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Luton have shown it's not all just about budgets. Stevenage with good management, and low crowds and modest budget, have gone from regularly bottom of league two to going well in League One.
The stadium is an issue though. It costs a big 6 figure annual sum on maintenance and doesn't bring in enough revenue compared to modern stadiums with more modest facilities. It hasn't really changed in 30 years either and they're reliant on money we give them to hire the ground.
I see the point you are making, but your two examples of financial/budgetary success are both clubs in leafy Herts/Beds, two counties with little of the experience nor history of Birkenhead, so badly served since Thatcher with a large proportion of the population that doesn't have the spending power of the football fans in the Home Counties.
Agreed, the huge old stadium takes up a massive part of the budget. What can you do though? it is what it is. All kinds of outside projects (including our Women's teams playing at PP) take place to just try and keep up with paying for it, though the investment in the new pitch & drainage has been a feather in the cap for Palios, and the Tranmere Trust is doing it's best to bring more outside income into the Club with the new Fan Park, which will open soon.
All gone quiet on the proposed new stadium at Bidston Dock. Palios said in January:
'One thing we have not progressed since the start of the season is the new stadium project. The feasibility study has been put on ice for most of this year, mainly due to a lack of bandwidth to push things forward as we deal with all of the day-to-day challenges of running a club through a global cost of living crisis. As and when the feasibility study gets underway, we will engage fully with the fans and supporter groups. For now, though, there is nothing further to say as the feasibility study has not yet been done.' Really, now these infrastructure projects are nearing completion, Palios has to now concentrate on the team and it's management. A bumper crowd of 10k plus for the Wrexham derby will be back to the usual 5/6 k as once again Tranmere wasted an opportunity to convince supporters it's worth spending your hard-earned on a Saturday afternoon at PP.