Treasurers Update: August 24
The answer to the biggest unknown was answered on Saturday 3rd August 2024 – how many people would turn out at The Oval to support the newly reformed club? 511 fans streaming through the turnstiles was a fantastic sight, and showed emphatically that people of Nuneaton and the surrounding area that the club they know and love was alive and kicking. There was also a very tangible buzz about the place, even an hour before kick-off. A fair number of people remarked to me that “this is how the Boro used to feel”, behind a huge grin.
During August, we had 2,207 supporters come through the turnstiles over the four home games. That’s an average of 551, which is remarkable at Step 6.
Again, it’s important to remind people that we budgeted for an average attendance of 200, so the majority of the gate receipts in August have been ringfenced for our “Back to Nuneaton” fund – more on this later. However, a point worth making is that if you do choose to come through those turnstiles, you can rest assured that 100% of the money you part with will be either used in the running of the club, or more likely, directly invested in the club’s future. We simply cannot stress this enough, as it is woven into the fabric of the new club.
Our total income for the month was £19,286. Along with gate receipts, we had some fantastic merchandise sales our home games, and saw a brilliant response to our matchday fundraising through the Golden Goal competition and 50/50 draw. We also saw an uptick in advertising boards and programme advertising, which is a great sign that we are getting the backing of local businesses. We are continuing to see donations to the club pour in – the increased number of subscribers to the Nuneaton Borough Supporters Co-operative’s 200 club have allow them to donate £950 to cover many non-playing expenses incurred during August, and many fans continue to donate directly to the club. We also saw a 200 Club jackpot donated to the Club, plus a Golden Goal winner also choose to invest their winnings back into the future of the club, which is a remarkable gesture.
I would like to thank all fans for their support during August, and those fans should all be grateful to one another, as the long-term success of the club on and off the pitch will be directly determined by the level of support it gets.
In terms of expenditure, we incurred £10,440 in direct costs during August, which covered:
FIVE playing weeks players and coaches remuneration.
Matchday ground hire
Training facility hire
Physio fees and equipment costs
Playing and Training Kit additions and replacements
Matchday security and safety costs
Matchday volunteer Equipment costs
Matchday Officials fees and expenses
Post-match catering costs (required to be provided be the league)
Merchandise cost of sales
Programme printing and matchday fundraising ticket costs.
We also incurred administrative expenses of £1,369, giving a total cost of £11,809. If you gross this value up to a seasonal value (divide by the 5 weeks to date and multiply by the 38 weeks of the season) plus the pre-season costs, it’s in line with the £99,500 total cost for the season that I presented to supporters at the Stockingford Piv meeting in March.
This leaves an Operating Profit of £7,487 for the month and £45,454 year to date. The Eagle-eyed amongst you may notice that the year-to-date profit from July plus August’s profit does not equal the year-to-date for August circa £5.9k. This is due to the deferral of some commercial income originally reported in the accounts for July. This income is not lost, instead it will be received throughout the season. Therefore, we’ve changed the accounting treatment to reflect that.
Whilst not financially related, I’d also like to pay tribute to our volunteers. Simply without these on a matchday we would not be able to function. And there are some who get to see little or even none of the game. The effort alone to count the number of people through each turnstile and then reconcile this to the match receipts alone is a herculean effort and all this is done before the attendance is given out. Even after this, all the other matchday receipts are checked and reconciled, and the payment for the match officials and players food catering prepared – all this is done before full time.
What to expect in September
September is another 5-game week month, and with only two home games and four away games (including the league cup), we expect to make an operating loss of between £5,000 and £7,000, even with attendances at the current levels, however one of these home games is impacted by a clash with an England game, so we may well see a drop for that game. An in-season monthly loss is both normal and expected and is covered by the commercial and season ticket income built up during May, June, and July. The month profit or loss for the remainder of the season will fluctuate depending on the ratio of home to away games in the month.
Back to Nuneaton Update
Great news! As mentioned above, the amazing support has meant we have been able to ringfence £8,829 of the income for August into our “Back to Nuneaton” fund. This may seem odd as it’s more that the profit for the month! However, at a support level of 200 attendance, we expected a small loss of the month.
You may also have seen on our website and social media that we our we have started exploratory discussions on what “Back to Nuneaton” could look like. We are very much keeping all our options open and will explore every opportunity to find the best solution. Once we find a possible way forward, the £25,000 from the first phase will be used for feasibility studies and preliminary design costs.
As you have sent from above, the fastest way to achieve our target is for people to attend games, which also makes for a great atmosphere – a real win-win!
How can I help?
There are several ways that fans and local businesses can help support the club:
Support the club by attending games and encouraging others to do so.
Join the NBSC 200 club. This is a great way of supporting the club financially, whilst give you the chance to win monthly cash prizes.
Join the Nuneaton Borough Supporters Co-operative. Not only will you be helping the Co-op fulfil its duty as part owner of the club, you will be able to hold the Co-op board members and club officials appointed by the Co-op to account (including me). Look out for further information about the new season membership drive and further information on how you can get involved in both the Co-op and the club.
If you are a local business and would like to become a sponsor, reach out to commercial@nuneatontownfc.co.uk to discuss taking one of our great packages.
