COBURG FOOTBALL CLUB LIMITED FOUNDED 1891 INCORPORATED 1980 Founded: 1879 Premiers: 1926-27-28-70-74-79-88-89 Entered VFA/VFL: 1925 Runners Up: 1932-33-34-51-59-80-86-07 th 126 A​ NNUAL REPORT ​ To be presented to the Members at the Annual General Meeting to be held in the Coburg Football Club Social Rooms th on Monday 19 ​ December 2016, 6:30pm. ​ CFC OFFICE BEARERS- Season 2016 PRESIDENT: Kevin Breen VICE PRESIDENT: Nazih Dib/ Wayne McLachlan TREASURER: Nazih Dib/Steve Russo DIRECTOR: Ben Meilak1 ​ DIRECTOR: Mick Erwin2 ​ DIRECTOR: Jason Milani DIRECTOR: Alex Sapurmas DIRECTOR: Robert Butera DIRECTOR: Mayada Dib2 ​ GENERAL MANAGER: Craig Lees ​ SENIOR COACH: Peter German ADMINISTRATION MANAGER: Alex Morella3 ​ Adrian Dixon TH 1 ​ ​RESIGNED FEBURARY 15 , 2016 ND ​ 2 ​ ​RESIGNED JUNE 22 , 2016 ​ TH 3 RESIGNED SEPTEMBER 29 ,​ 2016 ​ ​ Coburg Football Club Inc. – 2016 Annual Report 2 PRESIDENT’S REPORT Season 2016 was once again a challenging one for our football club. With great wins and losses, we proved to the football world we are a club on the march. Ground issues severely affected us financially on the balance sheet, but hopefully this issue is over and we move on. Firstly, I would like to thank Craig Lees and his staff for their untiring efforts throughout the season. Craig on most occasions was doing the work of 3 people, and his efforts should never be underestimated by the CFC. To Peter German our general on the ground, his assistants, Derek and all the support staff, I would personally like to thank you on behalf of the board for ensuring every side that represented our club was at its competitive best, if lady luck had of smiled we could have easily won another 4/5 games. To the Past Players association lead by Kerin Lawson and Alby assisted by Wayne Mclaughlin, Brian Elvery, Ian Liversidge and Michelle McNair, thank you for your support. To our major sponsors the CFMEU, ETU, Strathmore Community Bendigo Bank, Piranha, Comselec and all our other corporate parties, thank you for your ongoing support and we look forward to seeing you in 2017. To my fellow board members thank you for support and commitment in Season 2016, you all do a power of work behind the scenes and it is widely acknowledged we have one of the most professional boards in the VFL. Let us all continue to be driven and lead this club to where it rightly belongs. 2017 will be another huge challenge for our club, with many of the opposition clubs struggling, financially I urge all supporters, past players and potential sponsors to renew their memberships so that our club can continue to prosper. We have worked tirelessly in the off season to reinvent our revenue stream, but I implore you all that we need is personnel to assist and if we don’t get that support both financially and physically, this club could be under siege. In closing I would like to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year, and I look forward to seeing you all in 2017. Regards, Kevin Breen President Coburg Football Club Coburg Football Club Inc. – 2016 Annual Report 3 GENERAL MANAGER’S REPORT The 2016 season was one of both challenges and issues as I reflect on the season. There were so many challenges on so many different fronts, and I thank all the supporters, members, sponsors, players, staff and fans for their loyalty and understanding as we bring the 2016 Season to a close. I will state that for the club to remain viable, and financially competitive, that every dollar is important to this club, and we need to ensure that as custodians of this club, everyone has a responsibility to ensure we not just survive, but thrive. Office Staff I would like to thank my staff for their ongoing support in 2016. To Adrian Dixon, Joyce Meilak, Alex Morella, Darren Richards, Nick Duryea, Sebastian Spagnuolo and Ron Rooney for their dedication and commitment to their roles in 2016. They have all played a significant role in 2016 to ensure the football clubs value were upheld, and determination to ensure we continue to impact the VFL. Coburg FC hosted six university placement students in season 2016. Craig, Rob, Nick, Luca, Emily and Renee all offered value and impact during their time at Coburg, and we know that the environment has enabled them to develop their workplace skills as they look to complete their study. Lastly, the contribution of Alex Morella over the past 5/6 years has been invaluable to helping the club continue to grow, and his professionalism, leadership and versatility will be sorely missed in the future. We hope to continue to see Alex around the club in a match day role. I want to personally thank him for his assistance to me, in my role as GM and the football club during my three seasons. Football Department/ Season Thank you to Peter German and the coaching staff for their efforts in season 2016. It was a very challenging year on a number of fronts, but I think we got to see continued improvement from our players, especially some of our younger players, who are the future of this club. To Derek McConn and his High Performance team, you delivered an outstanding program and continually challenged the coaches, staff and players. We are very lucky to have Derek in our program, and his willingness to keep the program modern and improving is first class. Thanks to all the coaches for their contributions to season 2016. The time each and every one of you put into your coaching and effort to keep challenging the players and Peter is why our football club continues to grow. Lastly to the players, the effort for season 2016 was second to none, and 5 losses under 11 points showed how close we were to really competing with the top 8. I think if luck and injuries were on our side, 2016 could have been a different season. Coburg Football Club Inc. – 2016 Annual Report 4 Awards/ Achievements ● Tom Goodwin awarded the Jim Sullivan medal as the club’s Best & Fairest Winner for season 2016 ● Robbie Fox, Ahmed Saad & Luke Ryan all winning selection in VFL team of year ● Ahmed Saad becoming the club’s first Frosty Miller Medallist, and the first CFC player to top the competitions goal kicking since the 1980’s with 49 goals in season 2016 ● Luke Ryan winning the VFL’s Fothergill-Round Medal for most promising player in the VFL under the age of 23 ● Robbie Fox drafted to the Sydney Swans with pick 34 in the Rookie Draft ● Luke Ryan drafted to the Fremantle Football Club with pick 66 in the National Draft ● The win over Richmond in round nine, our only televised game on Channel Seven in 2016 ● Luke Ryan receiving an invite to the National combine for the first time in the club’s history ● Robbie Fox receiving an invite to the State Combine ● 6 players with genuine AFL interest from recruiters ● BCNA game against Essendon, resulting in the first win of the season ● Celebration of NAIDOC week with eventual exposure on Marngrook Football show ● Defeating eventual premiers Footscray @ Piranha Park in July ● Development team’s start to season 2016- being 8-1 & top of the ladder at middle of the season, to then succumb to injury in the second half of the season, missing out on finals in the process. ● Peter German coaching 150 games of VFL football. ● Hosting 5000 people for the VFL Women’s Grand Final ● Inaugural Coburg Junior Football Club in the Essendon District Football League ● New Electronic Scoreboard installed ● Moreland Council Community leadership award for NADIOC WEEK Match Day Our crowds in season 2016 saw 8995 people attend games at Piranha Park in 2016. Season highs were 1405 V Box Hill, and 1376 for the BCNA game against Essendon. Season lows were the Channel 7 game against Richmond (561), which wasn’t helped by the terrible weather and (505) against Frankston, which was the make-up game from the round 5 ground relocation. Our ability to host finals in 2016 saw EDFL, WVFL and the VAFA all bring in decent crowds for the games that were played, especially the VFL Women’s Grand Final day. It’s an honour our football club can host this great day. Thank you to all match day staff for their assistance in 2016. Special congratulations to the Pinazo family on winning the Peter McGann family award. It is well deserved and the football club is truly blessed to have a wonderful family involved with our match day operations. Coburg Football Club Inc. – 2016 Annual Report 5 Ground Issues The ground issues that forced the players to train away from Coburg for 7 weeks during the season marred Season 2016. I believe these issues caused huge disruptions to our program, and consequently had a negative effect on the second half of 2016. I thank the staff/players for their efforts to ensure the program was still running to a professional and organised manner. Unfortunately, the ground issues caused the following games to be relocated away from Piranha Park: ● The Final practice match to be played against Frankston in early April ● AFL Youth Girls Championships held in early May ● Our round five home game against Frankston scheduled for Mothers Day ● 3 X Superules Home games ● 7 Auskick sessions ● CFC Junior Home Games X 3 ● Women’s Finals matches ● 10 X Superules training sessions All up, the financial estimate of losing these games/training/events is well in excess of $60,000 for season 2016.