SWINDON TOWN COMMUNITY MUTUAL LTD

FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 JULY 2004

SOCIETY INFORMATION

• Anthony Norris (Chairman)
• Paul Wardell (Vice Chairman)
• Alan Jones (Treasurer)
• Mark Ratcliffe
• Andy Ratcliffe
• Andrew Hounsell

• Christine Norris

REPORT OF THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES

The trustees present their report with the financial statements for the period ended 31 July 2004.

The society is limited by guarantee and registered with the Financial Services Authority under the Friendly and Industrial and Provident Societies Act 1968.

The principal activities in the period under review were to:

• Strengthen the bonds between the Club and the community which it serves and to represent the interests of the community in the running of the club.
• Benefit present and future members of the community served by the Club by promoting, encouraging and furthering the game of football as a recreational facility, sporting activity and focus for community involvement.
• Provide and maintain facilities for the enjoyment of professional football.
• Promote coaching schemes to develop the football skills of young people and to widen interest in football regardless of the sex or ethnic origin of those involved.
• To further the development of the game of football nationally and internationally and the upholding of its rules.
• To encourage and promote the principle of supporter representation on the board of the club and ultimately to be the vehicle for democratic elections to the board of the Club.

• Anthony Norris (Chairman)
• Paul Wardell (Vice Chairman)
• Alan Jones (Treasurer, appointed February 2004)
• Christine Norris (Secretary, appointed May 2004)
• Leigh Collett (resigned as Treasurer 1 February 2004)
• Peter Woods (resigned as Secretary 1 May 2004)
• Justin Tomlinson (resigned 1 May 2004)
• Mark Ratcliffe
• Andy Ratcliffe
• Andrew Hounsell

The interests of the trustees holding office on 31 July 2004 in the issued share capital were as follows:

The Friendly and Industrial and Provident Society law requires the trustees to prepare financial statements for each financial year which give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the society and of the surplus or deficit of the society for that period. In preparing those financial statements, the trustees are required to

• select suitable accounting policies and then apply them consistently;
• make judgements and estimates that are reasonable and prudent;
• prepare the financial statements on the going concern basis unless it is inappropriate to presume that the society will continue in business.

The trustees are responsible for keeping proper accounting records which disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of the society and to enable them to ensure that the financial statements comply with the Friendly and Industrial and Provident Societies Act 1968. They are also responsible for safeguarding the assets of the society and hence for taking reasonable steps for the prevention and detection of fraud and other irregularities.

The auditors, Banks Chartered Accountants, will be proposed for re-appointment in accordance with Section 5(1) of the Friendly and Industrial and Provident Societies Act 1968.

CHAIRMAN’S REPORT AND REVIEW OF THE PERIOD

In our third year as a Supporters Trust, TrustSTFC has continued its role as one of the primary independent voices of the supporters of Swindon Town Football Club.

In August 2003, TrustSTFC launched the Red Army Fund. This fund is ‘ring-fenced’ for the purpose to help pay for improvements to the Swindon Town squad. Despite the low response from the business community, the reaction from fans has been encouraging. In the first year £4,500 has been raised, while around £400 a month is received via fans’ standing orders. While this is a good start, it would be nice to have more businesses contributing.

On the pitch, the last season was very encouraging. The club reached the play-offs, which despite the high price of tickets, meant that attendances were higher. Unfortunately, conceding a last minute goal in the play-off semi-final and the resulting penalty shoot-out, meant another season in the Second Division, or as we were soon to find out, League One!

Despite a relatively successful season, the club decided to raise the ticket price from £21 to £23 (for the main stands). Due to the unpredictable performance of the side, this has resulted in a significant drop in the average match day attendance. TrustSTFC has continued to speak out on this subject as the Trust believes high ticket prices significantly affect the ability of ordinary fans to come and watch the club play and to get these disenfranchised fans back to the game is a greater challenge than retaining them. TrustSTFC do appreciate that the club has budgets to balance, but even the most ardent of fans have a limit to what they can afford.

The club does seem to be on a much better financial footing, but the fans cannot comment as the club has still yet to produce the last three years’ accounts. The board have assured both the Trust and the shareholders that these accounts will be published in the next few months. We look forward to viewing them.

In May, the club announced plans to build a new stadium at Shaw Forest. Due to public demonstrations against the plan, Swindon borough Council blocked any development of Shaw Forest, and decided to keep a Community Forest on the site.

Despite this setback, the Trust started a petition asking the council to consult with the club about the possibility and location of a new stadium development. Thanks to the Trust’s initiative in collecting some 4,000 signatures and its negotiation skills in getting all the local political parties to co-operate, the council passed an all party motion stating that the Council would co-operate with Swindon Town Football Club to investigate the feasibility of re-developing the County Ground, or finding an alternative site should the County Ground site prove unsuitable. Whilst this is only a small step on a long road, it is a promising start and must be seen as a significant achievement for the Trust.

Finally, none of this could be completed without the tireless efforts of the volunteers, Trust board members and non-board members alike, staffing the Trust office, collecting money for the RAF Fund and to collecting signatures for the petition. I would like to thank all these people, without whom the Trust could not operate.

REPORT OF THE INDEPENDENT AUDITORS TO THE SHAREHOLDERS OF SWINDON TOWN COMMUNITY MUTUAL LIMITED

We have audited the financial statements of Swindon Town Community Mutual Limited for the period ended 31 July 2004 on pages six to ten. These financial statements have been prepared in accordance with the provisions of the Industrial and Provident Societies Act 1965 and the Friendly and Industrial and Provident Societies Act 1968, under the historical cost convention and the accounting policies set out therein.

Respective responsibilities of trustees and auditors As described on page three, the society’s trustees are responsible for the preparation of financial statements in accordance with applicable law and United Kingdom Accounting Standards.

Our responsibility is to audit the financial statements in accordance with relevant legal and regulatory requirements and United Kingdom Auditing Standards.

We report to you our opinion as to whether the financial statements give a true and fair view and are properly prepared in accordance with the Friendly and Industrial and Provident Societies Act 1968. We also report to you if, in our opinion, the Report of the Trustees is not consistent with the financial statements, if the society has not kept proper accounting records and if we have not received all the information and explanations we require for our audit.

We read the Report of the Trustees and consider the implications for our report if we become aware of any apparent misstatements within it.

We conducted our audit in accordance with United Kingdom Auditing Standards issued by the Auditing Practices Board. An audit includes examination, on a test basis, of evidence relevant to the amounts and disclosures in the financial statements. It also includes an assessment of the significant estimates and judgements made by the trustees in the preparation of the financial statements, and of whether the accounting policies are appropriate to the society's circumstances, consistently applied and adequately disclosed.

We planned and performed our audit so as to obtain all the information and explanations which we considered necessary in order to provide us with sufficient evidence to give reasonable assurance that the financial statements are free from material misstatement, whether caused by fraud or other irregularity or error. In forming our opinion we also evaluated the overall adequacy of the presentation of information in the financial statements.

In our opinion the financial statements give a true and fair view of the state of the society's affairs as at 31 July 2004 and of its income for the period then ended and have been properly prepared in accordance with the Friendly and Industrial and Provident Societies Act 1968 and the Industrial and Provident Societies Act 1965.

INCOME AND EXPENDITURE ACCOUNT

BALANCE SHEET

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

1. ACCOUNTING POLICIES

The financial statements have been prepared under the historical cost convention.

Income represents the donations, subscriptions and other fundraising events during the period appropriate.

Lifetime memberships are taken to income and expenditure account over a period of twenty five years.

Depreciation is provided at the following annual rates in order to write off each asset over its estimated useful life or, if held under a finance lease, over the lease term, whichever is the shorter.

Stock and work in progress are valued at the lower of cost and net realisable value, after making due allowance for obsolete and slow moving items.

Cost includes all direct expenditure and an appropriate proportion of fixed and variable overheads.

The society is exempt from UK Corporation and Income taxes and therefore, no deferred taxation arises.

2. NET INCOME

3. TAXATION

4. TANGIBLE FIXED ASSETS

5. FIXED ASSETS INVESTMENTS

6. STOCKS

7. DEBTORS: AMOUNTS FALLING DUE WITHIN ONE YEAR

8. CREDITORS: AMOUNTS FALLING DUE WITHIN ONE YEAR

9. CREDITORS: AMOUNTS FALLING DUE AFTER MORE THAN ONE YEAR

10. SHARE CAPITAL

The shares of the Trust have the nominal value of £1 each and may not be transferred or withdrawn. No member may hold more than one share individually or jointly.

If a member ceases to be a member, the share registered in the name of that member is cancelled and the amount subscribed for the share becomes the property of the Trust. Shares do not carry any right to interest, dividend or bonus.

The members have the rights and powers available to them under the law relating to Industrial and Provident Societies and are to decide in particular the issues specifically reserved to them by the Trust’s Rules.

11. RETAINED SURPLUS

12. RELATED PARTY TRANSACTIONS

During the period the society reimbursed expenses incurred wholly and exclusively for the benefit of the society to the following trustee:

TRADING PROFIT AND LOSS ACCOUNT

Swindon Town Community Mutual Limited, trading as TrustSTFC, an Industrial and Provident Society registered with the Registrar of Friendly Societies under the Industrial and Provident Societies Acts 1965-78. All references to the ‘Trust’ or TrustSTFC on this site are to the Swindon Town Community Mutual Limited that holds funds, under its rules, for the benefit of the community and not in trust for its members.