Chesham United Football Club

I spoke at the recent AGM of the Supporters Trust. I’d like to summarise what I said for those that aren’t members or who couldn’t make it:

2005/6 summarised

• 3 managers
• 92 players
• 3 (or was it 4) chairmen
• 5 barren months and 20 games (I think) without a win
• Relegation

I got involved in February. After only a couple of months, it’s perhaps hard for me to realise what the rest of you have been through this season. What I do know, though, is that I’m a bad loser.

The 2005/6 financial year ends on 30th June 2006. I expect the financials to look like this:

This means a loss of £53,000, which is covered by the new investment from Mike Dickson and I (just). It would have been a worse loss had the footballing budget not been halved only a short way into the season before being increased again following my involvement.

2006/7 Forecast
Subject to a number of assumptions, it looks like this:

This suggests a loss of £57,000. My assumptions are:

• Admission prices unchanged. We discussed this at length at the meeting. We need to bridge the income and expenses gap, not widen it. Reluctantly, the overwhelming view was not to reduce admission prices despite relegation. The board will watch footballing progress, crowd size and income and keep this under review.
• Advertising & Sponsorship Unchanged. This was a pathetically low amount last year. More on this later.
• 25% reduction in donations following improved stability
• Players wages reduced by 25% from the 2005/6 season end. Remember, we had increased them from the previously slashed figure after Mike and I got involved.
• Accountant budgeted for. There was no regular independent accountancy input during 2005/6 until I became involved. This had been a cost saving measure and, in my opinion, was a false economy.
• 10% reduction in crowd. Let’s hope not. If we can start winning then who knows?
• Constant players budget. It will be if we can bridge the income and expenses gap.
• No cup run.

In summary, for 2006/7:

• Deficit on P&L of £57,000 needs to be financed
• We expect to have sufficient cash in hand to repay the balance of the Inland Revenue  debt of £12,000
• Additional cash requirement of £17,000 to service remaining debt interest and capital repayment
• £68,500 debt outstanding at end of 2006/7 financial year

This means that we must raise an additional £74,000 or so for 2006/7 just to break even. How can we do this?

• The 2006/7 forecast assumes no increase in advertising / sponsorship from last year’s pathetic £13,000. In fact, we already have two significant sponsors:

HCC International Insurance Company PLC - $20,000 = £11,500
Beachcroft LLP (a law firm) - £10,000

We have also raised a further £20,000. So, we have about £40,000 committed so far.

• We could slash the footballing budget to the low point of 2005/6 again. That might be enough to keep us in the league we’re in but it’s unlikely to be enough to gain promotion.

I do not want to reduce the footballing budget further. That means we need to find further new advertising / sponsorship. My target is to raise an additional £60,000 in advertising / sponsorship. This will keep us financially safe, allowing about £13,000 for contingencies.

THE ONLY WAY THAT THIS CAN BE ACHIEVED IS WITH YOUR HELP:

We have produced a very impressive marketing pack (that we got on the cheap). It is available in hard copy from the office. Call in if you want one. It can be downloaded from the web site. It outlines all of the offers from match ball sponsorship to prime position boards and programme advertising. Please speak to your employers, if you can, and try to persuade them to support the club. They can do so from under £100 but a lot of businesses can afford more. Why should they? There are four obvious reasons:

• Employee relations.
• The “charitable” reason. It's obvious. It ticks the right boxes – sport, community etc.
• The business reason. We are rarely out of the local paper and frequently feature in the footballing press. Sponsors' names can appear on the shirts of the various teams, on the grandstand fascia, the stadium name, on advertising boards, in the programme and plenty of other places, depending on the level of sponsorship. And with Luther Blissett as manager, the media has already taken an interest with a number of spots on Sky 1's Soccer AM (the most widely watched soccer chat show). We have a regular supporter base that we are working hard to expand and have started promoting ourselves in local schools.
• The football reason. I'm a season ticket holder at Arsenal and can honestly say that I've enjoyed my involvement with CUFC every bit as much as watching the beautiful game at Highbury. It's very different but still football.

Please help us now. The sooner we meet our target the sooner we know where we are for the season. The area needs a vibrant club. Potentially, we have the best facilities and location for miles. Don’t be shy, speak to your friends, employers etc. And if you know anyone at a potentially major contributor, I will happily meet with them to discuss options.
In the final analysis, if we can’t raise this money then, perhaps, the area just won’t support a football club above the level we’re at now. That would be a real shame.

Marketing Pack

Charles Manchester (Chairman)