Burnham chairman Gary Reeves confident he can steer the club through 'rocky seas'

Burnham chairman Gary Reeves says ‘Rome wasn’t built in a day’ as he attempts to steer the club out of financial trouble.

Reeves, who this week set the record straight over whether the Blues’ players will be paid their wages in full, gave the analogy that the sea was ‘rocky, but the Burnham ship would reach the island’.

When Reeves was asked by the Advertiser on Wednesday last week whether the club could pay players’ wages in full he said there were ‘no guarantees’. But on Saturday he said players should rest assured they would get their wages, and expenses, paid back in full.

He said: “It was a flippant comment; what I was talking to you about there was about what the players are owed, whether we could get a team out on Saturday, whether we’re going to stay in the league, and the flippant comment was in football there are no guarantees which there are not.

“We haven’t got a God-given right to stay in this league, we haven’t got a God-given right to sign players, it was a flippant comment, but what I wanted to say, and I did say, is that when we had that meeting on the Thursday with the players, everyone of those players knew the situation.”

He said the club will honour its commitments to the players.

“The players, whether they leave, stay, or never come back, will always get what they’ve earned,” he said.

“If a player leaves that meeting, and we’ve told them something, then we 100 per cent guarantee it.”

Reeves insists the club is now moving in the right direction. He added that they have been as truthful with the players as they possibly can be.

 “When I arrived I wanted there to be total transparency,” he said.

“Rome wasn’t built in a day. But the time it is taking isn’t quick enough for some people.

“We’re going in the right direction. We’ve got the gym, the crèche, car wash, and the sports academy is taking off.”

Despite their off-field troubles, Reeves believes that Burnham is still a tempting prospect for young players. He also hopes to fix up pre-season games against Wycombe Wanderers, Brentford FC and Portsmouth FC, which he said would bring in money.

He said:“Players will want to play at this level because we’re in a good league and want to stay there, and we’ll be so strong if we manage to get through this season.

“This isn’t my fault, it’s the club’s. I’m just trying to steer us through a rocky sea but we’ll get to the island.”