SWINDON TOWN COMMUNITY MUTUAL LTD

FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 JULY 2005

SOCIETY INFORMATION

• Anthony Norris (Chairman)
• Paul Wardell (Vice Chairman)
• Alan Jones (Treasurer)
• Andy Ratcliffe
• Andrew Hounsell
• Paul Davis
• Alan McCluskie
• Tim Gilmour

• Christine Norris

REPORT OF THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES

The trustees present their report with the financial statements for the period ended 31 July 2005.

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
• Christine Norris
• Mark Ratcliffe Resigned March 2005
• Andy Ratcliffe
• Andrew Hounsell
• Paul Davis
• Alan McCluskie Appointed May 2005
• Tim Gilmour Appointed May 2005

The interests of the trustees holding office on 31 July 2005 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 their fourth year as a Supporters Trust, TrustSTFC has continued in it's role as the primary independent voice of the supporters of Swindon Town Football Club

It proved to be a very interesting year for the Trust. The Trust board had it's annual reshuffle with Paul Wardell (Vice Chair), Alan Jones (Treasurer) & Christine Norris (Secretary) all taking new roles.

With the debacle of the Shaw Stadium coming to a conclusion the Trust board took a major strategy decision. That was to try to produce more positive and forward thinking ideas to help move the club forward and secure its long term future

Unfortunately we had to press the club on two major areas of concern:

Ticket prices were a major cause for complaint amongst Trust members and other supporters. The Trust highlighted the negative affect this was having on the attendances at the County Ground. The club pointed to the rise in the number of season ticket holders to indicate that the pricing structure was fine, but tihs hid the underlying issue of falling 'pay on the day' numbers and the knock on effect this would have on cash flow through the season. To try to bridge the impasse between the club and the Trust, the Trust produced a document showing how ticket prices could be reduced whilst maintaining revenue levels. This included the reduction of main stand prices, cheaper tickets for children and the reintroduction of wing discounts in the main stands. Despite this effort the club decided to completely ignore this document and continue with their own, and in the Trust view, flawed pricing structure.

The clubs finances remained in a perilous position. This was highlighted at the Club`s AGM held in January 05. The club again failed to publish any accounts, but they did state that the business was losing approximately £800K a year. The finances seemed to lurch into further difficulties when the Trust discovered that the club was facing a winding up order for non-payment of VAT. The payment was finally made thank to the generosity of the Wills family. The whole incident highlighted how hazardous the clubs position is.

The Trust is well aware that the Club needs to have additional income streams to the gate receipts to be able to secure its long term future. To pursue this aim the current structure of the club would need to be radically altered either by moving to a new stadium or be redeveloping the County Ground. After several aborted and somewhat farcical attempts to find a suitable site for a new stadium it became apparent that the club and the borough council were at an impasse. As a matter of urgency the Trust decided to try and get some momentum behind the stadium debate and so a petition was started calling for the club and council to work together to either redevelop the County Ground or to find a suitable site for a new stadium. In the background the Trust officers talked to all the parties within the council to see if we could get some consensus to allow development plans to move forward.

The first breakthrough came in October 2005, when the Trust backed a motion from Councillor Tomlinson calling for the council and the New Swindon Company to talk to the club about options for redeveloping the County Ground. By this time the petition had reached 3000 signatures.

Further lobbying of the council finally saw results when an all party motion was passed calling for the council to cooperate with the club over the future of the County Ground or to find a suitable site for a new stadium. This motion received further backing when the Civic Trust announced their support. I cannot emphasize enough the amount of effort, thought and sheer hard work that officers of the Trust put into gaining this significant milestone in the clubs future. It is only the first step on a long road, but we have at last managed to move forward.

The main fundraising activity for this period was the Red Army Fund. In Septeber 04 the fund reached £5,000 and in February 05 the fund secured its first signing. Michael Proctor joined on a months loan, and even managed to score a goal!

In this year the Trust 'came of age' and proved that supporters are more than just turnstile fodder, but are a valuable asset for any football club. They can offer a skill set and experience that if bought in , would be well beyond the financial reach of the majority of football clubs.

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 collecting signatures for the petition. I would like to thank 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 2005 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.

Basis of audit opinion

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.

Opinion

In our opinion the financial statements give a true and fair view of the state of the society's affairs as at 31 July 2005 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.