Last
year’s report stated that the Management Board had a number of aims, which were
achieved: -
This
year we have sought to consolidate our situation and build on it.
The
association with our new Brewery, Hydes, has proved very successful both from
the quality of their products and the benefits to the Club finances.
The
Cricket Committee has looked to gain benefits from having achieved Clubmark
status. We have seen some of these already and there will certainly be more in
the future.
The
new catering arrangements and the control of utilities were in place last year
and we can now see the benefits in our balance sheet.
I
do feel that we have moved forward this year and this has been achieved by the
Management Board, Staff, House Committee, Cricket Committee and a number of
other members all working together.
It must be stressed, however, that although the Club is hopefully recovering from a desperate situation that saw us struggling to pay bills, we still do not have any big reserves of cash and a few months bad trading will again see us in a perilous state. We do need the support from members all through the year both in the member’s bar and using the function room.
This
winter we have been able to open the member’s bar on each weekday evening, this
has been possible by the Tuesday “dart night” being a massive success.
We
have welcomed the table tennis players from APH who found themselves without a
home when their club closed, and despite it re-opening they are happy to stay
with us and play their games in the Lower Pavilion.
Hockey
players from West Derby now use the Club as their base after their matches.
The
summer saw a new Club Captain in Rob Houghton who settled comfortably into a
difficult job. It is pleasing to see such a young side playing for the first XI
but they do rely on the experience and expertise that Rob brought.
It
was good to see the Club field a Saturday fifth XI for the first time, giving a
chance to all Senior Players and enabling the Junior Members to gain experience
playing with Senior Players. This was a remarkable achievement at a time when
other clubs have struggled for players and really shows the strength of our
Junior Section who now have an excellent structure in place.
It
was a summer when we again saw many games called off because of the weather and
the ground staff had to work hard for others to take place. The games called
off also had a detrimental effect on the bar takings so for many reasons, let’s
hope for a good summer.
The
ground and the pavilion look excellent, and the fact the pavilion has never
looked better does not stop the House Committee from trying to improve it.
It
was my intention to have a list of names that I wanted to thank but in the end
listing over 20 people seemed impractical, they have been mentioned in other
reports.
I
would, however, like to thank Charlie O’Mahony who resigned from the Management
Board half way through the year.
Charlie
led the negotiations for the Hydes deal and put in place the new catering
arrangements, it was definitely a case of “job done” when he left the Board and
the Club should benefit for years from this work.
Bob
Paisley
Chairman