Archived News from August 2011
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MTFC AGM
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SFU report on MANSFIELD TOWN AGM - THURSDAY 4TH AUGUST 2011
By Darren Shaw, SFU Supporter Director Mansfield Town held their AGM at Field Mill on the above date. The main business was to consider the accounts for the year ended 30th June 2010 which was the Stags' second season in the Conference. This was also before John Radford purchased the club in late September 2010. It was explained that the club no longer legally had to hold an AGM but the board of directors felt that it was important to continue with the tradition of holding an AGM for transparency reasons and to give the shareholders and supporters an opportunity to ask questions regarding the running of the football club. This was also particularly important bearing in mind the failure to hold AGM's by the previous owner!! The accounts showed that the Stags had lost over £1 million after losing around £555,000 the previous season although the Stags then had the benefit of a parachute payment of around £162,000. The club's turnover (sales) was £1,205,321. It then had income from other sources of £232,751. However, it spent around £2.5 million giving the club an overall loss of around £1 million. The club spent around £500,000 more than the previous season with some of the additional spending relating to the Westlife concert which took place at Field Mill in August 2010. The club was mainly funded during the 2009-2010 season by loans from the directors, Andy Saunders, Steve Hymas and Steve Middleton, of around £880,000. John Radford had then provided loans to the club to finance it during the 2010-2011 season. It was pointed out that the club had very few creditors as they had all been paid including Her Majesty's Revenue & Customs. The only outstanding creditors were the directors. Andy Saunders stated that Steve Hymas, Steve Middleton and himself had no intention of claiming their loans back from the football club. John Radford said that he was prepared to improve the football club's balance sheet in the future by capitalising his loans and that this may even be required by new rules relating to the indebtedness of football clubs. It was reported that club accountant, Jim Beachill, had introduced new accounting procedures and policies at the club which took effect from 1st July 2011. Jim also hoped that the club would be in a position to publish its accounts for 2010-2011 by the end of September 2011 and a further AGM could then be held to discuss these accounts. The club's directors had also been given specific roles and were providing their services for free to assist the club. It was hoped that commercial sponsorship and catering & banqueting income would significantly improve in future seasons. It was pointed out that the football club had one of the highest stewarding costs in the Conference due to the design of the stands at the ground and that a minimum of 35 stewards were required for each game. It was noted that AFC Wimbledon had around 70/80 match day volunteers who worked for free for the club. It was also noted that policing costs were high and that the club even lost money on the televised game against Newport County due to the fact that police costs were over £10,000. It would have been financially better for the club to have played the game behind closed doors. It was noted that the court case against Stags Limited and Keith Haslam was continuing and that a court hearing would hopefully take place as soon as possible although it was likely that any hearing would not take place until early 2012. It was explained that manager, Paul Cox, could not attend the AGM as he had to attend a manager's meeting for the Blue Square Conference. It was noted that he was working to a budget and that he was trying to do his best to ensure that the football club obtained good value for money. John Radford concluded the meeting by saying that he would continue to financially support and do his best for the football club and that he was looking forward to an exciting season. He also appreciated all the support he had been given by the fans. Shareholders thanked him and the other directors for keeping the club in existence and ensuring that Stags fans still had a club to support. If any SFU members would like a copy of the accounts or wish to ask further questions then they should email me at darren.shaw004@btinternet.com. Come on you Stags! By Darren Shaw, SFU Supporter Director ------------ Stagsnet messageboard, 4 Aug 2011 Pete, SFU Very interesting meeting, this afternoon. Darren was taking notes so I would think he would post his observations later. Very few shareholders attended and only slightly more than the number of directors on the top table. What must be remembered was that the accounts being discussed were from our second season the Conference and before JR bought into the club. The meeting didn't last long, perhaps just over half an hour. The overwhelming sense that I came away with, as I had not really spoke with or heard John Radford before in such an intimate setting, was the openness and honesty of the fellow. I'll let Darren supply details about all the questions asked but interestingly JR said that he was meeting Keith Haslam tonight. --------------------- BEFORE AGM: CHAD, 3 Aug 2011 
Stagsnet messageboard, 3 Aug 2011 Darren Shaw, SFU Please note that the football club will be holding its Annual General Meeting tomorrow (Thu 4 Aug 2011) at 2.00pm in the Kevin Bird Suite. Board members of Stags Fans United will be attending the meeting. If any SFU member would like to ask a question or would like a copy of the accounts for the year ended 30th June 2010 then please do not hesitate to email me or pm me. SFU will take notes and produce a report for its website. You will probably already be aware from the abbreviated accounts filed at Companies House and from today's Chad article that the football club lost over £1 million in 2009-2010. This demonstrates why it was necessary for the former owners to sell the football club to John Radford in September last year. The accounts also show that the former owners loaned the football club around £881,000 to enable it to survive the season. The football club would also have not survived last season if it was not for large loans made by John Radford. This demonstrates yet again how difficult it is for full time football teams to survive in non-league football as the fans of Chester, Halifax, Boston United, Rushden & Diamonds and Wrexham know only too well. Up the Stags! Regards, Darren ---------------- Stagsnet messageboard, 4 Aug 2011 Pete, SFU The profit & loss account for the total of the first two years football in the Conference show a loss of £1,743,104 ---------------- Stagsnet messageboard, 4 Aug 2011 Darren Shaw, SFU [ Q: Does anyone know if the £1 million loss include the £800k loans? or is the 'real' loss £1.8m? ] They are recorded in different parts of the accounts. The £1 million loss is shown in the Profit & Loss Account (Income Less Expenditure) which shows you whether your business made a profit or a loss. Basically, the football club spent £1 million more than its income from season tickets, match day receipts, commercial sponsorship, bars and catering, programme sales and the club shop. The club's turnover (sales) was £1,205,321. It then had income from other sources of £232,751. However, it spent around £2.5 million giving the club an overall loss of around £1 million. The club spent around £500,000 more than the previous season when we had a £600,000 loss. I imagine some of this additional spending was for the Westlife concert. The Balance Sheet shows you the assets and liabilities of the football club and how it has been funded e.g by using money put in by shareholders, by using profits (wishful thinking with a football club) or by using loans from banks or from other people such as directors. The directors' loans of £796,084 are included in creditors along with the £85,000 owed Steve Middleton's company, Luke and Godwin Ltd. ----------------- Stags to Announce Record Loss Wednesday August 3 2011 http://www.mansfield.vitalfootball.co.uk/article.asp?a=249425 Mansfield Town are due to announce to shareholders, that the club made a loss of over 1 million pounds for 2010..... Just prior to John Radford coming into the club and putting in enough money to cover running costs, previous owners Andy Perry, Steve middleton, Andy Saunders and Steve Hymas were forced to dip into their own pockets to keep the club afloat. Since Radford brought the club, a dispute formed with Perry, but the scale of the loss for just one year, will bring home to supporters the nature of the job in hand to secure the ground back from Keith Haslam. It also shows the need for the club to return to the football league at the earliest opportunity. The million pound loss is almost double that of 2009, and brings home to Radford as well, just how much of a shortfall there maybe for this season as well. -------------------- |
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