Management Report
My last report was just before Christmas. I published my wish list for Santa. Regrettably, Santa didn’t see fit to deliver on my first request (21 league victories in the remainder of the season) although as I write this we are still in with a chance of the play offs. In the long run, CUFC’s security depends more on the other requests, primarily the need for 50 more advertisers from local businesses and 1 or 2 major sponsors that want to make a real difference so that I can stop banging on about money. We’ll see if Santa’s out there.
We try to have board meetings roughly every month during the season but, as we had an AGM in January, the first board meeting was in February. I’ve summarised below the key issues arising at the board meeting and at other times since my last report:
Finance
- General
I have reported before that the club is running at a significant deficit this year again. I said when I arrived that we would need to run the club such that it breaks even at least. We won’t achieve that this year but a lot of (expensive) lessons have been learned and we are looking at making savings where we can and I anticipate a more stable (financially) 2007/8. The club’s supporters are its most important constituency and many have purchased shares in the club and many have given their time, which has helped enormously. Some (but not all) of the deficit this year is due to the need for the new management to learn lessons, particularly me; as such, Mike Dickson and I will cover the shortfall this year. I believe that we are in a better position to control expenses much in 2007/8 although much will depend on our ability to renew advertising and sponsorship.
- Cost Savings
We are looking at every single expense to see if we can manage things better – either by reducing spending or by avoiding paying someone to do something that we could do for ourselves. We will review all significant suppliers at the end of the season.
- David Stanley
David will be leaving the club at the end of this season. I have come to the difficult decision that we can no longer afford a paid club secretary.
Now on his second spell at the club, David has been with CUFC for nearly 3 years and we will miss him a lot, not only for his insightful opinions on the footballing but also the myriad of jobs that he does, many of which go unnoticed unless they aren't done. I don't know if we all appreciate the sheer number of hours that David puts in. David is a very experienced football administrator, his previous clubs including Barnet FC and Merthyr Tydfil FC. David also serves as Chairman of the Suburban Football League. I, for one, will be sorry to see him go, not least because of the loyalty that he showed to the club, even to the extent of carrying on whilst unpaid during the particularly difficult time leading up to last year's public meeting at Chesham Town Hall. The football secretarial and office administrative work is going to be picked up by Neil Calder and Alan Lagden. I am extremely grateful for their offer of their time. They will have a very steep learning curve and I have no doubt that everybody will give them as much assistance as possible.
- Bank Loan
Many of you will recall that we have a loan outstanding with Nat West. The balance outstanding is about £51,000. Martin Gould and I met with the bank recently and they have agreed a capital repayment holiday of 12 months. This will improve our cashflow by about £1,200 per month for the next year. We can review the position again then.
- 2007/8 Budget
We have started work on the 2007/8 budget.
- Ground Share
As you will know, we have agreed to allow Aylesbury United’s first team to use The Meadow until the end of this season. We have not discussed next season yet.
- Loans / Shareholdings
In early February, we received a very welcome loan from Mike Cant in the sum of £5,000. Mike is a friend of mine who runs a Chesham-based business, Saturn Professional Risks Ltd. This loan will be converted to voting B shares later in the year.
Mike Dickson and I loaned the club £6,000 each some while back, being equal to the tax refunds that we will receive by way of EIS relief. We have recently loaned the club a further £10,000 each. We will increase these loans as necessary to ensure that there is no cash shortfall this financial year. These loans will be converted to A or B shares in July 2007.
The Supporters Trust will subscribe for additional B shares in due course in an amount that will roughly preserve the overall per centage allocation of B shares as currently exists. The club will use money received from the Supporters Trust to pay for the Chess Suite re-roofing and other ground improvements as may be agreed by The Trust.
We recently received a demand for some £2,000 from Green King, representing an outstanding balance on an old brewery loan that nobody currently at the club recalls. It was not disclosed to me when I came to the club last year. We have asked for more information.
- Advertising / Sponsorship
We have recently agreed significant advertising / sponsorship deals with Acorn Press and Eversheds Solicitors. Whilst not top tier (by that I mean comparable in amount with HCC International or Beachcroft), the amounts are very helpful.
- Chamber of Commerce
We have joined Chesham Chamber of Commerce and Martin Gould now attends their meetings. We have been invited to present to them on 22nd May, which is a great opportunity for us to increase our profile positively in front of the business community.
- Management Accounts
I will publish some accounts next at the end of the season. The board receives management accounts from our independent accountant on a monthly basis so all directors are intimate with the financial position of the club. But the figures do not move wildly from one month to the next and condensing all the spreadsheets into a manageable format is probably not worthwhile more than once a quarter or so.
Football
The first team has slowly dropped from the early season highs and we now stand at 10th in the league. A play off place remains a possibility, particularly if we can maintain the recent run of form.
On a positive note, we reached the semi-final of the County Cup, losing 3-1 at home to MK Dons. Our team were by no means embarrassed against a strong MK Dons side. Several of the Youth Team have appeared in the First and Reserves teams – great for the lads and a bonus for the club. And the ladies should be congratulated on going one step further than the men in reaching the final of the County Cup.
Fixture-wise, there have been a number of postponements. This loses revenue (when a home game moves from a Saturday to a Tuesday) and causes serious fixture congestion. At least the pitch looks good!
We recently announced the launch of a new Football / Education programme commencing in September 2007, in association with AVC Sports and Amersham & Wycombe College. Aimed at school leavers, the course provides aspiring young players the opportunity to continue their academic studies whilst at the same time developing their football ability with the ultimate aim of breaking into the first team at Chesham United. The 2-year programme, based around the BTEC Foundation Certificate, First Diploma and National Certificate/Diploma in Sports programmes, caters for students of varying academic ability.
Students who enrol on the course will have access to 9 hours per week professional coaching with the added attraction of playing competitive fixtures. By coaching and educating young players, this scheme can only strengthen our commitment to giving local players an opportunity to represent their local club. It will also provide us with an income. Please help us by spreading this message to any prospective students and their parents to ensure that the trials are well attended – we need a minimum number of students for this to be viable. Within the club, the scheme will be overseen by Rob Goldhawk and Bob Hatcher.
Full details of the trial day will be posted on the website as soon as they are confirmed. For further information and an application form to attend the trial day please contact Colin Cardines at AVC Sports on 07947 407 046 or email him at colincardines@avcsports.co.uk . Alternatively, you can contact Rob Goldhawk on 07919 890731.
Chess Suite
The Chess Suite has now been re-roofed although more work needs to be done on the rest of the roof. Many thanks to the Trust for its splendid efforts.
The Ground
We had a certain amount of work to be done in order to meet the FA’s ground grading rules. These works are almost complete but, again, I’d like to thank the Supporters Trust, without whom it would have been much more difficult and costly.
In conclusion, I hope that you find this information of use. It takes a while to pull together and I’m keen to have feedback on whether or not the time is well spent and whether there is anything on which you would like more information. I’ll prepare a more detailed review of the season once it’s over. The next board meeting is on 21st March – feel free to let me know if there’s anything that you would like raised at the meeting.
Charles Manchester (Chairman)
