Bees United Chairman David Merritt gives us his end of season review. This text was originally featured in the home programme against Hereford United. It reads:
The end of another season, and one where we’ve ended up falling short of the play-offs, but far higher than anyone could have hoped earlier in the season. I became Chair of Bees United and a Director of the Football Club in November 2007, and for my first game attending the Board Room after the game I had to walk through a protest on the forecourt. It was great to see the turnaround that Andy achieved, and fantastic that he got us to a stage where play-offs were in sight. There has been work off the pitch too, and Greg is writing elsewhere in this programme about the plans for next season.
Meanwhile there has been a lot going on at BU too. The fundamental reason for our existence is to achieve sustainable success for the football club. To deliver this BU has to move forward in a number of different ways, and at the end of the season I thought a status report on the four key areas was important. You will draw your own judgement as to how well we are doing (and I’d love to hear your views), but for what it’s worth I’ll give you my verdict so far:
1. Demonstrating the professionalism of BU is critical to help us operate effectively, keep our members happy, and to improve our reputation as a commercial organisation that has the controlling shareholding in the football club. In the last ~6 months we have simplified our board meetings and reduced the size of the board, and both seem to have worked well. Brian Burgess and Chris Gammon remain active in support of BU in addition to their Lionel Road commitments, and it is great to have their continuity of knowledge. Donald Kerr has strengthened links with all parts of the Brentford family as well as the local business forum, and a number of the board have attended Supporters Direct meetings. Looking forward, good communications is a focus for Mark Chapman, Trevor Inns is responsible for our relations with the club and our investors, and streamlining internal administration is a focus for Matt Dolman. Every penny we save in our own operations is more money we can use to safeguard the club.
MY VERDICT: A good start, but we need to keep up the momentum as there is plenty still to do.
2. Whether the club is owned by BU or anyone else, continually borrowing against the value of Griffin Park is not sustainable. This is exactly what Ron Noades did as owner, and our objective has to be to reduce the cash requirements of the club. Ultimately this will be determined by the Board of the Football Club (which includes BU representatives such as myself), and it is a tough challenge. The football league shows a consistent picture of clubs living beyond their means, and the increasing numbers of clubs in crisis is a direct result. Let me be explicit: without the financial support of Matthew Benham and some of our BFC Board Directors the football club is not financially viable. The 08/09 cash requirements are likely to be even more than in 07/08, so the challenge to keep Brentford FC alive is bigger than ever.
MY VERDICT: Making material reductions in the cash requirements of the club is a huge challenge for the BFC Board. It will take time and a united effort to achieve.
3. It is questionable whether we will ever be able to break-even at Griffin Park – it would involve reducing the cash requirements each year (through reduced costs and increased income) by approximately £700k. That equates to a third of all current income, or nearly half the current playing budget. Our best hope of breaking even is to get a new stadium at Lionel Road. Good progress is being made by Brian Burgess and Chris Gammon, although any project like this takes a long time and is fraught with difficulties. BU gives Brentford a community aspect which is a great help in overcoming planning objections.
MY VERDICT: The funding achieved to support Brian and Chris demonstrates the good progress made to date. We need to support them to maintain that success, but it won’t happen overnight. BU is critical to Lionel Road, and Lionel Road is critical to BU.
4. BU ownership is not critical to the sustainability of the football club, but it can work if we can support the club’s cash requirements. It is therefore critical that we increase the funding available to BU. Funding can take many forms, ranging from the fantastic efforts of Natasha Judge and helpers in bucket collecting and the walk to Stockport (starting today), membership fees and corporate sponsorships, through to the independent investors who loan substantial amounts of money on beneficial terms. Standing Order income from our members is critical to BU – it gives us a secure revenue stream that allows much more certainty of action, so anything you can do as members to increase your standing order commitments or introduce new members will be of a great help. We are very conscious that we don’t want to abuse the goodwill of the same group of people year in, year out, so any suggestions as to how to introduce new faces, new members, new funding would be gratefully received.
MY VERDICT: We are only as strong as our members and supporters, and we will only get stronger if our membership and support gets stronger. Whether it’s through membership, loans or sponsorship, every spare penny will go towards supporting the future of the football club.
So… a mixed picture overall, but it feels like we are focusing on the right things. It would be easy to focus on just how precarious the financial situation is, but it’s also true that we are held up as a shining example of Supporters Trusts in action, and that with the goodwill of Matthew Benham and our other investors we are looking to mount a very serious challenge next season. We are looking forward to success on and off the pitch.
Finally as we wave goodbye to another season I will finish with a plea – not for money (although that would be nice) – but for feedback. It costs nothing, and we’d really like to hear specific views of how BU can help make Brentford a success. Write to us at Griffin Park, email me (david.merritt@beeesunited.org.uk) or my fellow board members, or post a message on any Brentford internet message board.
Have a good summer,
David Merritt
Chair, Bees United