Financial Report 2002 Essendon Football Club
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Financial Report 2002 Essendon Football Club Contents C h a i r m a n ’ s R e p o r t 4 C h i e f E x e c u t i v e O f f i c e r ’ s R e p o r t 6 F i n a n c e D i r e c t o r ’ s R e p o r t 8 D i r e c t o r s ’ R e p o r t 9 S t a t e m e n t o f F i n a n c i a l P e r f o r m a n c e 11 S t a t e m e n t o f F i n a n c i a l P o s i t i o n S t a t e m e n t o f C a s h F l o w s N o t e s t o a n d f o r m i n g 12 P a r t o f t h e A c c o u n t s 3 | ESSENDON F O OTBALL CLUB DEAR FELLOW MEMBERS Club. There will continue to be approximately 11 games It is with pleasure, on behalf of the Board of the Essendon played in Melbourne and two of these will be at Windy Football Club, that I present my Chairman’s report for sea- Hill. There will continue to be plenty of opportunity for us T son 2002. all to watch our players in the VFL. R As a result of the decision to join with Bendigo, Terry O FOOTBALL Daniher has taken the decision to accept an offer to join P Our playing season ended as it began, plagued by injury to Collingwood as an Assistant Coach, and whilst disappoint- E key team members. The serious injury suffered by Dean ed at his departure we wish him well with his future career. R Solomon before the season even began seemed to set the He will always be welcome at Essendon. S ’ tone for year 2002. One after another senior player, inte- To all the coaches and players who have worked so hard N gral to our team, were lost to us through serious injury. At again this year I offer our great thanks. No doubt they will A the end of the season we ranked third worst for games lost all be anxious to improve on their 2002 performance in the through injury in the AFL. year ahead. I particularly would like to congratulate those M Nevertheless our year was disappointing. The board and who achieved personal milestones during the year and say R I management truly believed at the beginning of the year that collectively well done. A our list of players was strong enough to play in, and hope- The club in October completed its list review and partic- H fully win, another Grand Final. It just was not to be and I ipated in the infamous trade week. As all members will know C am sure all Essendon people ended the year disappointed. a number of senior players have left our club as a result. The commitment of our coaches, staff and players was I would like to emphasise that our management has not at fault and we can continue to be very proud of the operated under an instruction from the board that under effort of all concerned during the year. There is no doubt no circumstances was the Essendon Football Club to our younger players tired as the year progressed, particu- exceed its allowed Total Player Payments. We must never larly in view of the added burden they were required to allow the club to be penalised as it was in 1996 and 1997 carry arising from the injuries to senior players. However, for breaking the AFL salary cap. all clubs suffer injuries and we should not use injuries as an We all regret very much the need to shed quality people excuse. Rather we must ensure our full list of players is from Essendon. However we will not sanction any breach strong enough to cover injury as it arises, as difficult as that of the AFL rules in this regard. All clubs are affected by the might be. rules as they should be. The sour note for us at Essendon is On behalf of the board and members of the club I that several AFL clubs are being given unfair concessions. thank all of the players, who, as always, were fully commit- (see article in the 2002 Yearbook). To the players who have ted to achieving success in 2002. We should recognise that left Essendon, I thank them for their individual contribu- Essendon has participated in the AFL final series for the tions to our on-field success in recent years and wish them fifth successive year and that our team has provided to us a good luck in their future careers whether on the ground or great deal of pleasure and excitement. off. You are all welcome at Essendon any time. On the VFL front we failed to reach the final series. As you read this we will have added a new group of Terry Daniher and his players tried very hard but just youngsters to our playing list and we will welcome them all missed out. The injury problems of our senior team had a in an official way at the Annual General Meeting. If they direct bearing on our VFL season and on more than one did not have ability we would not have drafted them. It is occasion we were only able to field less than ten Essendon now in their hands to grasp the opportunity presented to listed players in our VFL team, having to rely on “top up” them and carve out a career in the elite AFL competition. players from outside the club to make up the numbers. We obviously hope they are successful. However the VFL team exists to develop young players at Essendon and in that regard it achieved its aim. We con- OFF FIELD gratulate Terry and all of the players for their efforts dur- The 2002 season has proven to be a difficult one financial- ing the season. ly for the Essendon Football Club, as it has for the great At season end the board and management reviewed the majority of clubs in the AFL with many declaring signifi- earlier decision to play as a stand alone club in the VFL cant losses for the year. We believe in our case the draw, competition. During 2002, Carlton and Geelong were the which included many night games, played a part in causing only other Victorian AFL clubs to do so, all others having our difficulties. In our case it is both pleasing and gratify- entered into some form of cooperative agreement with pre- ing to be able to announce a profit of $1,007 million for viously existing VFL clubs. For a range of reasons, the least the year ended 31st October 2002, including the special of which was not cost, the board has recently announced it receipt of $300,000 as a part of Essendon’s share of the will next season not compete in the VFL as Essendon. Our Waverley Park sale proceeds. Furthermore our cash reserves club will enter into an arrangement with the Bendigo at year end stand at a healthy $4.15 million after complet- Diggers VFL team and play in next year’s competition as ing the major redevelopment of our club headquarters. the Bendigo Bombers, wearing the traditional Essendon I believe members can be well satisfied that our club has playing uniform. a secure future. However it is necessary to advise members Whilst there will no doubt be some members and sup- that the great majority of our profit this year has been gen- porters who will be disappointed with this decision, the erated from what can be described as non football business board and management including our coaching staff activities. The board and management are very conscious of believe it to be in the best interest of Essendon Football this position and are working hard to ensure our football ESSENDON F O OTBALL CLUB | 4 operations do not operate at a loss. Our budgets for 2003 There is no doubt our club has benefited from our associa- have been established accordingly. As mentioned previous- tion and I trust that all sponsors have similarly derived bene- ly the football financial outcome played a part in the deci- fit from it. On behalf of the entire club I thank them sincerely C sion to alter the club’s VFL playing arrangements. and look forward to a continuing relationship. H Both of our associated businesses, being Essendon The club coteries and supporter groups have once again A Football and Community Sporting Club and the Melton been to the fore this year providing assistance in many ways, I Country Club, continue to trade strongly and have made financial and other. I would like to acknowledge and thank R significant financial contributions to our football club rev- each of these groups and the individuals who comprise M enues once again. them. They are The Coleman Club, The Essendonians, A The Hall of Fame continues to provide a showpiece for The Diamond Dons, The Coaches Club along with the N club memorabilia and as a result of fundraising during the support groups, the Womens Network, the Dick Reynolds ’ year is financially stable.