There is no doubt the that season will be here before we know it if the last two weeks are any indication. They are absolutely flown!
Much of this time has been taken up working with the council regards the lighting upgrade. All appears to be progressing well in what will be an enormous project. There is much to be done but the improvement in our lighting and our facility is vital for the club and council. I must make it clear that this upgrade will not be ready for the 2009 season. However we are hoping to tackle the infrastructure before round one this year and then see some real action as soon as the season is completed with the old towers coming down and new poles going up.
Membership has been busy and the number continues to climb and the packs are on their way out. Our thanks to everyone for your on going support and the number will be updated on the website soon. I can tell you that we have 912 people signed up compared to the 588 at the same time last year which is very encouraging. If you have any issues with the information that you receive, please let us know as we cannot fix it if we don’t know about it. This includes the Redlegs Review and Annual Report mailout from just prior to Christmas. If you didn’t receive them please let us know and we will get them out to you.
Please also remember that the administration is now located back at the oval with the entrance in the breezeway next to the Premiers Bar. I hope everyone realizes that this pleases us no end! To be back close to the ground and the football does make us feel even more like a football club and it will certainly make life a lot easier.
I said that I would provide a short run down on the financial result that was in the Annual Report. Firstly you will notice that we have included both the Norwood Football Club and the Redlegs Club statements in the report. This will also make life easier and gives you a greater insight into your football club. So what do all those pages tell us?
Well, it shows that your club is in an extremely healthy position and quite viable and vibrant. With assets at 583 North East Road (The Noreast) and at 581 North East Road (The Cheesecake Shop), property in Norwood and a cash reserve the club has built its asset base into a very strong position. Obviously the club does also has some debt associated with this but this is at a very manageable level.
As a board and an administration we were disappointed with our trading result for the NFC as we had been working hard within our core business with the desire for a small loss or a break even. In reading the statements we made a very healthy paper profit but this was mainly due to the NFA entity being wound up. The auditors chose to transfer the accumulated surplus into the NFC by recognising this as income. This effectively transfers it to the accumulated surplus/deficit account within the NFC.
The traditional revenue remained consistent and healthy but we believe that we can drive our income even further in 2009. Our expenditure naturally increased with the extra income that the club is receiving from gaming and the club committed at the beginning of the year to put that extra resource into football first and foremost. Therefore recruiting, player costs and fees, oval management and administration all increased. Please be assured that the club still operates with a very lean attitude towards spending and is still well behind other clubs with what they can put into their football department. In 2008 we have now learnt just how costly it is to be competitive in the SANFL.
The inclusion of the Redlegs Club details in the report was an important step for the club to be seen as the one club with a number of entities. Obviously the solid trading of The Noreast is a major part of the Redlegs Club figures and our gaming, food and bar turnover remains healthy and profitable. Added to this the Premiers Bar did its job again and the oval catering was very healthy and up 5% in gross profit. Unfortunately amongst this the canteen profit was down and this is something that I am currently working through with the Encore Group.
Some of the confusion comes from the Redlegs Club having carried significant losses in recent years and was best explained to me as follows. The NFC and RLC are incorporated entities and therefore no tax is paid against the profit made. In a perfect world we would have a surplus each year and this figure would be held in the Accumulated Surplus Account of the entity. Obviously accounting practices requires each entry to have another side to it. So when you pay your membership the income account of membership increases as does cash at bank. In the circumstance of the Accumulated Surplus account increasing the other side to this would be an increase in an asset such as cash at bank. However in times of deficit we see the accumulated surplus account decrease and even get to a stage that the surplus becomes a deficit. This means that we are depleting the assets of the entity or increasing our liabilities. The RLC shows a deficit which is due to the many years the social arm of the club could not make a surplus. Now with the Nor East operating the RLC is showing a surplus and over time will decrease the deficit and move into surplus.
Overall, between the two entities and ignoring the NFA transfer and the accumulated losses the club traded at a loss of $152,227. This clearly shows to us just how hard we must work to be able to continue to invest in football. We have been discussing this as a board and an administration for some months now to plan what we must do to get ahead in all departments and be competitive in the SANFL.
I hope that this helps you understand the financial result for the club in 2008.
The AGM is on Tuesday February 10th at the Osmond Terrace Function Centre. We again will have a powerpoint presentation of the financial statements and the clubs direction for 2009 and beyond. I can inform you that there will be an election and that the relevant information and voting slips will be forwarded next week.
Training remains Monday, Wednesday, Friday at Coopers Stadium and I know the boys would love to see you.
Dominic Shepley - Chief Executive Officer
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