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The Board of Motherwell FC asked members of the ‘Well Society and shareholders to vote on the question of whether Motherwell should vote to allow a ‘Newco Rangers’ to remain in the SPL in 2012/13 season.

The results of the ballots returned were are as follows:

Yes: 119 (18%)
No: 542 (82%)

Votes not returned: 247

The club have put Champions League Third Qualifying Round tickets on sale to Season Ticket Holders and ‘Well Society members.

The draw isn’t made until 20th July, leaving the club just eleven days to make the relevant match preparations.

However, It is hoped that by extending the selling period, it will ensure a quicker and easier process for fans wishing to attend the match.

Fans should note that the days allotted for the Third Qualifying Round is 31st July / 1st August for the first leg and 7th / 8th August for the return leg.

Obviously it is still not known when the match will take place at Fir Park so anyone buying prior to the draw being made (20th July) should be able to attend on any of those four dates.

Tickets will initially go on sale for 2012/13 Season Ticket Holders and ‘Well Society members up until Friday 6th July before they go on full general sale on Saturday 7th July.

Prices for the match have been set at:

*Concessions are listed as Over 60s and Full Time Students with a valid matriculation.
*Juveniles are listed as Under 16s.
*Fans wishing to sit in the Phil O’Donnell Stand should note that the club has a ground inspection tomorrow (Wednesday 4th July). Only after that will it know the full status of the stand and what areas UEFA will allow tickets to be sold.

The club has been advised by Derek Weir that he will be stepping down from the role of Vice Chairman.

Over the past two years Derek has dedicated a significant amount of his personal time to working on club issues and representing the club on the SPL board.

As a result of the number of extremely difficult and complex issues currently facing the game, Derek feels he is no longer able to make the time commitment required to properly fulfill the role at the club and that he needs to refocus on his other business and family matters.

He has also advised the Executive of the SPL that he will not be seeking re-election to the Board at the AGM on July 16th.

Derek has agreed to remain a Director of Motherwell FC and will continue to assist the Chief Executive and other Board members in what is an extremely difficult period for the club.

We would like to thank Derek for the significant contribution he has made to the club in his role as Vice Chairman during the past two years.

Motherwell will face Romanian side Rapid București next Monday night in the first of our 2012/13 pre-season matches.

The match will take place at Rapid’s Scottish base at the Grangemouth Stadium in Falkirk (7pm kick off).

As the stadium only has seating for 1,500, the match will be strictly all-ticket, with tickets going on sale from the Fir Park Ticket Office Tuesday morning (3rd July) priced at £10 for adults and £5 for juveniles.

The game marks the start of the pre-season programme. The following Saturday, Motherwell will travel to Ayr to take on the Honest Men.  Raith Rovers lie in wait the Tuesday after with Everton visiting Fir Park on Saturday 21st July for Stevie Hammell’s Testimonial.

Before the Champions League Third Round qualifier, there is still enough time for a Lanarkshire derby when ‘Well take on Hamilton Accies at New Douglas Park on Tuesday 24th July.

>> UPDATED FIXTURE LIST

The Ticket Office will be open today (Saturday) for any fan wishing to renew or buy their 2012/13 Season Ticket.

The office at the Chapman Building will be open from 10am to 2pm.

The Club Shop in the Davie Cooper Stand will also be open, 10am to 1pm.

‘Well boss Stuart McCall has told MFC TV today he expects some of the younger players in the squad to play a much bigger role this term.

The Steelmen have a fairly thin squad in terms of experience but is topped up with an underbelly of exciting young talent promoted from last season’s Under 19s squad.

And McCall has admitted he may have to rely on the likes of Adam Cummins, who made his first-team debut towards the end of last season, a whole lot more in the forthcoming campaign.

He said: “We are obviously missing Stephen Craigan who retired, Tim Clancy who has gone to Hibs and Steve Jennings who, through his agent, told me he wouldn’t be back.

“We’re a bit thin; last season we had a small squad and were fortunate with injuries. We were fighting with League Two and non-league clubs in terms of wages. Now, what with everything going on in Scottish Football, we are going to struggle to match any of them.

“But the major positive is we are going to try and blood some of our younger players. I am always one for giving youngsters a go but to be fair if you look at last season, the senior players, in fact, everyone in the squad, were really at the top of their game.

“If it is a case where we have to play our youngsters then you hope the swim as opposed to sink. Hopefully, by getting a chance early they can prosper and flourish similar to previous talents this club have produced.

-WATCH THE FULL INTERVIEW ON MFC TV-

The Motherwell first-team squad, along with a certain James McFadden, returned to a rain-soaked Dalziel Park for the first day of pre-season training.

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Season Tickets have been on sale for almost two months now and sales thus far have been extremely encouraging.

With some of the uncertainty surrounding Scottish Football, it is important as many Motherwell fans as possible play their part by supporting the club.

But the Season Ticket represents tremendous value for money; here are just some of the reasons why you should become a Season Ticket holder.

PRICES FROZEN & SAVINGS

The club have completely frozen prices from last year meaning what you paid for your ticket in 2011/2012 will be exactly the same as what you pay in 2012/13.

In addition, a season ticket, when compared to paying at the gate each week, could also save you anything between £72 and £524 depending on where in the stadium you choose to sit.

EUROPEAN TICKETS

A 2012/13 Season Ticket will guarantee you exclusivity on all our home European games including Champions League qualifiers. You will not miss one second of the clubs’ seventh season in European competition.

WELLevate

For the third season running, this initiative allows any adult or senior citizen season to bring along any kid aged 12 or under for free all season (season ticket book will be issued).  What is more, the Davie Cooper Stand is slightly different meaning you can claim up TWO U16s tickets absolutely free of charge.

DISCOUNT OFFERS

The excellent Season Ticket offers, which can be used to earn a host of discounts in a number of well-known businesses throughout Lanarkshire, has also been extended.

We’ve added the likes of Tony Macaroni, Hamilton Palace, Knockhill Racing and Esporta to the 35 strong list which already contained the likes of McDonalds, KFC, Subway, Pizzahut, LivingWell Health Club, Evans Halshaw and many, many more.

We are Scotland’s Family and Community Club and we want and need you to be a part of that.

-CLICK HERE FOR MORE INFORMATION-

Prices for the pre-season friendly against Lanarkshire neighbours Hamilton Accies can now been confirmed.

The match, which is due to be played at New Douglas Park on Tuesday 24th July (7pm KO) will be pay at the turnstile with admission agreed by both clubs as:

• Concessions are listed as Under 18s and Over 65s.
• Disabled price includes one carer. Tickets should be pre-booked with scott@acciesfc.co.uk.

The following Guidance Document has been sent to all ‘Well Society members ahead of the ballot on the ‘Newco Rangers’ application to the SPL.

It is not loaded to sway influence, nor is it designed to scare or panic ‘Well fans into one vote or the other.

It represents the Board’s honest view with the information they have at hand on some of the risk and uncertainty surrounding each possible outcome of the vote on July 4th.

Guidance Document

Risks and Uncertainties to Motherwell FC Finances

Although there is continued speculation on various NEWCO scenarios, there is, at present, only one issue to be determined, namely whether the application by NEWCO for transfer of the SPL share currently held by Rangers to the NEWCO, should be allowed.

It is this scenario we put to members/shareholders in this ballot.

This document seeks to set out the information and scenarios currently available to the Board to allow members and shareholders to cast their vote with maximum available information. We have written it as objectively as possible but require the obvious disclaimer that there remains very significant uncertainty particularly on the revenue impact of all scenarios.

Current Trading

In the financial year 2010/11 we made a profit of £541k. For financial year 2011/12 we do not yet have audited accounts, however, we expect a loss of circa £500k on the basis of income of £4.3m and costs of £4.8m.  This loss was notified with our annual accounts last year.  It is a result of our decision to maintain our football department budget at last year levels, increased performance related pay, increased cost due to Well Society launch, alongside lower revenues from Cup income, no European income and, crucially, our failure to secure a player trade in the previous 2 windows.

It should also be noted that each league position, other than 1st and 2nd, is worth approximately £85k in revenue in SPL distribution and that our distribution obviously varies depending on performance.

The flexibility of our cost base to adjust in the face of losses in income is limited.  Our main cost is staff and, in particular, football department related. As always, the balance which requires to be struck is cutting costs to meet expected income while maintaining performance to the level where higher income can be achieved.

As things stand our budget for expenditure for 2012/13 is £4.5m including a football department budget of £1.8m for players and a further £0.8m on other football activities subject to upside risks on the basis of performance. Clearly, a substantial portion of those costs relate to contracts which are binding on the Club and cannot be renegotiated at this time.

It has been, and remains, irrespective of the NEWCO vote, essential that the Club identify, develop and trade football talent on terms that suit both player and club alike. The Board will always therefore consider competitive offers for our players if it is in the interests of all.

We currently trade with no debt save a long-standing loan to our majority shareholder Mr John Boyle of £340k which is subject to a generous affordability repayment schedule. We have also benefitted in recent years from the generosity of Mr Boyle in making funding available to assist the Club cash flow from time to time. This is no longer something which we can rely upon, or expect.

Europe

The potential net income from our European qualifications is very difficult to predict but is likely to be a minimum of £250k on the basis of past experience. This estimated minimum amount has already been included in our budget forecast for 2012/13 as guaranteed income. In the event of us progressing successfully through the first round of fixtures there is significant upside to this. This is not an equation any Board can rely on for planning purposes at this stage.

POTENTIAL IMPLICATIONS ON REVENUE – NEWCO DOES NOT RE-ENTER SPL

1. SPL distribution

Last year this sum was approximately £1.56m or 36% of our total income. The main risk to this income comes from the existing or pending sponsor/TV contracts that themselves allow SKY SPORTS and other commercial partners to review in the event of the absence of Rangers or Celtic.

Depending on the assumptions made this could mean a loss of income of around £600k.  This is our best estimate however there are risks around this number dependent on negotiations with broadcast partners.

2. Gate Income

Last year our cash income from gate receipts was £1.64m comprising £670k season tickets, £970k fans pay at gate. Of the pay at the gate cash income Rangers represented £300k or 31% while Celtic represented £285k or 29% while the other 9 SPL clubs totalled £300k or 31% of cash income (an average of £26k per game)

The potential predictable loss of income from no NEWCO is around £275K (Rangers income minus average SPL other). In addition to this we would expect our commercial revenues from hospitality and sponsorship to reduce but the potential here is unknown.  Our best estimate is that hospitality would be reduced by £40k.

We do not anticipate a loss of other gate receipts under this scenario indeed it is possible that we may see a modest rise in attendance (which we do hope to encourage in any event) if we are successful in our marketing initiatives and the fans of all clubs, but especially our own – improve support in the face of the challenges this scenario provides.

3. Sponsor Income

It is difficult to assess this impact which last year comprised around £275k of cash income (advertising and sponsorship). While the loss of the Rangers fan base will be a negative to any commercial contract we have to balance that with the upside of European competition and, other things being equal, the marginal relative increase in our ability to compete successfully in all competitions.

4. Player Trading

We do not anticipate that this scenario has a net impact comparatively but do note that all clubs look likely to be reducing their headcount and costs in the coming year which could have a negative market impact. That said it places a premium on the best talent.

POTENTIAL IMPLICATIONS ON REVENUE – NEWCO ENTERS SPL

1. SPL distribution

Last year this sum was approximately £1.56m or 36% of our total income. We do not anticipate a risk to this sum in the event of NEWCO re-entering the SPL.

2. Gate Income

Last year our cash income from gate receipts was £1.64m comprising £670k season tickets, £970k fans pay at gate. Of the pay at the gate cash income Rangers represented £300k or 31% while Celtic represented £285k or 29% while the other 9 SPL clubs totalled £300k or 31% of cash income (an average of £26k per game)

While we do not anticipate a loss of gate receipts from NEWCO fans under this scenario it is very possible that we see a significant loss of income from fans of other clubs and our own depending on the general view of the ‘integrity’ of the game. This is impossible to judge at this stage but the numbers above give us the chance to draw our own conclusions.

3. Sponsor Income

It is difficult to assess this impact which last year comprised around £275k of cash income (advertising and sponsorship). Again the risks in this scenario seem balanced.

4. Player Trading

We do not anticipate that this scenario has a net impact comparatively but do note that all clubs look likely to be reducing their headcount and costs in the coming year which could have a negative market impact. That said it places a premium on the best talent.

Conclusions

The information above is written as objectively as possible given the uncertainty we face in making this decision. The Board is of the view that whatever decision is made on the NEWCO vote by the SPL clubs, the financial position of Motherwell Football Club will suffer. On a purely financial basis, a “Yes” vote would likely preserve commercial revenues, however the impact on gate receipts is unclear. The risks presented by a “No” vote are slightly easier to quantify insofar as gate receipts are concerned, but even then are extremely uncertain given we do not yet know what the SPL commercial partners will decide.

There are clear risks to the financial stability and very future of this Club presented by the current situation.

In the event of serious financial difficulty, the Board will have to look to the members, shareholders and supporters to further step up their support for the club and the Well Society. This is likely to be in the form of increased prices, higher attendances and further Society memberships and contributions.

The potential target for this we estimate should be at least a doubling of the existing sum raised by the Society of £320k cash in the bank with a total of £368k pledged.  It should be noted that these events also mean that these sums may be required to ensure the Club can continue to trade in the transition and not to meet our strategic goal of generating a £1.5m strategic reserve which we will require to generate over and above the sums required to trade through any transition.

It is clear that if we are unable to replace significant amounts of income lost under either scenario, the club could be facing an insolvency event. Following new rules recently introduced at SPL, this would lead to a 21 point deduction, being one third of last year’s total. Whilst other clubs could also be in the same position, their points deduction would be lower.

The Board will of course keep all of our members, shareholders and supporters fully informed of the state of trading and the requirements on all of us.