“It’s your decision. If you want it to survive, sign up. A £10 per month direct debit (more if you can) and possibly a season ticket will make a difference. I’d encourage the 1,000 adult members of the Society, the Supporters’ clubs and every fan to get one other person to become engaged. If the people of the area, particularly former supporters, want it to succeed it will. If they don’t come along, then you’ll lose it”.
Number 20 in the podcast series ByTheMinMFC was a 50 minute chat with Les Hutchison. From sunny Barbados he discussed the ongoing changes at the club as he implements the restructuring needed to revive the club’s business model.
He’ll be back in Motherwell in May and seems keen to engage with Society members and fans to get his message across. Meanwhile he is involved in a daily basis as he oversees the changes behind the scenes.
An initial surprise on arriving at the club related to the lack of testing, documentation and analysis of player performance and steps have been taken to put that right. He was impressed at the multitasking evident from the staff and the extra hours they worked (though there should be no need for that if the business was run properly).
Basic revenues at the club are well below what is required. Home support last season dropped by around a thousand, there is under use of the facilities at the ground and a lack of transfer income. The new scouting system is in place to remedy that. Les has talked to Anne Budge at Hearts to gain insight into the Scottish game and he understands that we have to invest in resources to get a return.
When asked about making the match day experience more attractive he stressed that there is always room for improvement and there was no shortage of ideas. He praised the work of the Community Trust and recently donated £30k to further their work. The new website will integrate the efforts of the football side of the club together with the Trust and Society.
The manager was complimented for his professionalism, attention to detail and his understanding of the need to develop the business. Les was unwilling to reveal the length of Ian’s contract but made it clear he’ll be leading us next season. The need to improve the conditioning of players was illustrated by the last year’s cost of medical bills, £140k. Gordon Crawford and his team are already showing results.
Alan Burrows was recognised for the “extraordinary effort he makes. We owe him a huge debt of gratitude and the club is very lucky to have him”.
There was an admission that the Society had to improve its outreach to members and the wider fan base. Hutchison encouraged them to employ staff to help with communications. There is a need to invest in order to expand and he hopes to see a significant improvement soon.
Thanks to the podcast guys for providing the interview - details of their weekly shows can be found here.