Colchester United are planning to move into the new millennium with their future secure in the Football League.

Plans for a major new share capital in the company, raising the second division club's profile from £250,000 to £2million are to be put forward at the U's annual meeting on February 11.

It is expected existing shareholders will be given the chance to dig deeply into their pockets once again to help propel the club towards a more viable future as it approaches the 21st century.

U's managing director Stephen Gage said: "It's all part of securing a brighter future for the club.

"With the proposed new stadium just around the corner and wages and transfer fees forever soaring we at Colchester are continually seeking new ways to make the club stronger.

"We see the creation of another 35,000 shares as one of the ways to do that."

The new share capital, if it is agreed, will be made available at 5p a share and will bring in an extra £1.75million.

Gage added: "We are proposing the new share deal to help offset the inflation and other pressures in the game.

"It is not solely because the new stadium is on the horizon. We see it as part of our general good housekeeping and husbandary within the club.

"There are no plans at present to open up the share issue to the general public."

The creation of a new share capital comes hard on the heels of the revelation that the U's suffered a £205,856 loss for the year ending May 31, 1998.

The club made a profit of £17,948 in the previous 12 months thanks to the lucrative compensation payout for former boss George Burley, plus monies gained from the U's Auto Windscreens Shield final at Wembley.

Gage said when explaining the loss: "The club is budgeted to lose £250,000 a year, but while saying that Colchester United is one of the few football clubs that doesn't have an overdraft at the bank. We pride ourselves on that fact.

"There is always cash available to the manager to spend on new players and he is never under pressure to sell our players to balance the books.

"We are very much like a juggler trying to juggle eight balls at once.

"We are not doing too badly at the moment and we can celebrate the new millennium with renewed confidence."

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