Hereford FC's Annual General Meeting took place at Edgar Street this evening. Given the excellent attendance it was a rather quiet meeting with little 'news' emerging.
Chairman Andrew Graham welcomed shareholders to the meeting and then introduced the directors to the shareholders. Missing from top table was Rob Crawford who had joined the board earlier today.
It's was Graham's first AGM and after asking for apologies, there were very few, went onto his report.
As reported on BN three weeks ago the club made a profit of £4288 in the year to last May 31st. Turnover dropped from £988K to £897K. Against that general repairs to Edgar Street dropped from £105K to £21K. However the playing budget 'increased substantially'.
There were several changes to the board during the period with Ken Kinnersley leaving and the appointment of Helen Byard. Since year end Mick Merrick and George Webb have left with Rob Crawford coming in. There is one vacancy which is for a HUST nominated director. Rob Bullock remains 'temporarily co-opted onto the board'.
Expenditure on the stadium since 2015 is now in excess of £500k with the most recent addition new cladding on the Hereford Suite.
Lack of playing facilites remain a problem for the club especially given that the partnership with Pegasus Juniors has run into problems.
Youth Football continues to grow with a full-time Academy Manager Andy Bevan. There are now 14 teams with over 200 players, male and female.
3000 attended the music concert at Edgar Street last May and a similar event will take place next May.
Mention was made of the work of director Helen Byard who has made a 'significent difference' in Safeguarding and Welfare. Also of the '80 plus' volunteers who help out on matchdays and also the 'army of helpers' who help out when 'frost or snow threatens proceedings.'
Thanks were given to the HFC Travelling Support which has 'an ability to lift our team'
On the pitch Graham reported that the 18/19 season has a 'testing start' with the departure of Peter Beadle and Steve Jenkins. A switch to a new model 'saw us struggle' and in August 2019 head coach Marc Richards left followed a couple of months later by director of football Tim Harris.
Finally Graham talked about Director Recruitment and the hours involved being a director. He also mentioned that directors are 'subject to repeated criticism and abuse on various forms of social media and more recently face to face'. This could affect the recruitment of new directors
To finish Graham said 'Much work is to be done to recover us to a position where we are once again challenging for promotion, but I believe that, with hard work, commitment and by us all pulling together, we can see the good times return to Edgar Street.
The meeting then considered the financial statements for the year ended May 31st 2019.
There were questions about why the club had not included a profit and loss account with the statement. Financial director Peter Churchus said that it had been a 'commercial decision' not to release these figures. He said agents tended to use these figures when trying to agree wages for players. (More on this question tomorrow)
Another question was about Peter Beadle and whether his compensation claim costs had been included in the figures. Chuchus said they had been 'provided for' and there would be no impact in the 2019/20 accounts. The board were unwilling to discuss any aspect of his dismissal.
Mention was made of the current season and the likelyhood of a six-figure loss. It emerged that the board were yet to plan a budget for next season.
Would a further share-issue need to take place?
The chairman didn't rule this out but there were no immediate plans.
The meeting ended with the chairman thanking shareholders for attending.