Board Notes 7/1/05
R&DFC Board Meeting Notes – 7/1/05
This meeting was held a little later in the month than usual due to the Christmas holidays. As usual the meeting was held at 9:00 a.m. in the R&DFC board room.
In attendance were Stephen Griggs Chairman, David Suddens CEO, Allan Wright Financial Director, Max Crosby-Browne, Andy Robertson non executive directors, Dean Howells general manager, Ernie Tippet manager, Fergal Crean & myself.
- The previous minutes were agreed.
- Allan Wright then gave a detailed report on the financial results to date. Obviously due to lower than budgeted attendances which in turn have affected merchandise & catering sales, the results were lower than budgeted for at the start of the season.
As a result a reforecast of the predicted finances for the remainder of the year has been prepared.
The forecast is indicating that the club will suffer a loss of just over £1 million. When you consider that previous seasons losses have been closer to £3 million this is definitely a step in the right direction. This figure is also before the Griggs Group provide any sponsorship.
We as supporters have the opportunity to help improve this situation. Why not approach your friends, family, work mates, etc and ask them if they would like to attend a match with you. Do you know any businesses or persons who might be interested in a pitch side or programme advertisement? Would they be interested in match ball, MOTM or player sponsorship? Every little helps to improve the situation, so if you can help please contact Jane Corby, 01933 652000 or jane.corby@airwair.co.uk .
- The Doc shop will not reopen on a Sunday as it has been found to be not cost effective at present.
- Sales of merchandise have been up and down throughout the season, peaking with the launch of the new kits.
- External sales of Dr Martens footwear will continue with stalls planned for the bike rally in Peterborough and other events.
- There are new stocks of footwear arriving regularly. New sales and offers are being planned. Currently there is a sale of last seasons replica kit available in the shop. So get down there to grab yourself a bargain!
- Dean then gave an operations review of the club. The Oxford match was discussed and Dean clarified that despite several discussions with Oxford United and the Oxford police, all information received advised that the maximum support anticipated was 1000 to 1200. On the day though, both Northampton and Kettering’s matches were called off and that coupled with the additional travelling fans from Oxford resulted in the 1490 away fans that attended. Being faced with a very difficult decision to either lock out visiting fans and run the risk of trouble outside the stadium or to reduce the segregation to accommodate them, Dean and the police decided that the latter was the best option. The Oxford fans were not expected to cause any problems, however the club acknowledge that some home supporters felt intimidated having such vociferous away support so close to them.
As a result should this situation ever occur again, the club will ask the home supporters adjacent to the segregation to move over into any spare seats within the Airwair stand.
Hopefully supporters that experienced the above and who maybe affected by such a situation in the future will understand why they will be asked to move. It is hoped that this will only be on rare occasions should the need arise.
- Dean has met with the local council over the proposed golf driving range at the rear of pitch 3. The proposal continues to be investigated.
- There is an R&DFC Junior Football Festival being planned for the end of June. A schedule will be developed to ensure that pitch 3 can be made ready for pre season training.
- As well as the usual Corporate Cup for local businesses, this season the club are looking to hold a Fans Football Tournament. This will allow supporters to enter a team with the chance to play on the hallowed turf of Nene Park! Obviously all the above are still to be confirmed and exact details will follow.
- Ernie then discussed our current situation. He advised that our current position is not acceptable to him, the rest of the coaching staff, the board and of course the fans. They are working extremely hard with the resources at their disposal, with a squad that has been affected by injury, illness and suspension. Within his budget Ernie has managed to bring in Alan Blayney and Adrian Littlejohn. We witnessed the signing of the forms for Littlejohn’s transfer during the board meeting and thanks to Dave Joyce’s good relationship with Lincoln’s club secretary the deal went through at 11:55 just before the midday deadline!
- The board acknowledged that the coaching staff had been unlucky with the injuries, etc to key players and it was discussed how funds could be made available to bring in some new faces to refresh the squad. Obviously this is difficult in light of the financial forecast, however it is hoped that Ernie will be able to bring in some new lads and he continues his search for players that will join us.
- Just to clarify that the £1 million budget Ernie has to work with is a little misleading. When you consider that there are several players on previous terms, who he has inherited, whose wages take up a decent proportion of that figure, he is actually left with a considerably smaller figure with which to work with, although as existing contracts expire this situation will improve.
- The situation with Gareth Seddons is now public knowledge and it is terrible for a lad to be told that he cannot play the game that he loves. I’m sure you’ll all join me in sending him our best wishes for the future.
- Ernie advised that he had received interest in Andy Burgess from Swansea.
- There had been questions raised by the supporters over the handling and delay in releasing information about Billy Turley’s situation. The F.A. have set guidelines for these situations and the club have acted strictly in accordance with them.
- The situation with the scouting of potential new players was discussed. Currently we have no scouting system other than what Ernie, Stewart Robson, John Bolle and Barry Hunter manage to do themselves. As an example Ernie took training sessions in the morning and afternoon the day before the board meeting, he then spends time on the phone pursuing players and then travelled up to Birmingham to watch Birmingham v Newcastle reserves.
Other clubs have a scouting network that they can utilise to do this work for them full time and can therefore be more successful in finding new players.
The club are looking at a proposal to bring in a chief scout with his own established network of scouts to assist him.
- The marketing of the club is ongoing, with several poster campaigns underway and planned. The 6 for 5 promotion is ongoing. Kids for a quid and family day promotions are planned. If you would like to assist those already registered to promote the club and distribute these posters, leaflets, etc within your local area, then please contact Jane Corby at the club.
- Part of the marketing team’s time has been spent developing the business plan for the proposed new gym and health centre within the sports centre. This proposal will require an investment by the Griggs Group to finance the refurbishment and fit out.
- Our supporters need to understand that thanks to Stephen, David and the Griggs Group we still have a football club after last seasons troubles and we should not lose sight of the fact that the Griggs Group are a business and are currently not as successful as they previously were, this obviously means there is not the money readily available as there used to be, however the board do not want us to be relegated and will do what they can to release finances to avoid this.
All of the above “investments” in the club must be sanctioned by the Griggs Group main board. Their next meeting is taking place in early February. As a result the next fans forum is to be held on 23/2/05. Please don’t forget to obtain your ticket to the forum from the ticket office, as spaces are limited to 250.
As I have said previously in these notes, if we can start to tempt back supporters, increasing revenue, sponsors, etc then we can help to reduce the burden on the Griggs Groups shoulders, every little helps!
Another 50 supporters through the turnstiles would cover a player’s wage.
It’s up to us to support our club in whatever way we can, so instead of moaning about the situation we’re in, do something to try to help the financial situation improve, that in turn could well help to provide the resources we need to help us improve on the pitch!
One final thing !! There is now a committed attempt being made by various supporters groups to come together & establish a R&DFC Supporters Trust. If you feel you could help with such an initiative or would be prepared to contribute in the raising of funds to go towards the future of our club, then please visit the Supporters Trust forum http://www.rdfcnet-forum.co.uk/forum/forum_topics.asp?FID=6 or visit the RDSC cabin, behind the Airwair stand after a home match. You can also contact myself via e-mail.
Please keep an eye on media outlets as the intention is to hold an open meeting for all interested parties in the near future & this will be communicated through the websites, local papers, etc.
As always if you have any questions then please forward them to myself on airwairdiamond@aol.com or contact Jane Corby at the club. You can also pass any questions through the supporters clubs or on www.rdfcnet.co.uk message board.
Thanks,
Shaun
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