James Watts starts his new job at Edgar Street this morning as Hereford FC's first general manager. We wish him a warm welcome.
He moves to Edgar Street after a four year stint as commercial manager at Newport County.
'The top job at a club with huge potential. Hereford have ambition to be back in the Football League and they will be back very quickly,' Watts tweeted yesterday.
'Really looking forward to this new chapter.'
So what will Watts be expected to achieve?
In essence he has to increase the income at the club to ensure manager Peter Beadle has a reasonable budget which will enable the club to reach its goal of Football League status as soon as possible.
How does he do that whilst keeping the match day experience affordable?
There are only two streams of income at a football club such as Hereford, certainly at present. That is gate income and commercial income which includes hospitality and the like. (Hereford is not yet at a level where it can receive income from selling players). In effect Watts will have to entice supporters including businesses to part with more cash.
Catering is one area that has potential to increase income at the club.
Another, given his background in the music industry, is to make more use of the Starlite Rooms or even the stadium itself.
No doubt given his success at Newport he will have his own ideas. Whatever they might be he will have to ensure the club has enough income to balance the books.
For reference here's part of the job advertisment
The Candidate
The successful candidate will be self-motivated, have good interpersonal skills and display the ability to communicate across diverse audiences. You must be well organised and able to demonstrate a clear understanding of the management of an operationally complex and multi-functional business and the support teams that underpin operations.
The successful candidate will be self-motivated, have good interpersonal skills and display the ability to communicate across diverse audiences. You must be well organised and able to demonstrate a clear understanding of the management of an operationally complex and multi-functional business and the support teams that underpin operations.
Experience Required
Ideally the candidate will have experience in the following
Ideally the candidate will have experience in the following
- Budget setting, control and management
- Managing a small team of employees and associated processes
- Office management skills
- Commercial awareness in a customer focused business
- IT literate with standard applications
- An understanding of a business requiring Public Relations in its widest form
- First class negotiating skills
- Driving licence