Bermuda Hogges co-owner Paul Scope has denied that the team are struggling to survive, and said there were no plans for the club to fold.

Scope was responding to comments made by fellow owner Shaun Goater, who yesterday put the team's survival chances at '50-50'.

In an interview with The Royal Gazette on Wednesday, Goater said he thought the club's days were numbered, with himself, Scope and Kyle Lightbourne unable to continue to prop up a club that he claimed was beset by financial woes.

"Right now, how confident am I of Hogges continuing? I'd have to say it's 50-50," said Goater.

"At the moment it seems unlikely because we've taken such a big financial hit this season and can't afford to continue like this.

"But we will sit down at the end of the season and discuss where we go from here."

Last night however Scope reacted with surprise to Goater's comments, and said that far from struggling, the club was still well supported financially, with new sponsors, such as airline JetBlue, coming on board all the time.

"There are no plans for folding, we (Scope and Lightbourne) haven't even considered it, I can say that in no uncertain terms," said Scope.

"Obviously Shaun might have a difference of opinion, but Kyle and I met for one of our regular meetings and we were both surprised to see what Shaun had to say.

"We both looked at each other and said 'how are you feeling about it', and we both said that we aren't going to give up.

"It's certainly not time to give up. We've put two years into it, and yes we've put a fair amount of money into it, but we have made progress on that.

"We've still got generous sponsorship, and I want to assure those sponsors, and supporters, that we aren't going anywhere.

"The sponsors are still giving us a significant amount of money and we've attracted new sponsors during the season, both local and international.

"JetBlue have just come on and sponsored us, which is a significant amount of money, and they will be on our shirts in the future.

"We've got our costs under control, we've negotiated with the USL to get our costs down, and they have been terrific help with that."

Hogges, who are in their third year of existence, wont break even again this year. And while some might point to dwindling attendances as an example of a struggling club, Scope said it mattered little in the grand scheme of things.

"Even if we got 2,000 fans for every game, it wouldn't make a difference economically," he said.

"It might make for a better atmosphere, but everyone is struggling at the moment, and you have to accept that"

And while the Hogges co-owner admitted to being as frustrated as anyone with the team's recent run of poor form, he said he thought the team were heading in the right direction, and had no intention of stepping away from the club.

"I don't anticipate ownership changing any time soon, and I can't see the Hogges folding, that's a word I object to," said Scope, "even if someone wants to take it over from what we have done so far, and take it the next step, even if there is more of an association with the football authorities.

"Sometimes we get frustrated with the results, but it's not all about the results, as we keep saying. It's more about development.

"Maybe we aren't taking two steps forward and one step back, maybe it's more like one-and-a-half steps forward, but we do think we are making progress.

"All of the players that we are working with are better players than they were, and that was really why we did it (started the Hogges).

"We like winning as much as anyone, and we enjoy it when we do, but it's not why we're here.

"We're doing it to improve football in general, and the national team in particular, and we think that when they (the Hogges) go back to the national team they will be better players.

"We might not match up sometimes to the full-time clubs, like Richmond, but they are top of the league so there aren't many teams who will, and we did beat them at home."