Report of DAFC AGM
Author: Sandy Fenwick Date: Friday, 25th Apr 2003There was a modest turnout for the 82nd AGM of DAFC, which was held in the
new hospitality suite and very nice it is too.
John Yorkston opened with a brief report on the year, saying how he was pleased with the improvement of the team and on the commercial side.
Although the loss was much reduced from over £3 million to £1,300,000, it was still a bad figure and the ambition of the board and the bankers was to reduce this to a breakeven point.
The loan from Wood Investments of £5 million is to be repaid from future transfer deals and if no deals are forthcoming then only £3 million will be due. There is a pre arranged formula for the transfer money with some going to the club and the rest to Wood Investments.
The Board were satisfied that the Club`s finances were under control.
Jimmy Calderwood gave a short report about the team`s performance. He stated that while he was pleased with another top six place he was very disappointed that we were not in a position to challenge for a European
place. The team were cruising to a place in the EUEFA cup until the winter break adding that injuries and poor pitches were contributing factors but the very poor away form and silly mistakes from competent defenders were
what had caused the drop in form. We defend as a team and there is no point in blaming individuals.
He and Jimmy Nicholl were aware of the shortcomings and lack of fight particularly in away fixtures and they were going to sort it out. Later he said more on this subject, when asked about the poor performances of the
Under 21 and under 18 teams. He said that he had looked at what was there in both the youth teams and the
senior squad. There were going to be massive changes at all levels, with a hint that many of the youth team players would be moving out and new players moving in. He and Jimmy had been down to England and had seen quality
players who were far better than we had at present.
These were young players from Premiership clubs, from 19 -21 years old. The clubs mentioned were West
Ham,Liverpool,Newcastle, Sunderland and Spurs. He also hinted that the senior squad was going to be "sorted" as well. I sort of gauged that he was quite annoyed at the attitude of some players. He hinted that at Aberdeen he
looked at the body language of some of the players and could tell they were not up for it. Therefore expect some news in the next few weeks with a good number of players being released.
Gavin Masterton, was pleased with the reduction in the deficit but the figures were still too red . The club were disappointed at the low attendances at home games and had tried various methods to increase the gates which had some success. The loss of the traditional Saturday at 3.00pm
fixture and live TV had something to do with this but if they lost the TV revenue the balance sheet would be far worse. Next year there would be no break and all the games were set for Saturday at 3.00pm with two midweek
fixtures, this was subject to change from the TV deal.
The club were going to have a reciprocal deal with Motherwell next season, that season tickets holders of both clubs could get free entry for kids at away fixtures, this was being looked at with other clubs as well.
All season ticket holders would get two free tickets for the Killie match as a thank you and a bid to boost the gate for the last home game.
The most interesting news was the proposed formation of a Pars Supporters Trust. This aims to give fans a bigger say in running the club. Money is available from the Scottish Executive to set up the Trust and then fans contribute say a tenner a year each, which is used to buy shares in the
club. The hope is to have a fan who will sit on the board, once the share holding is enough. This looks a really good idea and the board are in favour of such a group being formed.
The Board had discussed increasing the size of the SPL and although they did not vote on the issue there was a general approval. However, this needs a 10-2 majority and there are three clubs opposed , Hearts, Hibs and Aberdeen.
On the subject of Stevie Crawford, Mr. Yorkston stated that an offer had been made and negotiations were continuing. They were not about to increase the offer and if Stevie and his agent declined then Stevie would be sold. This was also applicable to all players at EEP.
The meeting closed and we retired to Legends to watch the Celtic game.
A few unofficial quotes from here were:
-The new strip, a retro version of the 68 Cup Final strip, will be worn at the Celtic match.
-Jimmy C would rather beat Rangers at Ibrox than Celtic at Parkhead as he comes from Govan.
-Marco is fit and will play on Saturday.
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