I am pleased to submit my final Presidents Report after four years at the helm of the Warrandyte Football Club. It is now time for renewal and a focus on continual improvement.

It is once again a pleasing balance sheet that I submit tonight and a different scenario from when I took over following the 2015 season. We have once again produced a trading profit with stabilized capital reserves.

We have forged a successful partnership with the Warrandyte Junior Football Club which has meant that there is now a very easy bridge from junior football to senior football, something that had been missing in the past. We are now in a position to once again field a competitive Under 19’s team which is becoming increasingly abnormal across the Eastern Football and Netball League.

Membership and Sponsorship has grown and more importantly, our sponsorship partners are seeing increased worth and value for their investment. As a result, they are seeing a renewed level of interest from our community and a sense of pride in being associated with WFC. The level of community accolades that we receive from involvement in such things as the ANZAC Day March is a testament of this reach. We have cemented respect from our community in my opinion and this should be celebrated.

My committee have also overseen the development of the playing group as well as maintaining the financial stability of the club. We have achieved all this whilst recruiting elite senior players, navigating the salary cap and then competing in the first senior finals series since elevation to Division Three. Our Under 19 team was especially successful and competed in the Grand Final.

We will be handing over a full and extended list of contracted and uncontracted players as well as a group of up and coming junior players who will be the future of our club.

Match day attendance has been satisfactory and the two major functions, The Ladies Lunch and The Presidents Lunch continue to grow.

The annual Special Effort Draw is now a feature of our calendar and each year is easier to advertise, promote and thus sell tickets. The move to make it an after game event was a success this year.

We have secured major funding for our lighting upgrade and this significant achievement should occur with minimal financial input from our cash reserves. This revelation should be applauded and will only be possible as a result of our ongoing partnership with Local, State and most importantly, Federal governments. I have personally taken quite a deal of criticism from some ill-informed and biased sectors of the club concerning our relationships with governments, but I continue to do whatever is necessary for the betterment of our club. WFC should always work with current governments and not be sidelined by political ideology. This belief will see its fruition via the $100,000 grant from the current Federal government. This grant will be added to by Manningham Council and The Warrandyte Community Bank.

I am pleased to announce that my complete committee have chosen to nominate again for 2020, this is a great announcement and this will make for a smooth transition of knowledge and experience for an incoming President.

In closing, we are much admired and envied by other football clubs in the EFNL and we should never forget that fact.

We are functioning very well as compared to many other clubs, something that is very easy to lose sight of when you are engrossed in the day to day cut and thrust of football club business.

When you reach calm waters, it’s easy to forget who steered you through the storm. I sincerely hope that as the seasons progress, the WFC community remember this committee who collectively steered them through difficult times and achieved many substantial victories such perimeter boundary signage and the proposed lighting upgrade.

Onwards and Upwards.
Peter Hookey.