I bet all you members who did not make it to the Hereford match in early August, or those of you who couldn't get hold of a copy of the excellent Match Day Magazine (or programme as we used to call it in my day) on the day, would really like to be able to read the Trust's programme notes that were printed in that particular programme. Well, your every wish is our command so here are those programme notes for you to read and enjoy.

It has been a frustrating start to the season, but the grounds for optimism, both on and off the pitch, continue to grow.

The players brought in are good, solid hard-working professionals and are part of the continuous improvement shown throughout the club. We are aware that the playing squad is not yet complete, but significant funds are still available and will be used solely at the discretion of the
football management team, as and when they see fit.

Significant progress has also been made commercially, providing the foundations that will help us provide a successful, sustainable, community-based club that we will all be proud of.

In reviewing the last twelve months, I would like to measure our progress both against the aims of the Trust and the improvement both on
and off the pitch at the football club itself.

Our first aim was to promote the principle of supporters’ representation on the board of the club. On this issue we feel we have surpassed
expectations, in confronting issues and not shirking from difficult decisions. There have been wholesale changes to the Board of Directors
with each one now having specific responsibilities to assist the new Managing Director, Keith Agar.

We realise that communication has not always been perfect but feel that progress has been made to “properly take account of the views and
interests of our supporters”. Any issues can now be raised via the many different forums or directly with the club using fans@stockportcounty.com. If you feel that there is any way we can improve our communications then please let us know and where practicable we will endeavour to implement any suggestions.

The links between the club and the community have never been stronger (although realising that the practical help Stockport MBC provides is not always apparent). Future developments will show that the partnership between ourselves and the council will be mutually beneficial.

The extremely hard working commercial department within the club has succeeded in not only raising our profile and encouraging the
involvement of local business but also contributed to an extremely encouraging year's trading.

The School of Excellence continues to go from strength-to-strength as has been shown by an outstanding audit report and from an encouraging point of view an ever-increasing number of Premiership clubs taking an interest in our younger players. We will never stand in anyone’s way but players will not be allowed to leave “on the cheap.”

It is painfully obvious that most football clubs do not follow the usual business principles, and believe in some way football is different. It
is not and we should not delude ourselves any longer. The business in this case is, or rather should be, a wide-ranging, community based profitable concern with diverse income streams. We have given individual responsibilities on the board to maximise each source
of revenue and develop a strategy to grow each part of the business.

There is an obvious correlation between the football and commercial aspects of the club; a successful team increases not only ticket sales
but merchandise too. An effectively run organisation will increase the spending power available to the manager, and improve the success of the team. We must increasingly look to exploit any alternative revenue streams at our disposal to mitigate the financial turbulence that we
can, and have, experienced as a result of relegation. The more we explore these avenues the less dependent we are to these volatile swings
in income.

We now believe that we have the structures in place to provide both the supporters and local community with an enduring and successful football club.

I will not bore you with any further comments with regard to budgets, cash-flow and management accounts. Suffice to say the club should
break-even this financial year (This has to be measured against the fact that only two years ago the club lost £1.8 million!)

We have only achieved this with your help, and with your continued support, the only way is up.

Thank You!