Sheffield Wednesday held its Annual General Meeting at St Paul’s Mercure Hotel this morning with around 250 supporters in attendance, the accounts were received and board members re-elected with an overwhelming majority.
The meeting represented a refreshing change from last years AGM with the board seemingly more open to discussions with the shareholders and the position of the club on and off the field was presented in an in-depth, professional manner. Last year the tone of the meeting appeared to be confrontational from the off and questions were fielded in a guarded manner but this time around there was certainly more dialogue and questions from the floor were not dismissed or avoided.
Generally the shareholders seemed appreciative and understanding of the efforts that were being made by the board and the many changes that had been implemented to improve the image and the match-day experience at Sheffield Wednesday Football Club.
Unlike last year, manager Brian Laws was in attendance and most of the criticism that arose during the meeting was directed towards him. The discussions on the playing side of matters can be seen in part two of the AGM review.
Recent SWFC meetings of this kind have unsurprisingly centred on the subject of a takeover and given that the main objective of the current board is to secure investment this was again at the forefront of the agenda.
The club did have a consortium interested in a takeover in the early part of the year but this ultimately came to nothing and the focus has been on making the club investor ready by improving the club brand in a variety of areas such as facilities, ticketing, merchandising and community & media relations.
The structured business plan details how the club is able to operate on its own footing and shows that investment is needed to kick on to the next level.
A key point raised by Nick Parker was that the club is able to generate cash. This sets them out from many other clubs that seek investment as they are often clubs that are losing money hand over fist and need constant investment to balance the books. Whilst Wednesday are carrying significant debts from previous years they have a sound relationship with the bank to which the main debt is owed and are not haemorrhaging money.
Parker stated that he is 80% confident that a deal can be completed but would not put a timescale on things. Supporters are often keen to have deadlines or specific dates in place but given the problems the club have had with this in the past it is understandable that they would want to avoid this. Such a move could also put undue pressure on any talks and force things unnecessarily in a negative manner.