The 119th Aberdeen Football Club Annual General Meeting took place on Monday 12th December 2022 at Pittodrie Stadium in the Richard Donald Stand.

Chairman Dave Cormack spoke to the media after the event. To watch on RedTV what Dave had to say in his press conference, where he was asked about the new stadium, please click here.

In attendance at the top table were Kevin McIvor, Dimitrios Efstathiou, Willie Garner, Rob Wicks, Dave Cormack, Stewart Milne, Zoe Ogilvie, Steven Gunn and Jim Goodwin. Tom Crotty had a prior business arrangement and sent his apologies.

During the ordinary business of the meeting there was the confirmed appointment of Atlanta United’s Dimitrios Efstathiou, who replaces Darren Eales as Atlanta United’s representative on the board after Darren became the Newcastle United ceo.

The AFC chairman Dave Cormack spoke very highly on the new addition. “With a strong legal and commercial background, Dimitrios joined Atlanta United from Major League Soccer MLS during which, over an 11-year tenure, where MLS experienced significant growth, he held the role of Vice President of Business & Legal Affairs before leading the department that managed the player acquisition process for each of the league’s 28 clubs as Senior Vice President of Player Relations & Competition. Among his commercial successes at MLS, he helped negotiate sponsorship agreements with blue-chip brands including AT&T, Audi and Coca-Cola, as well as experiencing the build of a number of new football-specific stadiums.”

Also, the appointment of Willie Garner as a director was confirmed.

Dave Cormack added “In appointing Willie as a director earlier this year we felt the need to add breadth and depth to the board.

“An authoritative commentator on the game, Willie is well-respected in footballing circles and the business community. His love for Aberdeen and his passion for and knowledge of the game made him an obvious candidate.

“Having recently retired from a successful business career in banking and finance, Willie brings both commercial acumen and football knowledge to the board and provides valuable input and advice as we look to execute and deliver on the Club’s strategy.”

And there was the reappointment of commercial director Rob Wicks and financial director Kevin McIver, with chairman Dave Cormack recommending their re-election to the board.

UPDATE

Moving on to the informal part of the AGM, the chairman gave an update:

“The annual report itself includes comprehensive reviews from myself and others covering last financial year and an update thru mid-November.

“I’d like to highlight a few key points:

“In 2019, we set out a clear strategy with several key pillars. Most notably – driving investment in the football team, increasing revenue through new initiatives, enhancing our fan engagement efforts, being at the heart of our community and developing plans for a new stadium.

“Despite the pandemic, we are making positive headway on all these fronts, and while first team performance is of course paramount, I’d urge everyone to look at the significant progress we are making across all areas of the Club.

“We started last season with some positive results, including reaching the play-off stage of the Europa Conference League. However, after being knocked out in the early rounds of the Scottish League Cup, along with overall poor league form, we made the decision to part company with manager, Stephen Glass. I would like to add, that we are delighted that Stephen has picked up a Head Coaching role in Memphis.

“We subsequently appointed Jim Goodwin. Jim fully embraces our strategy of playing attacking, entertaining football that gets us into Europe consistently, along with reaching the latter stages of both domestic cup competitions.

“Ending the season in a very disappointing tenth place in the league, it was clear that a significant overhaul of the playing squad was needed for the new season.

“This summer was our head of recruitment, Darren Mowbray’s, first full window. As a result of the significant recruitment work done upfront, right across Europe, by Darren and his team, working hand-in-hand with Steven Gunn, our director of football, and Jim Goodwin, we got most of our summer transfer business done early.

“Investing in our youth academy, complemented by acquiring talented young players from across Europe, alongside quality experienced players is our ideal mix. In my opinion it’s what made Eddie Turnbull and Sir Alex Ferguson’s tenures at Aberdeen such a success – a clear strategy founded upon talented young players coming through. It’s likely to take a few transfer windows to get the squad where we ideally want it, but we’ve made significant progress.

“Our wages to turnover ratio in this last financial year was 74%. This ensures we stay competitive with the likes of Hearts and Hibs, who are both making significant investments.

“But to balance the books, we need to be developing and acquiring talent which, at the right time, we can monetise through player sales, such as Lewis Ferguson and Calvin Ramsey to Bologna and Liverpool, respectively.

“Key to success will be our ability to bring through or acquire talent to replace these players. In acquiring players, such as Vicente Besuijen, Ylber Ramadani, and Bojan Miovski, amongst others, we spent about £2 million in transfer fees in 2022.

“Whilst this season is still young, having played 40% of our league games, we sit in 3rd place with a win ratio of 53%, and reached the semi-final of the Scottish League Cup. Lots to play for but a healthy start for Jim and his team.

“Compared to five seasons ago, we are now spending around £2.2 million more on the first-team guaranteed wages. In addition, the £14 million investment in Cormack Park costs £800k a year to run.

“Our youth academy has benefited massively from the new training facilities, as has the first team. It is also a major factor in our ability to attract and retain academy and professional players.

“A critical part of our strategy is being one of the best developers of young talent in Scotland. We are encouraged by the success of the youth academy, which has taken many years, managed by Gavin Levey, and driven by Steven Gunn. Last season, all academy age groups travelled to and competed in elite youth tournaments in Europe. This is a massive logistical and financial commitment for the Club, but we believe is key to our ambition to be the best developer of young talent in the country. We are now invited to these top tournaments because we are competitive against the likes of Ajax, Liverpool and Chelsea’s academies.

“We have also upped our investment in the women’s team. Following back-to-back promotions, AFC Women returned to top level action in SWPL 1 last season, finishing in an impressive fifth place.

“With additional resources and five of the squad becoming the Club’s first-ever professionally contracted women players, we’ve taken a significant step forward in the development of women’s and girls’ football in the North-East.

“The Club is committed to further developing the women’s team and we are in the midst of a medium to long-term strategic review and, as of a few weeks ago, a search for a new management team. I want to put on record our thanks to the co-management team that recently stepped down, in particular to Emma Hunter who has been the driving force over the last few seasons, claiming back-to-back promotions as the team reached SWPL 1. Emma remains a highly valued member of staff at the AFC Community Trust.

“Off the pitch, we have recorded significant success in both our commercial activities and in our fan engagement. There have been a range of positive developments around our ongoing fan engagement drive, including initiatives in the Red Shed, the family area in the upper RDS and fan zones at the Beach Ballroom.

“Our free U12 membership programme, AberDNA Junior – only a couple of years old – achieved in excess of 9,000 members for the first time and continues to nurture our fans of the future. Support for the Club’s paid membership initiative, AberDNA, remains strong with the return of in-person events helping to enhance the membership experience.

“Despite the pandemic creating ongoing uncertainty about when fans would be allowed back into stadiums for the new season, we sold a record number for the Club, 8,922, of full season tickets for the 2021/22 season.

“Commercial revenues have increased significantly and the Club now enjoys the financial support of 15 official partners, making up a diverse domestic and international portfolio.

“The past season saw the long-running front-of-shirt sponsorship by Saltire Energy come to a natural close and the Club would like to place on record its thanks to Mike Loggie and Saltire for their support. We welcomed TEXO as the front-of-shirt rights holder from the start of the 2022/23 season on a lucrative three-year deal.

“Notwithstanding the impact of global supply chain issues, our retail operation also performed well, thanks largely to strong home and away kit sales performance.

“Reclaiming our place at the heart of the community through the challenging few years of the pandemic reinforced that, when the Club works hand-in-hand with our charitable trust, alongside the Red Army, we are a truly powerful force for good in our community.

“The Club has continued to financially support the Trust which positively changes lives for the better – maximising the potential of individuals and our communities and improving physical health and wellbeing.

“Plans to progress a new stadium development have been focused on two options. Firstly, a proposed Phase 2 development at Kingsford and, secondly, a proposed new stadium as part of the plans being developed by Aberdeen City Council (ACC) for the regeneration of the beach area.

“Construction inflation in a post-Covid environment presents funding challenges and a development at either site will require consultation with fans and other relevant stakeholders before progressing.

“The stadium at the beach will be debated by Councillors on Wednesday. In the meantime, the Board believes that this dual approach is prudent.

“A key highlight earlier this year came in February, when Club legend Sir Alex Ferguson was honoured with a statue unveiling and homecoming game at Pittodrie. The recognition granted to arguably the world’s greatest manager was long overdue and the event reflected positively on the Club and the city, with the statue becoming a focal point and attraction for visitors to Aberdeen.

“Finally, I would like to finish by sincerely thanking all of our shareholders and supporters for their ongoing support. After such a disappointing season the support, both home and away, has been brilliant. Please be assured that the board, the management, and staff continue to work tirelessly to push the Club, that we all love, forward.”