Glenelg

A huge loss and another debt to the Council ?

Can they survive ?

The board must think they will survive. They have employed a full time coach which they weren't going to do and have spent a huge amount on recruiting.
Given the above the club would be hoping they have success immediately which will drive more people to games and back to the club

Growth area for the Bays would likely be in Fri night football. Hopefully with the right scheduling early in the season it will give them the right momentum to build their numbers accordingly.

Glenelg have proven they are very capable of increasing their crowd/revenue if they can offer an appealing onfield product to their supporters, which it looks as though they have gone all out to do. You do get the feeling that they might have gone "All-in" with this ploy though. Hope it works. Think Glenelg are fantastic for football in this state.

the vibe around the place is chalk & cheese compared to the previous couple of years, all of a sudden players want to be there rather than it being a chore...as for a ''debt to the council'' well yes that's true but given what one councilor (who is opposed to all things sport) said i don't actually think it gets paid back, the new CEO is proving to be a magnificent decision & as for on field performance i believe Glenelg will be a top 3 team at worst & think we will be playing the Eagles on grand final day going on the recruiting etc

There's no doubt they've put all their eggs into the recruiting basket, where they've outshone everyone. Expensive, though and I wouldn't be running a club thinking I didn't have to pay back debt. Bonus if it happens only.

as for the CEO, you're right, he'll do very well. He's an ex-Fulham Cricket Club wicketkeeper (I'm now pensioned off as Patron   ), so he must be good.

Night footy the only way to go down there for survival.... Go to footy then have a meal or a few cold ones down jetty road after to make it a night.

What has not helped Glenelg is their response to their own members over their Yes or No vote to the Cows and the Smears joining the SANFL. No consultation was made and members were barred from having any imput into the decision. I gather that this has not been a positive step for the club and has upset some sponsors as well as members of the club. Think the current board might want to give some weight to an apology and a review of how members are involved in the processes of the club in future if they are keen to get people motivated and involved in the future of the club.

redandblack wrote:There's no doubt they've put all their eggs into the recruiting basket, where they've outshone everyone.  Expensive, though and I wouldn't be running a club thinking I didn't have to pay back debt.  Bonus if it happens only.

as for the CEO, you're right, he'll do very well.  He's an ex-Fulham Cricket Club wicketkeeper (I'm now pensioned off as Patron   ), so he must be good.

I seem to recall reading somewhere recently, that the council at Glenelg had made a substantial grant for further redevelopment of the oval as a community facility. I'd like to think we can get to that stage with the Unley Council. While I'm still alive to see it that is.  

Ben W wrote:What has not helped Glenelg is their response to their own members over their Yes or No vote to the Cows and the Smears joining the SANFL. No consultation was made and members were barred from having any imput into the decision.  

well we had a meeting, we gave our thoughts on whatever point of view each of us had, however it was a token gesture as it was clearly a ''why are we voting yes seminar'' & someone asked straight up after ''Chiggys'' first statement...''well obviously with what your saying you are voting yes'' the answer was ''yes'' & then we got the 'scripted spiel' that everyone has heard before


ps, the council loan may get put on the back burner but not so sure about the banks loan

At least the Bays got a meeting.....  

Ben W wrote:What has not helped Glenelg is their response to their own members over their Yes or No vote to the Cows and the Smears joining the SANFL. No consultation was made and members were barred from having any imput into the decision. I gather that this has not been a positive step for the club and has upset some sponsors as well as members of the club. Think the current board might want to give some weight to an apology and a review of how members are involved in the processes of the club in future if they are keen to get people motivated and involved in the future of the club.

Rubbish! The Bays biggest killer was they were making reasonable attendance related $$ whilst they were amongst it onfield ,, Last year when they turned "mediocre" it showed in their attendances.

Scrunch, we were worse than ''mediocre'' last year

You are probably right Bayman. I was trying to avoid my point being missed by anyone thinking I was "having a go" at your club. Attendance, both on match-day or otherwise is the key for Glenelg I believe, as it probably is for most clubs.

absolutely, apart from the diehards that go reguarly, every teams attendances increase when teams are winning.....not that long ago we had a Glenelg v Sturt match that attracted about 11,000 people, as both teams fell down the ladder these same two teams have been lucky to get around 2,000-2,500 people to matches....i know the price hike doesn't help but it shouldn't be stopping around 8,000 people going to the footy so it is performance related as you said

Glenelg and Sturt, like Port and Norwood have a largish supporter base that can ebb and flow with their fortunes.

I think the sanfl did a survey or analysis to estimate this some years ago.

If you can turn supporters into members aka what Port Magpies did when they were in danger of dying (pre-merger) then you get a win.

In Port's case a lot that signed up as members, probably didn't take out a match package too. But hey, 7000 members is quite a decent amount of coin.

Sturt made a similar plea last year to turn supporters into members and hit somewhere near 3500 I think (Country Cousin will know the exact figure to the member! ), and whilst it fell short of the 5000 desired it was a good increase in percentage terms.

I guess the trick is whether you can back it up every year. People will rally to the "dire straits" cause only so often.

I was at the game at the Bay that attracted 11,000-odd. It was almost a return to pre-afl days. Queues long out into the carpark, queues to the toilets and beer tents that struggled to cope.

It would be interesting to dissect the financial impact of such a game across, the entry fees, food and beverage sales and also surrounding cafes and pubs.

I think the fixturing is so important to maximising game returns too. Sometimes the sanfl hits winners sometimes it misses opportunities. And the little things clubs do to make the experience friendlier add a dimension too (jumpy castles for the kids, good catering, realistic beer prices and the like).

I still think that in this day and age where the sanfl is squeezed between a rock (AFL) and a hard place (SAAFL/Country), clubs should do some things collectively to assist revenue streams. I consider the sanfl is the prime mover in coordinating such things, but there doesn't appear to be much groundswell of movement here.

I can't see where clubs like Sturt can trim the fat any further. There is no fat - we are as lean as a kangaroo steak! You get to the point where services and operations suffer.

Sure some clubs have had their operational difficulties that could possibly be avoided, but I would think most run fairly lean these days. That is not to say greater efficiency isn't possible, but I still think collectivising some of the operational programs and revenue opportunities is the path to safeguarding the league and its clubs.

Apart from some very disappointing performances, the weather wasn't kind last year. Two of the night matches and a couple of the day games were played in appalling conditions. Those 4 games alone probably cost the club 10,000 bums on seats as well as a few thousand members not attending. If we guess that a patron is worth on average $15.00 to the club each game counting admission, food, drinks etc then those 4 games probably cost the club around $200K.

Sometimes, despite the best efforts, a run of bad luck outside your control can burn you.