IPSWICH TOWN PLC Incorporated in England and Wales Under the Companies Act 1985 with Registered Number 04792070
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IPSWICH TOWN PLC Incorporated in England and Wales under the Companies Act 1985 with registered number 04792070 17 November 2017 Dear Shareholder Annual General Meeting of the Company on Monday 11 December 2017, 7.30pm at Portman Road I enclose herewith the formal notice of our Annual General Meeting together with the Annual Report and Accounts of the Company for the year ended 30 June 2017. The summary Financial Highlights of Ipswich Town Football Club Co Limited will be available at the AGM and will also be published in early December on the shareholder section of the Club’s website. The Annual Report and Accounts require little explanation, but it may be helpful for me to draw to your attention that the Board, after careful consideration, has concluded that the £500,000 valuation of our shareholding in ITFC remains reasonable and that no impairment is necessary. At the AGM in 2010 the Articles of Association were amended so as to permit the despatch of shareholder documentation electronically and via the Club’s website. Many shareholders have now provided the Company Secretary with their email addresses. Please notify us of any changes in circumstances such as moving to a new address or updated email details at [email protected] so we can ensure our records are up to date. For those of you who have agreed to receive documentation in electronic form you will find all the details of the forthcoming AGM including the Annual Report and Accounts on the Club’s website which can be accessed on the following link www.itfc.co.uk/news/Financial-News/ We will again be able to offer through the Club’s website an online voting function for all shareholders which you will be able to use as an alternative to sending your proxy form if you are unable to attend the AGM in person. Please go to the Club website link as above and follow the instructions to exercise your vote. Your unique log-in is set out below: Continued overleaf If you are able to attend, my fellow directors and I look forward to welcoming you at the meeting. Ian Milne, the Club’s Managing Director, will be on hand to answer any questions you may have. Mick McCarthy is unfortunately not able to attend this year, but Lee O’Neill, the Academy Manager, Bryan Klug, Head of Coaching and Player Development, and other Academy representatives will also be present to answer your questions about the Academy and the increasing flow of talented boys now being prepared for the first team. I comment further below on our increasing supply of home grown talent. I am writing this letter just before the international break and on the back of a good 3-0 win over Preston North End. The performances of the first team this season so far may perhaps be best described as “good in parts”; but that could also describe the results so far of many of our Championship rivals, with the consequence that we currently lie in a creditable 8th position with a game in hand over most of those above us. That is probably higher than many of us would have predicted for early November at the start of the season, and I encourage shareholders and all supporters to be and remain optimistic that 2017/18 will turn out to be one of our most successful seasons for some time. Nothing gives me - and I suspect many shareholders - more pleasure than seeing “one of our own” make a first team debut and thereafter establish himself in our first team squad. Last year I mentioned Myles Kenlock, Josh Emmanuel, Andre Dozzell and Ben Morris as those likely to make their mark in the coming year. I made no mention of Flynn Downes, Tristan Nydam and Luke Woolfenden, all of whom are now, along with those of last year, building up strong reputations for themselves as exciting young players who we hope will form the nucleus of success for the Club in the years to come. And thinking about the performance of the young team that faced Crystal Palace in the Carabao Cup, that hope and expectation is surely not misplaced. The future looks bright, as I’m sure Lee O’Neill and Bryan Klug will be happy to confirm. Mention should also be made here of the accolade recently awarded to ITFC by the Football Association, of partnering the FA to host the Women’s Under 21 Academy for the Eastern Region. This is another testament to the facilities and coaching skills of our Academy set up, which is regarded as amongst the top three of academies outside the Premiership. Away from football, the Club’s role in the community is too often unsung. This season for the first time clubs have been permitted to carry sponsors’ logos on the backs of players’ shirts, but the Club elected instead to publicise on the home and away strips their long friendship with and support for East Anglia’s Children’s Hospices (EACH). In addition to EACH, the club is also actively involved with the Samaritans and the Lighthouse Women’s Aid and is one of a growing number of local businesses and organisations who, as members of the Ipswich Dementia Action Alliance, have committed to work towards making Ipswich a dementia friendly community. And Ian Milne sits on the Suffolk Foundation’s sports funding committee that hears applications from local Suffolk associations and charities for the funding of sport projects. He is also a judge on the Stars of Suffolk panel which recognises the unsung heroes within our county. Most importantly, all the members of the first team squad play a role in the community through public appearances, hospital and hospice visits and generally through making it their business to be visible around the towns and villages of Suffolk. They, like the rest of us involved in the Club, understand the responsibilities they bear towards residents in the county. The importance of the role the Club plays will certainly be emphasised next May, when we celebrate the 40th anniversary of our FA Cup win. Amongst many forthcoming celebratory events, many of the stories sent in by fans to the Supporters’ Club have been woven into a New Wolsey Theatre musical production, called ‘Our Blue Heaven’. Tickets are now available - so don’t miss out! My fellow directors and I look forward to seeing as many of our shareholders as can come along on Monday 11th December. With best wishes Yours sincerely Roger Finbow Chairman.