FROM THE CHAIRMAN

This article appeared in the Robins' Review on 2 February 2002 and is reproduced by kind permission of the editors, Grahame and Terry Rowley

Alty fans have had more than their fair share of worries over the years, usually connected to the precarious financial position of the club. Ever since the Darlington game, judging by letters to SAM and Gary Warrington’s excellent Fans Forum on the internet, some of our supporters seem to believe that our money problems are over. If you fall into this category, I’m afraid I have a horrible surprise for you.

“Surely there’s some petty cash hanging around to buy a player or two” is an understandable comment to make; after all the FA Cup run brought over £100,000 into the club, and the team is still well and truly in contention for the championship. So let me make our current position absolutely clear. Perhaps some have forgotten already that only a year ago the club very nearly closed completely, drowning in debt. One year on, that debt has not been eradicated, merely reduced. On current projections, the club could finish this season still having a deficit of £130-150,000.

By now, some of you will have switched off. You’ll either be thinking (a) “he’s lying, we’ve got money but don’t want to spend it”, or (b) “we’ve heard it all before”. One thing is for sure however; after reading this article, you’ll not be able to say “he never told us what the true position was.”

First, let me share with you what it costs to run Altrincham Football Club, and how much income we generate. By paying to watch the matches, and by buying this programme, you are a vital part of that income, and as such you have the right to know where it goes.

This afternoon is our 22nd home game of the season to date. Excluding matchday sponsorships, this is what staging a home game currently generates by each competition in which we participate.

	Unibond League	FA Cup	FA Trophy	Unibond League Cup	Cheshire Senior Cup
Home games played	9	5	2	3	2
Average attendance	713	1508	438	175	389
Match income	£2,393	£8,632	£2,310	£967	£2,167
Programme sales	£344	£748	£250	£47	£167
Bar sales	£601	£1,040	£444	£223	£347
Shop sales	£540	£573	£343	£186	£358
Golden Goal	£45	£89	£0	£0	£0
Car Park sales	£0	£52	£0	£0	£0
Average Income	£3,923	£11,119	£3,348	£1,424	£3,040
Match expenses	£189	£226	£205	£58	£248
Programme printing	£362	£508	£316	£25	£173
Catering	£126	£200	£87	£56	£77
Share of gate income	£0	£3,475	£493	£389	£280
League share of gate	£0	£3	£0	£50	£0
Average Expenditure	£677	£4,401	£1,100	£578	£777
Average Nett Income	£3,246	£6,718	£2,248	£846	£2,263

This season, when everything is taken into consideration, it has been costing a shade over £9,000 to run the club, or £314,000 to date overall including the various liabilities left over from last season with around £236,000 in-bound to date from all income sources including sponsorship & advertising (around £80,000), the bar & the FA Cup run. With roughly thirteen weeks left to go this season, a deficit of £78,000 could increase by up to 75% because we’re not yet clear of the spectre of the taxman. The loss of the Hyde game to the weather on Boxing Day alone probably cost the club around £3-5,000 when you consider that a likely 1,000+ festive attendance is likely to reduce to 500 – 600 when the fixture is finally re-arranged. And wages responsibilities don’t go away when a game is called off.

Like most clubs, our biggest item of weekly expenditure is our players’ wage bill. The top payers in our league are undoubtedly Burton, spending anywhere between £8 – 14,000 per week. Barrow are probably in the top three, and we’re not far behind at £3,600 per week. Some might say you can win this league on under £2,000 a week and point to Lancaster’s rumoured budget in that ballpark for proof. Unfortunately however, Altrincham F.C. has had a long-standing reputation as big payers, and that perception does not change overnight. Neither can you sack an entire squad and bring in players from local football at a fraction of the cost without there being a marked effect on results, with the knock-on being felt at the turnstiles, in the bar and shop.

As I’ve written in these pages previously, the objective is to strike a happy medium whereby a mix of experience and youth is gradually tipped in favour of the latter, but always with the caveat that, although the principle of ‘speculate to accumulate’ is enshrined in football, nothing justifies jeopardising the future of the club itself. And that holds true whoever you are.

Which brings us back to our current league position. Can the club give Bernard the financial support to strengthen the squad? The answer, regrettably, is no because in doing so, we’d be risking the future of the club - unless we can tap some hitherto unrecognised source of revenue. One idea that’s cropped up is to start a Buy A Player Fund; another would be for individuals, or groups of supporters to sponsor a player’s wages. We’re open to anything because we’re all supporters too. So if you have any suggestions as to how we can generate a significant increase in our income.. (and pretty darn quick), we’d like to hear from you. The directors are not sitting idly by either; they have already poured over £70,000 into the club in various ways since January 2001 and are looking at other means to enable them to invest more.

As a board we are already well advanced on a programme to identify how to cut costs further, the implementation of which will commence shortly. No stone will be left un-turned, and some of the decisions will not be to the liking or approval of all; but they are necessary – if not vital if we are finally to get things right. The directors will not allow the club to begin next season with any liabilities remaining from this season. Be in no doubt, things WILL get tougher before they get easier. So please bear with us, and stay with us, we are all in this together.

Enjoy the game

Mark Harris