DAVIE RAE STEPS DOWN AS QUEEN'S CHAIRMAN
Queen of the South Chaitman Davie Rae will stand down as Chairman of the club in the New Year it was revealed at a packed AGM on Monday eveing in the Nith Hotel Glencaple. Director W.J. Hewitson will take over the reins of the Palmerston hot seat. T.G.Harkness has also stepped down as Director along with C.N.Rutherford whose resignation was announced earlier in the week. M. Robertson and C.Paterson were also re-elected as Directors at the AGM which had a more professional feel this year with a Power Point video presentation and excellent sound facilities provided by our very own Alec Wilson of Queens Mad.
The financial state of the club was presented to the meeting by Mr Paterson and it was revealed that Queens made a loss of £259,945 for the financial year 2010/2011 which was put down to falling attendances, a harsh winter resulting in many postponements and an unexpected early exit from the Scottish Cup. Mr Paterson indicated that measures had been put in place so that any losses made in the financial year 2011/2012 will be reduced.
Questions were invited from the floor and a number of topics were discussed which are condensed as follow:
Mr Rae thanked the good work carried out by our Youth Coaches - Club financial situation being stabilised - Club went for two and a half months last year without any income due to match postponements - Players budget not revealed and treated as confidential which is the case with most clubs - Club must search for income outside attendances - The termination of the Tesco lease was considered a wise decision in the long term - Attendances on the decline - Current average attendance 1603 - Queens currently looking for new members to join the Board but anyone interested must be prepared to invest in the club - Club seriously looking at pricing at Palmerston including season ticket initiative used at Hartlepool - It was noted that a reduction in prices for the game at Dens Park on Saturday by Dundee resulted in a loss to the Tayside club - Electrical problems with floodlights at Palmerston have been resolved after rigorous tests - Complaints about filty language used by supporters group Palmy Pride have been addressed and group will be allowed on the terracing but their language will be monitored - Complaints about the use of umbrellas have been addressed - Queens Mad understands from informal discussions with Directors after the meeting that Ground re-development is very much alive - Monitoring of away gates on the abuse of concessionary entry has been a success and further measures to safeguard income from this area is being addressed.
Queen's manager Gus MacPherson then faced questions from the floor and is condensed as follows:
Club in a state of stabilisation with the playing staff on a tight budget -
Gus hoping for the return of Reserve Football as this will help the development of younger players - There was some criticism of Andy Milne turning out for the reserves which Gus countered by saying that the younger players enjoyed playing alongside experienced players such as Andy - Daniel Orsi has received a set back on his return from injury and may have to rest up a bit for a few weeks - Gus defended his decision to include Holt in his team at Dens Park saying he deserved his chance on merit and is very much in Queen's plans and has been offered a new contract - Gus was queried on his ideal choice up front. Gus would not commit himself but indicated once McCusker gained full fitness his options would be more open .
Before the Meeting closed ex Provost Mr.Cameron gave his usual rallying call to the faithful expressing how important to the community Queen of the South was.
The Meeting was closed giving Lord Palmerston enough time to buy anyone who remained a drink.