicit more sponsorship continue to flounder.

Mr Hunt said he, Howe and the four-strong board of directors - Steve and Linda Murfitt, Sarah Parsons and Ken Taylor - have been trying hard to make inroads.

He has now decided to speak out to urge local businesses to forgive and forget previous difficulties and to instead support the club as it strives to survive and compete against opponents awash with cash, like Hornchurch and Weymouth.

Mr Hunt told The Gazette: "We have made a fresh start with a new team of people who are hard-working, honest and committed. What we now need is for people and businesses to give the new team a chance and put the past to one side.

"We have got to try to move ahead - and to do that we need the local community and businesses in the area to get involved with us."

He added: "The new team of directors cannot change the past, but what they need is the chance to prove that integrity, commitment and delivery to our sponsors will always be honoured.

"My concern is that if we do not get the support of our community, the club will not survive the progressive and demanding standards of the new league structure."

As the vice-president of global distribution and logistics for Este Lauder, Mr Hunt, who lives in America, is a successful businessman.

That acumen is the reason he refuses to place the club back into financial difficulty by breaking the budgets set after the club emerged from the Creditors Voluntary Agreement (CVA), which it entered into two years ago.

The final instalment of the £45,000 settlement agreed by the club and its major creditors - the Inland Revenue and HM Customs and Excise - was paid in May.

Mr Hunt said: "The CVA is all done now and a lot of unwanted baggage is gone too. But I refuse to put the club back in a difficult situation by going into debt again. Our plan is to grow as we build funds, not place ourselves in the financial position of the past."

His work situation limits the time he can devote to the club, and Mr Hunt praised the efforts of commercial director Ken Taylor in trying to get new backers.

He added: "As a local guy who runs his own small sportswear business, Ken fully understands that customer service and meeting commitments is essential to business survival.

"Ken has been going out to local businesses and trying hard, but without much success. With this in mind, I am now appealing to everyone out there to support the club in its quest for new sponsors.

"We don't mind how big or small the sponsorship is, but we do need people to give us a chance to survive and, ultimately, grow and develop."

Mr Hunt believes a figure of another £50,000 to £100,000 is the sum needed for the club to support itself efficiently.

"If we got that amount, we would be in a much better position," he stated. "Many ground improvements will be needed in the future for the club to maintain Conference status. We need to spend £36,000 to sort the Camrose ground to meet regulations. It's money we don't have."

Mr Hunt said that he and Rafi Razzak - BTL president and owner of Centerprise International, Town's vital and long-standing main sponsor - were trying to arrange a meeting with Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council.

Mr Hunt said: "We are being overlooked at the moment compared with other sports in the town, and the money that is being given to them by the council.

"We're trying to sort out a meeting to resolve a lot of issues and, hopefully, discuss getting a grant to help with the work needed on the Camrose. We want to work with the council properly."

In light of the financial difficulties, Mr Hunt is delighted with the start Howe and his team have made.

"It's been brilliant. They're playing really good football, but if we got two or three injuries to our small squad, we'd be struggling.

"Ernie is operating on a limited budget far below much of the opposition we are facing this year. So far, he's even working under his wage allocation, but he's always under pressure.

"That's why new sponsors would make such a difference to the team and club. Without them we will struggle to survive and move forward."