MIDDLESBROUGH Football Club insist the true extent of a restructuring of its finances will not be felt until a later date after posting a loss of almost £14m in its latest financial accounts.

Chairman Steve Gibson, whose The Gibson O'Neill Company Limited is the club's parent company, continues to provide the financial support to ensure it continues to operate in the Championship.

The latest set of figures for an 18-month period ending June 30, 2011, highlights the extent of the gamble Gibson took in trying to secure a return to the Premier League before parachute payments stopped.

There was a wage bill of £36.324m, largely as a result of granting Gordon Strachan permission to recruit the likes of Kris Boyd and Scott McDonald on top of a wage bill already including players on Premier League wages.

That had gone up from £27.704m the previous year, which was a figure collated during a shorter, 12-month period up to December 31, 2009.

The accounts also highlight that Boro owed the banks £27m at the year end, which has been refinanced and covered by the Gibson O'Neill Company, meaning the club has no external borrowings.

A loss of £13.818m over the 18 months was recorded despite the sales of Adam Johnson, Brad Jones and David Wheater.

But Boro expect significant improvements in next year's accounts, with manager Tony Mowbray successfully slashing the club's wage bill by at least half.

The club's business review stated: "After the first two months of the 2010/11 season, the club changed the first team manager. Since then on field results have improved and the club is confident that this change has improved the chances for obtaining promotion to the Premier League in the medium term.

"Players wages have reduced season on season following transfer sales of players in expensive Premier League contracts. Administrative costs have also been reduced as operating procedures have been critically examined.

"But the benefit of these reductions has not been fully reflected in the accounts due to the need to cover the costs of notice periods in management and staff employment contracts. The full benefits will be seen in future years."