Re: STFC Accounts

By Gareth Coates (beano)8/10/2021 11:03Fri Oct 8 11:03:14 2021In response to Re: STFC Accounts

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I'm not an accountant, but I can (more or less) read a set of accounts.

The first point to note is that virtually every football club at this level is reliant on some sort of support from its custodians. I compared Staines' accounts with those of Ashford Town (Middlesex), partly because of the geographical and footballing proximity of the clubs and partly because I am a Life Vice-President of ATMFC. Ashford's most recent accounts cover the year ending 30/04/2021.

Where STFC has "Directors Loans", ATMFC has "Other Creditors", to whom they owe almost £30,000. My understanding is that supporters / club officials have made "soft loans" to the club (that is, with flexible repayment terms and little or no interest) and this provision in the accounts is the remaining balance.

What we can infer from that is that the Director of STFC has had to put more money in over a shorter period, than his counterparts at ATMFC; Ashford's equivalent figure for the previous year was a little under £27,000 where for Staines it was nil. It's not unusual - particularly in football - for Directors' Loans to be written off when the ownership changes, especially when the money put in by said Director(s) far exceeds the value of the assets. The most famous (and spectacular) example is the late Eddie Davies writing off around £100 million pounds of Directors Loans made to Bolton Wanderers.

However, Ashford have fixed assets such as plant, machinery, etc, with a 'book value' of more than £106,000; the equivalent value for Staines is just £914. Ashford also had much more cash in the bank.

ATMFC is a company limited by guarantee so has no "owner" or shares; it is run by the Board on behalf of the members.

I guess the points I'm making are:

1. Both clubs have been supported financially by the people looking after them.

2. Ashford have needed less of that support, because they have a more robust business model - they control their own bar and other facilities, so have a greater opportunity to generate income than STFC do with their current situation. Their youth and women's sections are also integral to the club as a whole; I don't know if that's possible for STFC while the Thames Club control the ground and bar?

Very few clubs at this level are financially well off, but the problems are more acute for clubs who groundshare or have the kind of relationship with their landlord that Staines Town appears to have with the Thames Club. Without being able to generate other income than gate receipts, simply surviving is incredibly difficult.