Club Chairman, Paul Gardner has prepared the following information for distribution following his speech in the Chairman's function today

Finance
Fiction
The Club has no money
Fact
- The Club has recorded four consecutive years of profit, and has reduced debt by over 50% from $5.5m to $2.7m since 2004
- The Club recorded aggregate losses of $8.52 million between 1999-2003 (Average $1.42 million/annum)
- The Club has invested profits from recent years into both debt reduction and football department spending (increased by $500k in 2007 and again in 2008)
- The Club has increased non-AFL sourced revenue by 35% in last 4 years (Vic club average 29%)
- The Club’s annual revenue is approximately $28 million/annum or $538k/week lower than the highest revenue Club (Collingwood).  Over time, this seriously compromises the ability of Melbourne to be competitive
- The financial result for 2007 ($96K profit) was adversely impacted by player injuries ($400K), reduced match related revenue ($550K) and gaming performance ($500k).
The Board considered this result to be unacceptable and took appropriate steps.

Fiction
“Raise money or sink Auditor warns Dees” (Deborah Gough The Age 23 March)
Fact
The Club Auditor has said nothing of the sort. Auditors Ernst and Young have issued the same qualified audit opinion referring to “inherent uncertainty regarding going concern” in every set of published accounts for the Melbourne Football Club since 2001. The qualification refers to the Club’s reliance on ongoing AFL funding and the Club’s net asset position. A similar qualification appears in the Audit opinion of three other clubs (Carlton, St Kilda, North Melbourne) who also have negative net assets.

Fiction
The Club is reliant on AFL Funding/Welfare/Life Support
Fact
- Under the current industry funding model, all 16 clubs are reliant on AFL funding.  Without this funding no club would be viable.
- The competitive balance fund (CBF) was abolished by the AFL some years ago, and replaced by the Annual Special Distribution (ASD).  Melbourne is one of ten clubs to participate in the ASD in 2007.

Members and Supporters
Fiction
The Club has no members / fickle supporters
Fact
- The Club’s supporter base (187,000) is the smallest in the AFL.  The Club’s membership (28,077 in 2007) is the second smallest.
- The supporter demographic is ageing.  MELBOURNEfc is seriously under-represented in Auskick Club allegiance statistics.
- Dwindling/ageing supporter base is a legacy of 43 years of underachievement in football terms.  The Club recognises this as a major strategic threat to the future strength of the Club.
- The Club has increased membership by 36% (20,647 to 28,077) between 2004-2007 (Vic Club average 9%).
- Melbourne has the highest conversion of supporters to paid-up members of all AFL clubs.
- 23% or 21,000 of the MCC’s 90,000 members support the Melbourne Football Club.  7000 of these take out membership of the Football Club.  The remainder notionally support the Melbourne Football Club through the Annual Grant (currently $500K) from the MCC to the MFC.

Membership target is 30K for 2008. As at 27 March, memberships sold are 22,870 (vs 2007 YTD 24,209 and budget 25,867).

Governance
Fiction
The Board is the second worst in the AFL for Board instability
Fact
- The Club has a history of bitter divisions and in-fighting, including the merger debate (1996) and contested elections in 2001 and 2003
- Since the election of Paul Gardner as Chairman 4 years ago, the following has occurred:

- No contested elections

            - Retirement and replacement of 8 (of 11) Directors through seamless and    managed succession planning, maximising Board skill mix and providing fresh ideas.  - Appointment of past player Andrew Leoncelli and Businessman/MCC Member Peter Spargo in recent months has continued this process
- Appointment of 3 female Directors – leading the industry
- Comprehensive constitutional reform ensuring best practice governance and compliance – 3 years in advance of AFL’s issuing governance guidelines to clubs
- Robust performance management process for Directors and staff
- Cohesive and unified Board with no leaks
- Effective Finance Audit and Risk Committee

Training and administration facilities – the Home
Fiction
Melbourne is homeless
Fact
- Melbourne has not had an exclusive 52-week training facility for 150 years of the Club’s existence
- Prior to 1985, the Club has trained on the MCG in winter and an oval in Swan Street in summer
- In 1994, the then Club administration signed a long-term lease on Junction Oval. This decision condemned the Club to more than a decade of separation of football department from administration, substandard training/rehab/ medical faculties and a training surface available only between April-September.  This required the Club to access multiple suburban grounds for summer training
- In 2004, the current Board entered into a memorandum of understanding to become an anchor tenant in the $268 million Melbourne rectangular stadium in the Melbourne Olympic Park precinct.  Initially, the Club was to occupy its new training /admin home in April 2008.  Delays in the completion of the project (now estimated late 2009) have been caused by issues relating to other tenants and have been beyond the control of Melbourne FC
- In addition to occupancy of the new MOPT home, complete with state of the art administration, training and medical/rehab facilities, Melbourne has commenced discussions with the City of Casey regarding provision of a summer training base in Cranbourne, thereby giving the Club access to a new demographic in one of Australia’s fastest growing municipalities
- Funding for the MOPT “Home” ($2.7 million total) has been secured by a combination of Club fundraising ($816k raised to date towards target of $1.8 million), State Government ($1 million grant announced 17 March) and AFL
- Rather than depicting the Club as homeless, the correct position is that within 18 months the Club will take up occupancy in a state of the art training and administration base, located in the MCG/MOPT precinct, for the first time in 150 years.

Football
Fiction
Melbourne has no credibility as a football team
Fact
- The Club has not won a Premiership since 1964. This 43 year Premiership drought is the second longest in this competition. It explains the disillusionment and cynicism of many supporters, which can only be exorcised by a Premiership win. Striving for a Premiership drives every action and decision taken by the Club and is at the heart of our football credibility.
- Since 1987, Melbourne has played in 12 finals series. This is bettered only by West Coast (17) and Essendon (13). In the same period, Collingwood and Carlton have seen finals action in 9 seasons, Richmond twice.
-  Melbourne will continue to make changes in its Premiership quest. For Season 2008, we have a new Senior Coach, two (of three) new Assistant Coaches, two new Development Coaches, a new Football Operations Manager (Chris Connolly) and a new Manager of Recruitment and List Management. There are 8 new additions to our Senior List and 11 introductions to the Club in our expanded list of 44.
- The Sandringham alliance is the industry “Gold Standard”. It has served Melbourne well with development of young players, many of whom have played in Sandringham’s four post-alignment VFL Premiership teams.

Fiction
The Football Department is under-resourced
Fact
- Training facilities are substandard; this will be rectified by the Casey Fields Project (planned to be available for the 2009 pre-season) and the MOPT home (available late 2009).
- Football department expenditure ($13 million in 2007) is mid-range for the AFL (9th of 16).

Fiction
“Dees Cut Coaching Budget” (The Australian, 2 August 2007)
Fact
- An additional $500k was added to the Football department in 2008. Following a further $500k additional investment in 2007. The additional funding was applied to the creation of additional Development Coaching positions (Kelly O’Donnell and Mark Williams), expansion of List Management and Recruiting network (Recruiting Officer based in Darwin) and leadership development through Leading Teams.

Management
Fiction
The Club is poorly managed
Fact
- Management of the Club improved significantly following Steve Harris’ appointment in June 2004. This improvement will continue with the appointment of new CEO Paul McNamee, one of Australia’s leading Sports Administrators
- Priority areas identified for Paul include staff morale/retention, stakeholder relations (especially AFL and MCC) and brand enhancement. Long term initiatives such as China and Team Melbourne remain as key items on the Club agenda
- Embracing broad community issues is a key to the Club’s brand strategy.
- Melbourne’s pioneering of the memorable “Pink Lady” initiative established the Club as an industry leader.

Fiction
The Club’s relationship with the AFL is poor
Fact
- The Club enjoys an excellent and supportive relationship with AFL Chairman Mike Fitzpatrick, the Commission, Andrew Demetriou and his executives.
- The Club meets with the AFL on a monthly basis to review Club finances. These meetings have been conducted for the last 4 years, and are a condition of ASD funding.
- The Club and the AFL – in conjunction with the MCC – are collaborating on a new 5 year strategic plan for the Club, replacing the last plan which was comprehensively overhauled in 2004.
- Notwithstanding the closeness of the relationship with the AFL, the Club operates as an autonomous entity – as much as any other club – without outside “interference” in our affairs.