TRANMERE Rovers FC chairman and joint owner Mark Palios has said the club needs new investment if it is to build a new stadium and "be competitive in the higher leagues".

The club, which plays in League Two (the fourth tier of professional football), recently posted its annual accounts to Companies House for the 12 months to June 30, 2023, accompanied by a strategic review. 

Tranmere’s revenues for the reporting period were £5.45m, just a fraction down on the £5.48m reported a year earlier. However, pre-tax losses widened significantly from £290,000 in the previous year to £1.37m.

A difficult time on the pitch saw Rovers finish a disappointing 12th place following the sacking of manager Micky Mellon the March last year.

Income was affected during the season with Palios saying that the club "rebuffed lucrative offers for players from other clubs in the January transfer window" due to the hopes of a play off push.

It was also felt that the club's poor form hit season ticket sales with Tranmere selling fewer season tickets for the 2023/24 season – 3,430 against 3,561 for the previous season.

Palios, who is a former Tranmere player and a former chief executive of the FA,  said the club had “performed creditably” from a cash perspective and demonstrated improved resilience. In July 2023 the Fair Game Index rated Tranmere was one of the top 10 best run clubs in England.

Palios said: “The principal aim of the directors remains to ensure that the club is financially self sustainable and able to achieve on field success without being reliant on annual external investment.

“The resilience of the club is strong, as can be seen by the financial results achieved, despite the headwinds of the inflationary environment in which we are currently forced to operate.

“And we are broadly at a point where the club can break even while maintaining a competitive playing budget

“However, to be competitive in higher leagues we feel there is still more work to be done and to that end the club has been progressing key infrastructure projects.”

These projects include the expansion of the campus, and the potential for a new stadium as an integral part of the regeneration of the Wirral.

Plans for a £100m ‘Sports City’ complex at Bidston Dock, that would become Tranmere Rovers’ new home, have been mooted with a15,000-capacity stadium, digital golf driving range and retail outlets. It would also include a hotel and conference facilities. Prenton Park would be demolished to make way for housing.

Palios added: "While the club, like its supporters, has for the last few years been operating in a particularly difficult climate given the pandemic and spiralling costs of inflation, there remain plenty of opportunities for the club to realise its potential and to fund success on the pitch while continuing to be an anchor institution in its local community."