A major jump in expenses
Travelling cost up over €48k
WICKLOW county players’ travelling expenses jumped a dramatic €48,594 in the space of 12 months it was revealed in the finance report to convention on Monday night.
There were also significant increases in team administration expenses, from €63,156 to €78,035, a jump of €14,879, buses and accommodation costs, a rise of €3,176 from €16,975 to €20,051, sports gear and equipment bill up €6,764 from €43,648 to €50,412, and strength and conditioning charges jumping a whopping €9,090 from €16,651 to €25,741.
Wicklow County Chairman Martin Fitzgerald explained that the players’ travel expenses increase came about due to an increase of 25 cent on the kilometre from 50 cent to 75 cent. He said that he is hoping that there will be a reduction in that charge in the near future.
In relation to the team administration expenses increase, Martin Fitzgerald said that the change from Johnny Magee travelling from Dublin and John Evans make the journey to Wicklow from Kerry has caused a sigificant portion of that increase.
There were notable reductions in costs, for example in catering, a fall of €4,273 from €42,014 to €37,741, training facilities down €3,225 from €5,235 to €2,010, and a significant saving on medical expenses of €15,486 from €78,354 to €62,898.
Match expenses saw a drastic reduction in referee costs from €18,977 to €13,900 from last 2017 while ‘local competition expenses’ rocketed from €3,308 in 2017 to €8,608 in 2018.
There were significant increases in a range of administration costs. Printing, stationary and publications rose from €19,263 to €27,358, Staff costs went from €76,597 to €86,180, postage and telephone increased by €5,640 from €11,449 to €17,089, while complimentary match tickets went from a cost of €2,770 in 2017 to €4,300 in 2018. There were reductions in administrative costs such as convention and congress expenses and IT maintenance.
Chairman Martin Fitzgerald said that he was unsure as to the reason for the increase in the postage and telephone increase but would look into it as he agreed that it was a considerable jump.
The Income side of the accounts show rises in funds from publications and club affiliation fees while rental of grounds ballooned from €2030 to €13,021.
Commerical income was up by close on €10,000 while gate receipts jumped up by €17,448 from 2017 to 2018.
Addressing convention, Wicklow GAA treasurer Alan Smullen said that commercial income had to be looked at in 2019 as expens- es were going to keep on rising.
‘You can see that our overall income has increased from €923, 561 up to €986,869, so that’s a nice increase. I’d like to highlight the income from the gates, there’s a 12 per cent increase. Now that does include the Senior final that went to a replay, but there’s been really, good stong gate numbers this year.
‘It is also an area of concern. We have some fantastic people who work on the gates, but we need more help. And we will have to come back to the clubs looking for more volunteers in 2019, especially as it gets into the summer and gets busier.
‘Just one piece to note on the commercial income, we would hope that that figure (€95,316) would be increasing hugely next year, it has to. The reason being that our expenses aren’t going to go backwards, as much as we might try. We all know that everything out there is going up in cost.
‘We know that it’s only going to go one way, we’re making every effort we possibly can, meeting with all the team liaisons, all the team managers in relation to costs for 2019, but we need to hit the top line, we need to start looking at our income, we need to start looking at our fundraising, and our sponsorship.
‘Has anyone got any questions on the accounts, and please be nice?’ There were no questions.