Brighton Bears' new owner Romek Kriwald doesn't intend being a one man band for long.

The 37-year-old took charge of the club this week when be bought the shares held by Christian Hamilton and his mother Eileen for the last two and a half years.

It's a move which has gone down well with the players and supporters, some of whom have already expressed an interest in helping Kriwald with the day-to-day business of running a basketball franchise.

But Kriwald is already in discussion with "four or five" potential new partners willing to invest time and money into the club and is confident that he will have new people on board before the end of the season.

And if they make the same commitment as Kriwald is pledging then it might not be long before Bears become a big player in a domestic game that has been reinvigorated by the arrival of some exciting talent from America and a satellite deal which is introducing the game to a whole new generation of fans.

Kriwald firmly believes that the club's return to Brighton after 15 years in Worthing has been a success, but he admits that it's his own money which is keeping the club running at the moment.

Average crowds at their new home at the Brighton Centre are up. Over 3,000 packed in to see a televised game with Milton Keynes back in October, but Bears have only played once on a Saturday night, when support has traditionally been at its best, since then.

Their last home game was nearly a month ago and that was at their second home, the Triangle in Burgess Hill where attendances for the four matches staged there so far have never exceeded 500.

"I'm digging in at the moment myself to pay the bills," admitted Kriwald who says the club's turnover is not far off £500,000 per year.

"The revenue from things like sponsorship hasn't been as much as we'd looked for in our budgets, but expenditure isn't as much either. We have to be very careful with the coffers, but this isn't a situation that I envisage continuing for much longer.

"I'd be very disappointed if there wasn't a meaningful partnership in place before the end of the season. That might involve two people or four or five. The main thing is that they share the same enthusiasm and ambition for this club as I do."

As well as his financial commitment, Kriwald is also investing a lot of time into getting things right.

He is director of a successful call centre business in Norfolk and also runs a company with his brother who organise corporate speakers, but says he has only spent three days on his business affairs in the last month.

"I'm fortunate in that I can leave the businesses to some good people," he added. "At the moment Bears takes five days a week."

It's a big sacrifice to make, but Kriwald is convinced that basketball in Brighton can put Sussex on the sporting map.He added: "I am very pleased with a lot that we do at the moment. When Sky televised our game with Milton Keynes the producer told me that the entertainment we put on, the venue and the atmosphere it creates is the best in the league. It also attracted one of the largest TV audiences.

"Of course, we have made mistakes. I admit that, but I'm 37 and I don't know everything. We appointed Charles Luke-Bannerman as coach and that didn't work out which was a shame for me because Charles was a personal friend of mine and still is.

"Changing the coach does nothing for continuity and that is something that the club needs both on and off the court."

It's the first time that Kriwald touched on the playing side, but he is under no illusions that other things will quickly fall into place if the team is a success.

Only last month he questioned whether the players were "giving Brighton their very best" in his programme notes. Bears went out and beat the then southern conference leaders Birmingham Bullets.

But that was their first win in eight starts and the three subsequent games have all ended in defeat, leaving Bears languishing at the bottom of the table with little prospect of achieving their main pre-season goal of a place in the play-offs.

"There's no doubt in my mind that the team is better than the one we had last season and there are certainly a couple of guys I would like to see returning next year which is getting back to my ideas about continuity," he said.

"In a year's time I would like to think we will be up there with the likes of Birmingham or Thames Valley who are comfortably in a play-off spot. Mark Dunning has a chance to establish himself as coach until the end of the season, but I would like him to deliver more wins."

There's no disguising Kriwald's passion for the game.Until a bout of tennis elbow, he regularly played in the Sussex League for Bognor Pirates. Now his sporting activity is confined to Saturday afternoons shoring up Lavant's defence in the West Sussex Football League. He lives in the village with wife Ali and children Lorren and Josh.

"If I can't go along to the Brighton Centre or wherever, sit down and enjoy myself and watch other people having a great night out then I'd be wasting my time.

"Watching us do well is payback for me, my salary at the moment if you like," he added. "I'm here long-term and I'm determined to make Brighton Bears a success."

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.