Welcome back to the Norwood Football Club and season 2008. It wont be long! March 28th against the Double Blues approaches fast and there is much to be done.
Firstly, thanks to everyone who attended the AGM on Tuesday night. It is great to see so many passionate people ready to get in behind the Redlegs. I must congratulate Joe and Anthony for the way that they presented the club’s situation and desired direction on the night. Also congratulations to Ian and Andrew for being re elected and Keith for joining the board. There is plenty for everyone to do.
A couple of updates from me - Membership is going very well at the moment with the number moving past 1000 earlier this week. However this is the crucial time and we must make our presence felt in the lead up to round one to ensure that our membership number returns to an acceptable level this year.
How are we going to do this, I hear you ask? Well, we have already completed a number of tasks to build our supporter and membership base. Sales and Marketing Manager Gemma Snewin and myself have already personally door knocked the business’ of the towns in our country region in the Adelaide Hills.
We were quite taken back by how well we were received during this process and we will be increasing our presence in the region during the year. This will compliment the work that David Oatey, John Zanvort and Michael Arbon perform for the club in the clubs and schools.
Gemma will also have completed visiting The Parade early next week and we will then look do some promotional work in our metropolitan zone. This will be made possible through the support of the
NAB and McDonalds on Magill Road. We hope that this will further enhance our normal membership drives.
We have been working hard on match days at Coopers Stadium to try and make each and every event at the ground an enjoyable experience. This has resulted in the Encore Group being contracted to handle all of our catering. This will include the running of all beer booths and Premiers Bar, the three canteens, corporate box catering and the pre match function in the RSL Hall. I believe that this is a significant and appropriate step for the club to take. It will improve our hospitality, provide greater choice for spectators, alleviate the problems that we had during 2007 and upgrade our infrastructure.
Sponsorship and investment continues to be very healthy and we are developing business in all the traditional revenue streams. Having said this, our cash flow does remain tight. With gaming performing well it is important that we put our energies into growing core business, manage debt responsibly and be the best at being a successful football club.
During the off the season income does slow and we need to manage our business very carefully and therefore membership is vital to our progress as a club as we approach round 1. I ask that if you are still to renew that you contact the club and also be ready for Sturt on March 28th.
The Guernsey Presentation is on Saturday March 15th at the Osmond Terrace Function Centre in the Norwood Hotel and will signal the start of our season. It would be great to see everyone come and meet new players, sponsors and members. The following Thursday night we play the Port Magpies in our final trial game. What better way to start the Easter break before resting up and being ready for the season proper.
Dominic Shepley
Commercial Operations Manager
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