KFC Annual General Meeting 2004

Wednesday's AGM was a pretty run of the mill affair with nothing astonishing to report. Outgoing chairman Sir John Orr kicked things off by going over what had been said at the Press Conference in the afternoon. He said "Last year we said that this season would see some defining moments in Scottish football and indeed it has. The measures we took last season to tighten our belt has really paid off even though it does not look like that. Had we not taken steps the debt this year would have been at least £700,000 more than the book show."

He went on: "I would really like to emphasise the fact that we are not going into administration. We met with HBOS around seven or eight months ago and presented them with a three year plan, and they are still supporting us to the hilt. All clubs at this stage are now having to review their accounts as we did last year. The hotel is making profit and the set up we have here is the envy of most of the other clubs. We have one of the best managers in the league who is always available to speak to supporters, and the board are also looking to get closer to the supporter's groups like the Trust."

Sir John continued: "I would like to thank wholeheartedly every one at the club who has helped me during my tenure, everyone has been great. We need to try and avoid negativity and accentuate the positive aspects of the club. We have four players turning out for their country tonight which just goes to show you how far we have progressed. Gordon Greer has been a massive signing and hopefully that is a sign of things to come. Once again, I can't emphasise enough how much everyone has helped me out from the last board through this one and all the back room staff."

Sir John then clarified that although people present with a proxy vote were allowed to stand up and speak that they were not allowed to participate in any show of hands. He then introduces the top table of Jamie Moffat, Michael Johnson, Angela Burnett, David Mackinnon, Jim Clark, Robert Wyper, Gordon Jackson QC MSP and finally Billy (from JRD accountants) whose name I unfortunately I can't remember, sorry. There were no official apologies rendered and the meeting moved on to the items on the agenda.

The first item was to receive and adopt the Directors' Report and the Financial Statements of the Company for the year ended 31st May, 2003. The motion was proposed and seconded and passed with no comments. The second item was to re-appoint JRD Partnership as the club auditors and to authorise the Directors to agree their remuneration. This too was proposed, seconded and passed with no comments.

The final item was to re-elect Mr. Robert Wyper as a Director as he was retiring by rotation in accordance with the provisions of the Articles of Association. This of course had been a hot topic on our forums so we were interested in how it would go. As it turns out there were around 20 (of roughly 150) of the shareholders present who backed his re-election in the show of hands, but to be fair there was no one who objected either so Mr. Wyper will maintain his position on the board.

Sir John then officially handed over office to Jamie Moffat, but informed us that despite normal protocol he would continue to chair the meeting after Jamie had said a word or two. The new chairman said: "Firstly I would like to thank Sir John on behalf of everyone for the time and effort he has devoted to the club. Secondly I would just like to say what an honour it is to become the chairman of Kilmarnock Football Club. My father before me was also proud of his involvement and no more so then when we lifted the Scottish Cup in 1997, hopefully I will also get the opportunity to enjoy such an event!"

He went on: "The board have decided that after such sterling efforts Sir John should continue his association with the club and we have asked him to become our Honourary President. He has accepted our offer and will represent Kilmarnock Football Club in an more ambassadorial role. On the financial front, The Big Match initiative is a three year plan that should see the club achieve a break even situation by 2006. That plan of course includes the addition of one million pounds of new money of which we have raised £100,000 already. We can accept the criticism that The Big Match ideas have not been a huge success with the fans so far. However, we will work on improving things with the fans help and it is essential that we all work together to achieve our aims."

He added: "I would like to clarify the statement I made at the open meeting regards me not inputting any more money. Basically I had to say that or our plight may have fallen on deaf ears. Ultimately the situation is my responsibility and I'm quite prepared to accept that. We did have a, probably too well publicised, takeover bid from Klin, but contrary to reports it was not refused on the grounds that there was not enough money in it for myself. There was simply not enough information being show to us that we could be certain a takeover would be in the best interests of the club."

Sir John then introduced the latest Director to join the board, Gordon Jackson QC MSP. Mr. Jackson said: "I am from Saltcoats and am at football games most weeks but it is with slight trepidation that I stand before you this evening as, like a stick of Blackpool rock, I'm sure if the majority of you were sliced through the middle you would have the word Kilmarnock right through you! I don't believe all the negative stuff I read in the press about how bad things are and I'm quite happy to invest in the club and do what I can to help out on the board. There has been a lot of stuff in the newspapers about my joining the board already, the majority of course which is not true. First they say I am investing a six figure sum, if only that were the case, and then they say that I'm going to be telling Jim Jefferies how to do his job. (To Jim) Rest assured Jim I wouldn't know how to do it myself in the first place!"

Mr. Moffat then thanked Michael Johnson for agreeing to be his new vice chairman and handed over to him to say his piece. Mr. Johnson reiterated much of what had been said already, adding that with Gordon Jackson coming on board we were not to worry about it being a legal takeover. No harm to him but for the sake of brevity I will skip his monologue and get on with it. Suffice to say it was well received. Sir John then ended the formal part of the evening, at 7.30pm precisely, and moved on to the informal question and answer session.

Killie Trust chairman Seven Lockhart was the first on his feet and he wanted each director to go over what they brought to the board. Michael Johnson was dropped in it by Sir John straight away. He said: "It's always nice to have time to prepare for questions such as this!" He added: "I have a legal practice in Ayr and my main function is to give legal advice to the club. I have also been involved with quite a few companies at board room level, helping with financial advice."

Jamie Moffat said: "Essentially I have to work closely with everyone at the club to ensure that everything is ticking over the way it should be. Most importantly, however, is my relationship with the bank, as we have to deal with them on an ongoing basis. I met with them the other week regards the Dundee scenario and everything is sitting well with them regards our club. We have only half the debt that Dundee are struggling with and around half of our debt was incurred by the hotel which is now ahead of schedule profit wise." The figure of £10.8 million was mentioned again but Jamie informed us two days previously that it was only £9.8 million, we will try and get that clarified.

Next up to bat was Robert Wyper, he said: "I have been here for ten years and was appointed as the Commercial Director in 1995. That post no longer exists now, as there are a lot less of us now, and we have to get involved in a broader range of things. Despite being labeled as one of the faceless directors on the web sites and stuff, I have been working away in the background for years helping out the Commercial Department and Anne Clark etc. That is also what I will be doing for the next twelve months."

Jim Clark said: "A lot of you may not know much about me either as I tend to shy away from publicity. I have been developing the former Monsanto site and brought around 500 jobs to the area. I like to think that I bring that business expertise to the board. I have two main functions, firstly to take stock of the physical assets and do reports on them and secondly I act as a kind of sounding board for the rest of the Directors, or a thermostat if you will. We know we are only custodians of this club and as such it is up to us to ensure the club's well-being for the fans and the shareholders. We are currently in the process of identifying a new site for a youth academy."

Someone enquired as to how much the club had been charged for the financial reports etc. A representative from the accountants said that it had been around £3,000 but he had charged nothing for his own time, it was only administration and office fees that the club had been billed for. A big up to that guy then, someone using their expertise for the good of the club, that could catch on!

Richard Cairns, programme editor and general all round Killie fanatic asked for a mention of the late great Richard Thompson to be recorded in the minutes. Sir John Orr said: "Richard was Killie to the core and he cared passionately about the club. If it hadn't been for the likes of Richard and his input then the club may well not have been where we are now. When I think back this year about all the other Killie people who have passed away then it saddens me greatly, they will all be a great loss to the club and sadly missed. We would like thank each and every one of them for their contribution to the club." Jamie Moffat also thanked Massud Saidi, who retired this year and was at the meeting, for his efforts as well.

Former chairman Ronnie Hamilton then took the floor and welcomed Gordon Jackson to the club on behalf of all Killie fans. He then noted that he thought it would be a good idea for a 'football' person to be co-opted on to the board as there seemed to be a distinct lack of them. Jamie Moffat said: "We will look into that. We are always looking for people who can add another dimension to the board and if anyone has any ideas then they should come to me."

Someone who shall remain nameless then stated that the Killie 125 idea must have cost the club a fortune as there did not seem to be any bigger crowds than last season. Jamie Moffat said: "The season ticket offer did not cost us any money, in fact the income is up on last year. When we calculated the two for one deal initially we thought that the number of new 'free' season ticket holders would adversely affect the walk-up revenue, but that has proved to be the opposite, the walk-in figures have increased!"

Davie Mackinnon chipped in with all the relevant figures to "add meat to the bones", illustrating just how much revenue was up despite a lot of the 'freebie' ticket holders not turning up every week...that of course is why the crowd figures still look similar. Sir John thanked Sandy, Iain, Dougie and yours truly for the efforts that we had put into our campaigning, for pestering the life out of them until they were forced to listen. But he also rightly pointed out that the board should take the plaudits for not just listening, but actually doing something about it. Something I think we should all be proud of.

Michael Johnson noted: "Our crowds hold up in comparison to anyone in the league outside the city clubs, we get good percentages, but it will always be difficult to surpass the core of around 6,000. We especially suffer due to our close proximity to the Glasgow clubs, but we have tried things to bring the fans in before and we shall continue to try again."

Jim Jefferies was then thrown into the spotlight and asked about the club's youth policy. One shareholder complained that he watched the club at every age group and he only saw one or two players that he thought would have the chance of making the grade. Jamie Moffat reacted first and said: "We see our youth policy as the way ahead and we were very disappointed when our Sport Scotland bid failed last term. They moved the goal posts on us and there was not much we could do about it. We also had to be really careful in balancing the books last year which does not help matter any."

Jim Jefferies said: "We will continue to go down the youth route as much as we possibly can. We didn't actually let as many youth players go as normal last year so there were only a couple of places available for boys coming in. There has been a lot of work put in at this club in the past in rearing young talent but what has happened to them all now? Burke, Roberts and I think there was a boy called Hammill...where are they now? I remember reading all about them when I was with Hearts and they were being hailed as world beaters, fair play to Burke, he's getting a game or two now but the rest of them have moved from club to club and not had a settled career...and we have to start asking ourselves why. That's what we need to address to make sure the current crop can progress in the game to higher levels."

The shareholder countered by asking if funds for youth training were ring-fenced. JJ replied: "No, the player budget is all put into the one pot and we have to decide how much of it goes on each area." Sir John Orr added: "I think we have loads of young players here who can make the grade, you only have to look at the first team squad week in week out. There are also young players in the other teams that are turning it on, like Dillon and the boy (Stephen) Naismith."

John Watson asked the loaded question: "How many players are out of contract at the end of the season and how many are we going to retain?" Jim said: "We have 12 out of contract, some may stay and some may go. If a player wants to leave because he thinks it will benefit him financially then there is not much we can do about it, likewise some players may wish to move to get more regular first team football. Those who we want to keep will be offered the best deals we can, but players themselves are beginning to realise that the grass is not always greener. Look at Andy McLaren, he nearly ended up with no club. Fair play to him, he was well within his rights to look for a better deal, and we wish him all the best, but he was fortunate that Dundee United had a bit of spare cash to spend."

Jim added: "I told the players the other week that the best way they could win themselves an improved deal would be to start turning in performances on the park. I think you can tell from recent results that quite a few of them have taken that advice on board!" Jim was asked about Peter Canero in particular and he said that he will be offering him a much improved contract, but we have been asked not to publish the exact details as it would be unfair to the player. However, he did say: "If a club approaches us for Peter during the transfer window and it is a good deal for the club, not a derisory figure, then we may have to take it. our first option though is to keep him here."

The problem with Peter is that there was a ruling passed on the Colin Healy case a few weeks ago which means that if he goes to any club out with Scotland we will get NO compensation. Prior to that case we would have been awarded a specific sum based on how long Peter had been with the club since his sixteenth birthday until he left, thought to be in the region of £240,000. Suddenly we are looking at losing him for nothing. There's still no justice in this game. Hopefully the improved offer from Killie will persuade the youngster that his immediate future lies at Rugby Park. First team football Pedro, you know it makes sense!

Sir John finished things off by concluding that it was a "better meeting than usual" and thanked everyone for their attendance on such a dreadful evening, and that was the end of the 2003 Annual General Meeting. Please note that while the report above is as true and accurate a representation of the actual event as you'll get, please don't be quoting anyone word for word as it was written from notes and not transcribed.