How did we end up $5m in debt ?

[Weedster 174]

Still struggling to understand how we have ended up so far in the s&%$#t.

Certainly, we get an ordinary deal on the fixturing and we've now had 2 crap seasons which no doubt influence game-day crowds & merchandise BUT we have a record high membership, we pay to the same salary cap as everyone else, I don't think our coach or staff would be at the upper end of any pay-scale..so what has caused such a financial mess ?

Are our marquee sponsors less generous than at other clubs ? Are our Social venues (Bentleigh & LeighOak) less profitable ?

What on earth is going on with this ? Let's hope Jim & his team can come up with a workable business plan..and quickly !

[Guest melbman]

I'd like to know too. Last year from memory was reported at some stage as not a loss but an accounting loss that had to be taken last year for a cost this year, or was that the year before?

Anyway. What happened?

[Rogue 585]

Will be interesting to find out the answer.

Apparently our gaming venues are underperforming. We also budgetted for a large increase in membership (which we didn't receive), and increased funding in the footy department.

I'd like to know too. Last year from memory was reported at some stage as not a loss but an accounting loss that had to be taken last year for a cost this year, or was that the year before?

Anyway. What happened?

I think that was re: TJ payments.

[H_T 3,043]

Firstly that $5 million is overall debt. Gardner and Co. I think when they started inherited that sort of figure and they had wiped some debt off, but this year and last year has seen it blow back out. (with a loss of $2million expected this year). Due to a mixture of poor performances reflecting lower gate receipts, coterie group(s) pulling the plug, lack of big sponsors, etc it all adds up.

From what I heard, and someone may correct me on this, but the Leighoak alone has cost the MFC $1million.

[H_T 3,043]

We also budgetted for a large increase in membership (which we didn't receive), and increased funding in the footy department.

Wasn't the budget target 30,000 members?

We ended up with approx.29,600. That's pretty close.

How much extra did the footy department get?

[iw_s 0]

In terms of profit versus loss, and not debt, think about it... For years now, we do not report a profit without the support of the AFL.

Add to that our poor onfield performance over two years which translates to: poor gate receipts, stagnant sponsorship, declining corporat event revenue, lower merchandise sales, and so on.

We have not met budget on membership (in tally terms) for several years now. Our club has perormed miracles keeping the place going and reasonably competitive with richer clubs in term of football department personnel and still working out of appalling facilities like the Junction Oval. But in terms of employees we are way down the bottom, we have a large debt bill to not only service but also pay back and there is not as much money avalable to meet those obligations.

The previous board made great progress in reducing debt and tackling our long-standing financial woes, but two bad years on-field make it hard to get the big bucks in the door to enable the club to tackle long-term debt and other issues.

Ivor

[Freak 100]

cmon gutnick..give us some more money

[Guest melbman]

I think that was re: TJ payments.

Thanks Rogue

[casey scorp 2]

The answer to the question in the topic can't be too hard to answer.

Someone with access to the last 5 years annual reports should be able to tell us how it happened.