Forward Thinking
DERRY CITY'S enthusiastic chairman, Mr. Pat McDaid, convened two important meetings with "Candy Striped" supporters over the past eight days and the local businessman remains "highly optimistic" that the Brandywell club will raise itself above what he described as the current "challenging financial climate."
Having met with a number of local businessmen and Derry City workers last Monday night in the City Hotel, Mr. McDaid met with supporters last night in the Delacroix Inn Function Room, to inform them of the difficulties which lay ahead.
However, at last night's meeting he was quick to point out that Derry City Football Club was "not about to go bust, but was faced with a situation which the club must address in the short-term."
"Unfortunately, due to the current economic climate, we have lost two of our main sponsors and it's important that we take immediate steps to rectify that situation," he said.
"As a club, we simply cannot afford to lose money, particularly finance which has already been factored into this season's budget but we're a progressive club and we will continue to move forwards - not backwards."
While the chairman refused to identify the size of the loss in sponsorship revenue, it's understood the figure is close to 70,000, but he did extend his sincere thanks to Mr. John Conway (Meteor Electrical) who, said Mr. McDaid, "had played an integral role in the club after three full years as the main sponsor" adding that Meteor's financial contribution had helped the club implement full-time football at the Brandywell.
"I fully understand and appreciate the difficulties which are out there for all businesses at the moment and while I'm very sorry to see Meteor depart as our main sponsor, I would like to publicly acknowledge John Conway's support and I wish him well for the future," said the chairman.
"The loss of our shirt sponsorship is significant and, of course, that sponsorship had been included in this year's budget so, as a Board, we've got to try and make up that loss if we're to remain competitive.
"With that in mind, we've opted to take a two-pronged approach to deal with the situation - one directed at both the business community and interested individuals and another directed at our supporters.
"From the business perspective, we are attempting to secure 50 companies and individuals to pay 1,000 each as part of a scheme to contribute to our major sponsorship. We intend to organise a special draw whereby the first ticket out of the hat will become the club's main sponsor for the remainder of this season with the winner's name featuring prominently on front of all our jerseys.
"The second name out of the hat will be placed on the back of all jerseys while the remaining 48 names will also be included on all jerseys - albeit in much smaller print.
"The new jersey will be a special one, commemorating the 20th anniversary of our 'treble victory' and the names of all those players who formed the squad back in 1989 plus our current squad names, will be printed to form the numbers on the back of all jerseys. We believe it will be a collectors' item and the jersey will remain in use until the end of the 2009 season when we sincerely hope we will have identified a new sponsor to take us forward into the 2010 campaign."
It was also confirmed that the Foyle Hospice logo would also be included on the new jersey free of charge, to commemorate the vital role that organisation had played within the local community.
"The Foyle Hospice will also receive a percentage of the funds we manage to raise as we realise the importance of the facility that Dr. Tom McGinley and his staff continue to provide for the people of Derry and the north-west."
Mr. McDaid then pointed to the part to be played by club supporters, particularly those who held season tickets. "In all, we have in the region of 1,600 season ticket holders at Brandywell Stadium. We have sent letters to all season ticket holders outlining a new scheme, asking them to renew their tickets for the 2010 campaign at the same price as the current season.
"However, we intend to limit that offer to 500 season ticket holders only and those interested will be asked to pay for their tickets in full before August 31st next. In addition, we are happy to facilitate those who wish to make staged payments for their tickets over the next three months."
And there was an added incentive for those supporters who were prepared to renew their tickets at such an early stage.
"Thanks to Mr. Seamus Mallon, the managing director of Desmond Motors, all those who renew their season tickets will be entered into a free draw for a new Ford Fiesta car, which will be sponsored by the local company," continued the Derry chairman.
"We believe our proposals could raise in the region of between 120,000 to 130,000, a figure which would not only see us through the remainder of the current season, but also cover our costs during the close season."
When asked how Derry City would hope to pay wages to its playing staff during the close season - given that 500 season tickets had already been purchased? The chairman remained positive.
He said that with the club back competing in Europe this season, a minimum figure of E90,000 would be paid to the Brandywell club next November. He also pointed the remaining 1,000 season ticket holders who would not renew their tickets until next Christmas; the club's continuing fund-raising schemes and, of course, the merchandising of the new commemorative jersey which, it was hoped, would bring in significant additional finance.
Mr. McDaid also made it clear that the immediate priority was to secure the main sponsorship for the new commemorative jersey, so that the new kit would be available before the club's opening match in the Europa League on July 16th next.
"I would openly admit that our merchandising has been far from satisfactory over recent months but, at the same time, once we realised that we would be losing our major sponsor, our hands were tied until we could identify a replacement. Unfortunately for us, that was not possible. We've spoken to quite a few businesses but, given the financial constraints companies are now facing, the significant finance that we believe is worthy of our leading sponsorship deal, could not be achieved.
"We've also faced difficulties in the opening of our new social club, but those difficulties are not of our making. We're currently waiting on the club's licence to go through the Courts and we can't move on that until it's been passed.
"As a Board, we are attempting to keep everyone fully informed of what has been happening on the financial scene. We want to be totally 'up front' with our supporters and our sponsors. We want to explain the difficulties that we face and the proposals that we have made, we believe, would go a long way to not only meeting our commitments but, indeed, would make us a much stronger club for the future.
"Derry City depends so much on the community the club represents and that support must be forthcoming if we're to remain at the forefront of Irish football. It's taken us quite some time to achieve this status and we wish to remain where we are. Yes, we face difficult times ahead, we're fully aware of the difficulties that we face but we have opted to maintain our full-time policy.
"We employ a staff of 30 individuals and that makes us a major employer in the Derry area and while that can be difficult at times, we believe we are providing jobs for people within the community and, at the same time, contributing to the local economy."
Confident Start
When questioned on the progress of the "Main Sponsorship Draw," Mr. McDaid confirmed that his Board had already received 16 individuals and businesses who had paid 1,000 each even before the launch of the project.
"We believe the Sponsorship Draw will be well supported. We're almost half way towards our target at the moment and we're confident that we will be in a position to announce the date of the draw once we achieve our target of 50 names. But we also have to look even further ahead to next season and on that front we will open negotiations with other companies in attempt to bring them on board prior to the 2010 campaign.
"The key at the moment is to secure the 50 names and put the new commemorative jersey into production. We are currently looking at two designs for the new kit, but we believe it's vitally important that we have the new kit ready for our supporters well in advance of our re-entry into the Europa League in mid-July."
He again appealed for support and asked any business or individual keen to get involved in the new sponsorship project, to make contact with the club as soon as possible, through either a director or Derry City supporter and any information requested would be supplied.
"We are the first to admit that we do not have a 'slush fund' nor do we possess any big assets. We're happy to remain as debt-free as possible and, indeed, finish each season on a break-even basis. We've lost two major sponsors which is a major financial blow, but we've proposed positive solutions and we intend to move on.
"We will not stand idly by and wait for things to happen. We believe Derry City to be a club that will continue to move forward, not backwards and we're confident that the local community will again stand firmly behind us in our efforts to not only maintain our status as a top player in the League of Ireland, but also to guarantee the club's future for the next generation," concluded the Brandywell chairman.
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Thursday 24 May 2012
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