CEO Shane Richardson's Open Letter to Members

8th August 2008

Rabbitoh's CEO Shane Richardson's has issued the following open letter to the Members.

Dear Members,

I thought it was about time that I followed up my previous letter to Members to give you an update on our current status. It is interesting to note the continued speculation about the reduction of the numbers of clubs in Sydney, and the call for some clubs to relocate.

I was pleased to see the CEO of the NRL, David Gallop, came out so strongly in support of retaining the Sydney-based clubs. What is also interesting is that when this type of speculation occurs inevitably our great Club gets a prominent mention.

The facts are that if similar criteria existed today as the one that saw us ejected from the NRL competition we would actually be on top of the list, rather than at the bottom, as we were then.

Just to highlight the situation, I have listed below the statistics that confirm my comments regarding our status amongst the Sydney clubs.

  • 1. CROWDS - Currently in the top 3.
  • 2. TICKETED MEMBERSHIP - 6,641 Ticketed Members - FIRST.
  • 3. MEMBERSHIP - 12,540 Members (all types) - FIRST.
  • 4. CORPORATE PARTNERSHIPS - In excess of $6 million per annum - FIRST.

    The highlight of this is the calibre of our major corporate partners such as NAB, Virgin Blue, De?Longhi and Trivest.

  • STADIUM - We have a 10 year deal at ANZ Stadium that offers the most attractive incentives in the NRL competition.
  • TRAINING FACILITIES - We are about to move into a $23 million, purpose built, state-of-the-art facility at our spiritual home Redfern Oval. It will be the best facility of all the Sydney Clubs.
  • JUNIORS - We have 3,500 juniors in the South Sydney district.
  • ON FIELD - Despite a disappointing start to the season, mainly due to injury and suspension of key players, we have won six of our last eight games and have unearthed some exciting talent in Chris Sandow, Luke Capewell and Jamie Simpson. We have recruited well so far for next season with the great Panthers fullback Rhys Wesser and one of the form centre/wings in the competition, Colin Best.

    It is interesting to note that we have achieved all of the above with a business plan that excludes poker machine revenue. There is no doubt that many of the Sydney-based clubs will need to dramatically change the way they do business. We have already lived through that change.

    The above summary explains why we have no intentions of moving from our Sydney base. Despite all of the positives above, we still have a major challenge in achieving our budgets.

    This is not a time for complacency. You, our Members, hold the key to our on-going success on the field. We must continue to grow our Membership (Ticketed Members).

    We have a target in 2009 of 8,000 Ticketed Members, and in 2010 of 10,000 Ticketed Members. It is crucial to our business plan and therefore ultimately to our on field success that our targets are achieved. Membership is the most tangible and proactive support that any fan can give.

    We have some exciting plans for our Membership for 2009 which we will share with you, our Members, shortly. We are building a Club that you can be proud of. We are building a Club to win its 21st premiership. You are the key to that success.

    Thank you.

    Regards,
    Shane Richardson
    Chief Executive Officer
    South Sydney Football Club

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