Bulldogs president Peter Gordon is excited by the Club’s plans for the future, after announcing a statutory profit for the 2014 financial year.
Gordon, speaking with SEN radio on Monday night announced a profit of $329k, after an increase in revenue of $3.5m, and is confident his Club will continue to build on that revenue in coming years.
“We’ve made it a mission of ours to really grow the revenue so that we can be competitive.
“We’ve achieved the right result I think... in terms of competitive talent but we’ve also worked hard in all other areas and that’s what I’m pleased about.”
Gordon said the result enabled the Club to put more money back into the football department, which has seen significant growth in recent years.
“Our football department, leaving players aside, has increased in size and cost by 60 per cent in the last three years.
“There’s probably no other club in the competition that has invested more of a percentage increase in its coaches and its high performance people.”
Although the news was positive, Gordon is determined to see continued results.
“What we’re really trying to do is build a structure where the revenue goes up and the profitability goes up.
“We’ve got a plan to grow the business… in the order of 10 per cent in our revenues over the next five years.
“If we do that, then the profitability will increase and… (we will) be able to compete with the powerhouse clubs of the competition every year for the best players and the best coaches.”
Gordon also urged supporters to get behind the Club as the Bulldogs aim to improve on last year’s membership tally.
“This is a really exciting time for the Bulldogs, it’s probably one of the most important periods in our history… For the first time in decades and decades, we’ve got a fighting chance to build our competitiveness and our size on and off the field.
“Every single member’s got a role in that because if every one of our members can drag one or two members back… that can get us over the 40k mark, 35k mark.”
Off-field, the Club is well placed with plans for further redevelopment at Victoria University Whitten Oval, expansion into the Ballarat market, and the development of the Footscray VFL side, and Gordon says the feeling around the Club is optimistic as things are starting to also take shape on-field.
“I think Luke’s (Beveridge) brought a whole new perspective to it, I think the players are excited, they’re having a bit of fun.
“There’s a real energy about the place.”
