Tom Piatak has stressed his family’s commitment to the long-term at Carlisle United – and said the Blues will be in “strong” shape under their ownership whatever happens this season.
The businessman says that, while all at the club are determined to avoid relegation, the worst-case scenario of the drop to the National League would not affect their plans or financial commitment to the club.
And Piatak says that he and his family, who own the club, would “find a way” to ensure key aspects of the Blues are safeguarded in the event of a drop in revenue that relegation would bring.
Piatak, interviewed by the News & Star, said they have inevitably considered “contingency plans” for the scenario that sees United relegated.
But he stressed that League Two survival remains the “sole focus” and the subject of confident belief at the club, with Piatak saying he has great faith in new head coach Mark Hughes and the players to pull clear of the relegation zone. United are currently five points from safety with 14 games left.
“Contingency plans…we've thought about them," he said. "[But] survival remains our sole focus. I don't want you to think I walk out of this [interview] and I go into another meeting about contingency planning. I don't.
“I go into another meeting, and it's, ‘Where are we on survival, how are we going to get through this?’ There are enough matches left – we’re five points adrift, we have matches in hand on our nearest competitors. We can easily get our way out of this.
“[But] you can rest assured that I can say the club is strong. The club is financially strong. The club is probably financially stronger than it's ever been in the past and will continue to be.
“That's how we operate our businesses. We pour our heart and soul into it and when necessary the financial investment, because a lot of times that's needed at the beginning to get something going.
“Once we get it going I think it's going to be an extremely bright spot for all of Cumbria and all of Carlisle.”
Piatak, whose Castle Sports Group company has owned the Blues since November 2023, said there would be no change to his family’s long-term backing for United even if the Blues did go down.
“If you look at the history of our businesses, we build businesses and we hold businesses. We don't look to sell businesses,” he said.
“This is something that we're absolutely passionate about. We already have two generations involved.
“We love Carlisle. We love Cumbria. We've purchased our own residence, we've purchased many other properties for the players and things of that nature. We wouldn't be doing that if this was a short-term in any way, shape, or form.
“I hope to hell that we avoid…I don't even want to say the word [relegation]. We're going to fight.
“But this is a long-term journey. The commitment's there. The love's there. When we arrived in Carlisle [earlier this month], the first thing we said is, ‘We're home’.
“The commitment from our family is strong, will remain strong. We're in a very challenging period right now. We're in a fight. We're in a fight for our lives.
“I'm confident that we'll get out of it, that we have the right team. But for anybody that's listening, I would say, yeah, we're here for the long term. It's near and dear to our hearts.
“It consumes us, and it should consume us. It should. When something's important to you, it should consume you, and it does consume all six of us.”
Relegation to the National League would have an inevitable financial impact in terms of EFL funding for areas of the club such as the academy and community sports trust.
Asked if these would be safeguarded by the owners – as well as jobs at the club – should United drop into non-league, Piatak replied: “I would tell you this club is near and dear to our heart, and anything that's that important to us…we're gonna find a way.
“It's just in our nature. We do not like to fail. What the community sports trust does is absolutely phenomenal.
“I do understand the ramifications of relegation. I do understand the financial ramifications of that. We do not want to see that happen but the club is in a safe strong spot, and as long as we're owners – which I intend to be for a long time – the club will always be in a safe strong spot.”
Listen to our full interview with Tom Piatak, where we asked the owner in detail about the reasons for, and decisions made in, Carlisle’s season of struggle, HERE
