Melbourne releases financial result - a $1.7m loss but ...

The Club has improved its non-football revenue streams with those businesses projected to pay off their own debt by 2017, creating an unencumbered business for the Club, in addition to the $9 million land asset attached to the Bentleigh Club. These businesses will secure the future sustainability of the Club.

I'm not an accountant but it would seem that for all the bleating and handwringing and despite the poor financial result for YE31/10/13, we are by no means a financial basket case. That's encouraging to know as we move into the future with signs of the football team under repair after what looks potentially like one of our best recruiting period for a long time.

Time for true fans to get behind the club ...

Melbourne releases financial result - a $1.7m loss but ...I'm not an accountant but it would seem that for all the bleating and handwringing and despite the poor financial result for YE31/10/13, we are by no means a financial basket case. That's encouraging to know as we move into the future with signs of the football team under repair after what looks potentially like one of our best recruiting period for a long time.

Time for true fans to get behind the club ...

No takers WJ!

However I agree we do tend to believe half truths at times.

Go Dees

I'm not suggesting that we should be doing handstands over a $1.7m loss but it would seem that most of it can be attributed to the tanking investigation and our poor on-field performances. Happy that the impact on our long term position has been limited and the club now has the opportunity to move forward.

If PJ says we'll be in the dark ink next year, all bodes well for then and after, after all, we are going to be successful now arent we

Dam it!.

Give me the accounts and I will show a profit,

How much profit do you guys want to see?

But be prepared for some Black Ops accounting LOL

Melbourne releases financial result - a $1.7m loss but ...

I'm not an accountant but it would seem that for all the bleating and handwringing and despite the poor financial result for YE31/10/13, we are by no means a financial basket case.

We may not be a financial basket case but we were under the previous regime who despite the generosity of the FH still secured a loss of $1.7 million which reflects the performance of the last 12 months.

Thank god for the AFL handout to pay out those not up to the task and for securing PJ for us who has shown what excellence in management can achieve. Without this we could well have lost the club.

Onward and upward and looking forward to a competitive future.

Without this we could well have lost the club.

I can stomach the point scoring, but don't tell me this.

If 'we could well have' lost the club - it would take more than what we have seen recently.

I wouldn't let this club go without clawing, giving, stealing, and fire-breathing just like thousands of others.

We weren't at that stage so don't intimate we were.

I can stomach the point scoring, but don't tell me this.

If 'we could well have' lost the club - it would take more than what we have seen recently.

I wouldn't let this club go without clawing, giving, stealing, and fire-breathing just like thousands of others.

We weren't at that stage so don't intimate we were.

yep

The way I read it, if we had a competitive team on field and didn't have to sack the whole football and admin department we would have made 5.75million, this is made up of 4.4million because all football related revenue is back due to being competitive, 2.8mil saved from club re-build less the 1.45mil that we wouldn't have received from the AFL.

I can stomach the point scoring, but don't tell me this.

If 'we could well have' lost the club - it would take more than what we have seen recently.

I wouldn't let this club go without clawing, giving, stealing, and fire-breathing just like thousands of others.

We weren't at that stage so don't intimate we were.

Like.

Political point scoring. Example: It wasn't all that long ago when Jim put his hand up to save the club from melting into the abyss.....'we could well have lost the club' back then....

It can go on and on, move forward!

Like + 1

Like.

Political point scoring. Example: It wasn't all that long ago when Jim put his hand up to save the club from melting into the abyss.....'we could well have lost the club' back then....

It can go on and on, move forward!

Agreed.

If PJ can get this club into the black next year it is a phenomenal effort.

Winning games will help fill the G with members who buy food and merchandise...which attracts sponsors to become involved....

If PJ can get this club into the black next year it is a phenomenal effort.

Winning games will help fill the G with members who buy food and merchandise...which attracts sponsors to become involved....

Don't forget the impact of the draw on Sponsors, it is monumental.

Now as a sponsor do I want my logo on free to air TV in front of a national audience against the Pies, Blues or Bombers on a friday night, or would I prefer on Foxtel only, at 4.30 on sunday afternoon against the Giants. Let me see.

Please somebody, get me on a show against Eddie, Sticks, Newbold etc and I promise to rip a new orifice for each of them.

The AFL is turning the equalisation argument into begging.

In PJ we trust!!! If he thinks its okay thats good enough for me

In PJ we trust!!! If he thinks its okay thats good enough for me

Never have blind faith .In anyone.

Everyone makes mistakes.

THE MELBOURNE Football Club has reported an operating loss of $1.7 million for the year ending 31 October 2013.

The driving factor behind this result was a significant drop in traditional football related revenue, including attendances, membership, retail, corporate sales and sponsorship, totalling $4.4million. This was somewhat offset by improvements in our gaming venues.

""Melbourne also endured a number of one off costs in 2013, which has contributed to the Club’s Statutory loss of $3.1 million.

These one off costs, totaling $2.8 million, relate to the AFL investigation and the necessary restructure of the Club.

The AFL funding of $1.45 million did assist in the cost of restructuring, but did not cover the full amount.

Melbourne CEO Peter Jackson said: “Despite a disappointing result, the Club has a sound balance sheet making the football Club’s future much more stable than the 2013 result indicates.” ( Its Called spinning the positives)

“We have a clear objective to bring the Club back to a break even position in 2014 and I fully expect to achieve that, and for our Club to be in a sound position moving forward.

“The Club has improved its non-football revenue streams with those businesses projected to pay off their own debt by 2017, creating an unencumbered business for the Club, in addition to the $9 million land asset attached to the Bentleigh Club. These businesses will secure the future sustainability of the Club.""

All good and well as long as we start winning and getting more attendances and more revenue , I wish Roos and the Club all the Luck in the world

They are going to need it looking at the above report !

It is a positive presentation of the ballance sheet report based on a lot of still unknown factors .

As an aside, I emailed the club on mistakes in the ID photos on the MFC web site. I received a response from Georgina Lewis who is a customer services officer with the club ( hope I got her position right). Georgina advised that the problems were because of the AFL in controlling the info, but that it would soon be attended to.

I note in fact some of the matters have already been corrected.

She also asked if I had any other queries and ended with a supporting thought for the club. Her response was very professional and has instilled some confidence in the way we deal with our members. I have not always seen that type of response in the past. This all goes to help make us a more professional football club.

I can stomach the point scoring, but don't tell me this.

If 'we could well have' lost the club - it would take more than what we have seen recently.

I wouldn't let this club go without clawing, giving, stealing, and fire-breathing just like thousands of others.

We weren't at that stage so don't intimate we were.

You and I can agree to disagree. But let your mind just imagine what we'd look like now if Neeld and the FD were leading us along with Schwab and McLardy.

IMO it's very likely we'd have:

1. No Watts or Sylvia.
2. No Michie, Riley, Tyson, Cross or Vince as I doubt any of these players would have agreed to join us under that leadership group.
3. No major sponsor.
4. No increase in membership and most likely a significant drop.
5. A loss in the order of $3 million with a significantly less optimistic outlook.
6. Little if any optimism for this year without any leadership at the club.

If that were the case I'd argue we could look forward to finishing 18th in 2014 and the loss of membership and sponsorship resulting in another significant loss and the need to reduce expenditure significantly. IMO there would be a significant chance that the AFL would have looked to moving us to Tasmania on a full time basis in the same way South Melbourne we moved to Sydney and Fitzroy to Brisbane. At best the colours would have been maintained but the name of the club would have changed and with it the MFC as far as I'm concerned.

I didn't say it "would" have happened I said it "could" have happened and I chose that word carefully. When Jackson took over I can't remember the feeling of the supporters being as low or our image being worse and that coupled with an organization losing money hand over fist clearly means we were in a terrible situation.

Each to their own I guess but I was very worried and so were many of my friends. We are lucky to have been saved and we should not forget those that did it. The AFL cop a lot of Shyte on this site but they should be recognized and thanked for their contribution to us. Our mess was not of their making but our position now most definitely is.

The fact of the matter is that for some time, we as a club have been subject to the whim of the AFL and its fixturing. A former board member once described a fixture we were given as "premeditated murder" in that it was impossible for the club to avoid a massive financial loss given the strength (or lack thereof) of the football team. That is what happened when the wheels fell off in the post Daniher and early Bailey period. It happened again this year and unless we drastically improve our on field performance next year, we will lose money again - PJ or no PJ; Roos or no Roos.

That is the lot of a club like ours until such time as we have a sustained period of success on the field.

You and I can agree to disagree. But let your mind just imagine what we'd look like now if Neeld and the FD were leading us along with Schwab and McLardy.

IMO it's very likely we'd have:

1. No Watts or Sylvia.
2. No Michie, Riley, Tyson, Cross or Vince as I doubt any of these players would have agreed to join us under that leadership group.
3. No major sponsor.
4. No increase in membership and most likely a significant drop.
5. A loss in the order of $3 million with a significantly less optimistic outlook.
6. Little if any optimism for this year without any leadership at the club.

If that were the case I'd argue we could look forward to finishing 18th in 2014 and the loss of membership and sponsorship resulting in another significant loss and the need to reduce expenditure significantly. IMO there would be a significant chance that the AFL would have looked to moving us to Tasmania on a full time basis in the same way South Melbourne we moved to Sydney and Fitzroy to Brisbane. At best the colours would have been maintained but the name of the club would have changed and with it the MFC as far as I'm concerned.

I didn't say it "would" have happened I said it "could" have happened and I chose that word carefully. When Jackson took over I can't remember the feeling of the supporters being as low or our image being worse and that coupled with an organization losing money hand over fist clearly means we were in a terrible situation.

Each to their own I guess but I was very worried and so were many of my friends. We are lucky to have been saved and we should not forget those that did it. The AFL cop a lot of Shyte on this site but they should be recognized and thanked for their contribution to us. Our mess was not of their making but our position now most definitely is.

That is quite the hypothetical.

And I know you said 'could' - I took exception to the intimation that we were close to the end of the club. We have survived quite a bit, and we can survive a couple of bad coaches, a decade of terrible recruitment, failed administrations, and a culture of laissez faire development of players for god knows how long.

I know we weren't close to the end because I wasn't in Melbourne donating my time, hard-earned, and my loud voice down at AFL House with thousands of other MFC fans.

You can say the last few years were a gigantic failure, and you can spin me a story that we were on course for oblivion, but don't expect me to believe it was close.

We won't be going down that easily.

I know we weren't close to the end because I wasn't in Melbourne donating my time, hard-earned, and my loud voice down at AFL House with thousands of other MFC fans.

The fact you'd take this approach is in keeping with your position over the last few years.

From memory you didn't advocate change to any of the major pillars of the club (coach, CEO or Chairman) until the very end when we were in a far worse position than if we'd changed earlier. The fact that you'd wait until a few thousand MFC supporters were protesting our demise down at AFL house to see we were close to losing the club is in keeping with your past vision. But of course that would be far too late as indeed it was for the Swans and Lions.

I'd contend that it's now not difficult to see what was on the cards and I think there would be many here who would accept things were so much worse than people like you preached. The fact that you are still unable to accept how bad our position was shows that you really haven't got a track record of anticipating outcomes. Thankfully the AFL did and stepped in to save us.

It's also not surprising that you find it hard to anticipate what would have happened if Neeld, Schwab and McLardy had stayed and therefore described my possible outcomes above as "quite the hypothetical".

The big issue that we face that the bigger clubs don't is that our annual financial performance is highly sensitive to onfield performance. We don't have the massive membership numbers underwriting profitability year on year that can both (a) shelter our profit when gate receipts etc are down and (b) allow us to build a more robust asset base. Collingwood, Hawthorn, West Coast etc. do have this.

While it would seem we are in a far stronger financial position than the Bulldogs for example (who have net liabilities and are a going concern issue) unless we can significantly improve our membership levels we will always be a variable financial performer.

The big issue that we face that the bigger clubs don't is that our annual financial performance is highly sensitive to onfield performance. We don't have the massive membership numbers underwriting profitability year on year that can both (a) shelter our profit when gate receipts etc are down and (b) allow us to build a more robust asset base. Collingwood, Hawthorn, West Coast etc. do have this.

While it would seem we are in a far stronger financial position than the Bulldogs for example (who have net liabilities and are a going concern issue) unless we can significantly improve our membership levels we will always be a variable financial performer.

If we had not been in a losing spiral for the last 50 years we would be be exceedingly financial.....We were the biggest club going around with the Filth up until Smithy got knifed.

We are not a small club....our position was in our own hands...

We can get back up there i believe.

We can get back up there i believe.

40,000 is very achievable. We're at 21,309 now, well ahead of last year, could easily make 25k by Christmas - they're calling it "the Roos factor" in the club. A decent start in the pre-season games and the early rounds and it will be 40k+.