If you missed the Chairman's column

Then this is what he had to say in Saturday's programme. Don't miss out again...buy one tonight.

From The Boardroom
Good afternoon everybody and welcome back to Champion Hill. I would particularly like to welcome all those who are here this afternoon supporting Merstham and hope they enjoy their short stay with us.

Well, it has been another interesting week in which I have spent far too much time on matters related to saving our football club, some of that time has been well spent and some of it is time I could have used more effectively.

In the last week, I have once again been faced with a further squeeze on our income that was not envisaged when terms to hand over the running of the club to its owners was negotiated. However, by the time you read this then we may have brokered a solution.
I hear many rumours about what is going one and receive plenty of comments from people so I think I will use this opportunity to run through the reality of the situation and run a sort of Frequently Asked Questions piece that I hope will clear up some of those:

Nick McCormack is now back running the club:
Well yes, Nick is still the majority shareholder, as he has always been. However, he is not involved in the day-to-day running of the club and is not controlling the finances. That is being done by members of the Football Committee. In fact, Nick has agreed to both Tom Cullen and myself becoming Directors of Dulwich Hamlet FC to ensure that legal process is followed and that we are not acting as “Quasi Directors”. This process should be completed very shortly.

What should I do to help the current financial situation?
Well, the only way to ensure that your money is being used to help pay the wages of players and the liabilities of the football club is to come through the gate and then donate to the 12th Man Scheme. Whilst our Supporters’ Trust do lots of good work, they are unable to use funds to directly support the football club. Some of the profits from the sales of merchandise do come back to the club but it is not enough to make a material difference to the club’s financial position.

Why haven’t we just cut the budget and released players?
This is not quite as easy as it sounds and we have not come this far as a club just to give up and go backwards. In addition, the majority of those players have signed contracts of employment. Would you like your employer to just rip up your contract as soon as there was any sign of trouble?

In addition, I believe that this club has integrity amongst its values and that it should continue to do all it can to meet those obligations that it has in its name.
I am aware that I was recently ridiculed for stating on the club’s forum that, if this was the case, I could start doing it and, of course, good business practice would be to release players who are likely to save me the most money. Do you really believe that players who have the potential to earn this club money through transfer fees should just be cast aside? Do you really believe that our ambitious management team could be retained in this climate? Just look at recent events at Greenwich Borough for the answer.

What is going on to save the club?
The situation at the moment is very fluid, and very sensitive. However, I assure you that it is the members of the Football Committee who are in daily dialogue with people who have both the financial muscle, and business acumen, to be able to achieve this.
It is the committee and management team who are spending hours every day liaising with those potential parties and trying to broker a deal that will ensure the survival of the club in its current form. We have often been both close and far way in the same 24-hour period.
Information is, of course, commercially sensitive but rest assured we are fighting every minute of every day to ensure we can continue to trade and move forwards.

What about a Phoenix Club? We can always rise again.
This is something I have heard more often than I would like. Well, firstly, it is an admission of defeat and I, and my committee, do not give up that easily.
There are some successful phoenix clubs such as Hereford & AFC Wimbledon, but for every one of those there others who have continued to drop like a stone. For those with the idealistic views of a fan owned club as the panacea for all ills, well there are a number of clubs that have decided that is no longer a way to be competitive, such as Portsmouth and AFC Telford United.

I recently posed some questions I n relation to this on the club’s forum so I will repeat them here?
Where would such a club play? It certainly would not be at Champion Hill as I am currently convinced that if we cannot resolve this situation then the current club will not be allowed to play here.
How much would it cost to ground share? On that note, I can assure people that there would not be much change out of £20000 per season and the only income would be through the gate and via sponsors. Who would want us and would we be back to a hard-core 200 fans? Those questions I cannot answer but I do not really want to find out.
This is how I, and the Football Committee, see the current issues and, as I have said, we are the ones dealing with it every minute of every day.
I expect there are other questions that you would all like answered, and that I may not have covered, so please feel free to contact me and I will, wherever possible, answer these as honestly as I can.
Thank you for your support, and remember the best way to support the club is to do all we can to get the crowds in to Champion Hill.

Liam