Oxford United are on a healthier financial footing than they’ve been at any time in the past two years, major investor Ian Lenagan told supporters on Monday night.

And that was down to the excellent fire-fighting job done by new chairman Kelvin Thomas, and the measures he has implemented.

From a loss 12 months ago of £800,000 per year, it is now projected that the loss for next season will be around only £100,000, Lenagan said.

Together with Nick Merry – although Lenagan has been the major backer – Woodstock Partners’ investment in Oxford United has been more than £4m.

That was why, he admitted to a Fans’ Forum attended by more than 250, “we reached a point six to nine months ago where we said ‘enough’.”

Lenagan paid tribute to Thomas, who has introduced a radical change of direction.

He said WPL, who stand by their loans and have not taken any interest on them, “remain committed to the club and its future development” under their ownership.

“We’re probably in a better position than we’ve been in the last two years,” he stated, “though it’s still perilous”.

Thomas has come in with a mission to try to make OUFC self-sufficient, and if season ticket levels for next season are similar to 2008-9, and crowds average approximately 5,000, he will not be far away from that target.

“The loss that’s projected is getting quite close to break-even, which would be fantastic,” said Lenagan. “We’re nearly over the hump.”

They have appointed Oxf-ord-based management company Box Clever Group to help them look at ways to purchase the stadium.

“There have been many false starts, with many partners,” he admitted, referring to previous attempts at getting the necessary investment to buy the ground.

“We made the decision that we would do the project ourselves, and it’s moving well.”

Thomas revealed that United have signed a three-year kit sponsorship agreement with Nike, through Justsport.

He said the new kit was “a quality product”. It will be launched at the open day.

Justsport/Nike will also be taking over the running of United’s club shop and their online merchandise sales.

“This way we’ll be able to rotate stock better,” he said.

United’s chairman told the fans that they “need to be professional all the way through the club” and he reiterated how important it was to create “a winning mentality” on and off the pitch.

Manager Chris Wilder was given a big ovation by supporters at the start, and received praise for the tactical awareness he has shown since taking over.

Wilder told the gathering, in response to one question, that contract talks with players who are out of contract in the summer would not happen now because he did not want anything to distract them from the task of winning football matches, starting at York on Tuesday night.