Annual General Meeting

The DAFC Annual General Meeting was held on Tuesday 28th April

The 88th Annual General Meeting of Dunfermline Athletic Football Club, was held in the Kingdom Suite on Tuesday 28th April 2009 at 6.30pm.  The meeting was chaired by Chief Executive Bill Hodgins and he was joined at the top table by Directors Bill McIntosh, Jim Leishman and Rodney Shearer alongside auditor Andrew Croxford from Thomson Cooper & Co.

Apologies for absence were table by Chairman John Yorkston and Directors Steven Curtis, Gavin Masterton, Karen Masterton, Frank McConnell, Gordon McDougall and Craig McWhirter.

As predicted at the last Annual General Meeting, the Club has incurred a sizeable loss in the year ended 31st May 2008 as a result of relegation from the Scottish Premier League and unlike the previous season, we were also unable to progress into the latter stages of the Cup competitions.

This season has been one of re-aligning expenditure with the revenues to Clubs in the First Division. The loss to May 2008 therefore will come as no surprise as losses incurred by other relegated Clubs are well documented, as there is a severe reduction in sponsorship and gate receipts.  We also had during the same period, the added cost of replacing our First Team coaching staff.

The Club has however restructured itself considerably during this period and various cost reduction initiatives have been implemented successfully.  The offices and Ticket Office have been moved around and the Club Shop has been moved to East End Park from the Kingsgate.

The important aspect of last season is that we have now completed the re-engineering of our cost base to a level that can be supported within the First Division and at the same time provide us with a First Team who have the ability to gain promotion back to the Scottish Premier League.

Off the field, the Club has replaced its bank indebtedness with loans from Group companies and this will also assist us in our future quest for promotion.

Our commitment to youth football remains as strong as even and we have not reduced our program despite the financial constraints of the First Division and we look forward to a number of exciting players graduating from the under 19's to the First Team in the very near future.

Along with other Clubs, Dunfermline are also now faced with a deterioration in the economy which will no doubt put further pressure on income levels, however on a positive note, we feel we are very close to reaching our target of long term sustainability without any further requirement of new capital from the Directors.

This will enable the Club to provide a First Team budget that will ensure that we remain extremely competitive and are able to challenge for promotion to the Scottish Premier League and to perform to a high standard in the various Cup competitions.

The Board are delighted that seven directors have joined the Board since the end of the year.  Each director brings specialist skills and experience which will prove to be a great benefit to the club as we move forward.  Craig McWhirter, assisted by Gordon McDougall, has taken particular interest in the youths and Steven Curtis in the Pars Lottery.

Bill Hodgins said that relegation was responsible for the loss that appeared in the accounts and warned that inthe current year a £0.5m loss was still likely. He claimed that budgets were sttill being finalised for next season but there was a target to run at a profit of £350,000 in the next year.

He also outlined the percentage of salaries to turnover:-

"In 2009 we will reduce the percentage to 40% and next season is to target 30%. For 2009-10 we are projecting the following strands of our business to bring us income - it is not just about people paying at the gate to watch the football - East End Events makes up nearly a quarter of our income with conferencing and all its different other activities, grants income for youth from SFA and Centenary Club, Commercial which is our sponsorship, advertising, programme sales, Club Shop and the Community side down at Pitreavie that brings in income."

Gate receipts are projected to bring in 16% of total income.

In his written submission included in the Annual Accounts, Chairman John Yorkston writes:-

"The Board are extremely grateful to all of our supporters for their loyal commitment and to all the staff for their enormous contribution during a difficult time.  We are also equally grateful to all of our sponsors, friends and other stakeholders who have remained solidly behind the Club.

We look forward to the future with optimism and to our one objective of bringing Premier League football back to East End Park.

Shareholders were disappointed that Manager Jim McIntyre had opted to attend the Reserve match at Central Park rather than being available to answer questions at the AGM.  Director of Football, Jim Leishman was asked if the Board felt that the playing performance this season had been acceptable?  He replied:-

"To any Dunfermline supporters, never mind the Board, it is going to be unacceptable especially at home.  When you are tring to get promotion out of any league you want to win at home and draw your away games. That was always the mindset, so it is not acceptable.

"The Manager knows that, he knows that he is under pressure and that results are unacceptable. He doesn't to be in this situation, it's his first job in management and doesn't want results like he has had. He doesn't want sympathy, he wants results out of every game."

Asked in a follow up question, what might change?  Leish said:-

"I think the Manager is waiting to see his budgets for next season.  There have been loads and loads of meetings with the Directors; waiting to see if we got to the Cup Final to see if the budgets would then change, to see if there is any extra to give the Manager help.

"The Manager and his staff have been going to lots of games to look at players.  He has got players A and players B in mind; A at a certain budget, B at a different budget.  So he has identified players that he would like to bring in.  You know that Scott Wilson is going but once he gets the budget from the Board of Directors he will go and put his team together."

After the formal AGM Jim Leishman gave an update on the Youth system at the Club starting with the problems with the SFA audit. Fortunately that had all been resolved a further audit on 21st April had been acceptable. Dunfermline had lost a 15 year old to Hearts and received £7500 compensation but losing players is a serious problem.

"The objective is to get players through from under 15s to the first team."

Talent identification is another problem but Jim explained that the Club were now reaching into more communities covering the whole of Fife and Edinburgh.