## Newhill Football Club ## Annual General Meeting ## 2022/2023 season 30[th] May 2023 - Whiterock Leisure Centre meeting room – 7pm COMMITTEE IN ATTENDANCE – Patrick McStravick (Chair), Sean Irvine (secretary), Sean McChesney (treasurer), Carl Toner, Darren Donnelly, Conor McMullan and Chris Smyth ## CHAIRPERSON REPORT AND OPENING REMARKS Chairperson, Patrick McStravick welcomed everyone in attendance and said that it was a special year for the club as they celebrated their 50[th] anniversary. Plans are afoot for a dinner at Belfast City Hall in September to mark this special event and the club have a number of plans around this as to how best celebrate all things Newhill FC. On the field of play, the club continues to grow, with boys and girls, men and women all wearing the ‘Hill shirt and representing the club with pride. Patrick thanked all of our volunteers and in particular our coaches who give up so much of their time to ensure people in our area can benefit from football. He also wanted to take time to thank the likes of Gerry McKee at the Irish FA and Rab at the South Belfast YL for their support and guidance as ever. Our summer activities will once again focus around the Foyle Cup and at the time of writing we have a record number of teams entering and representing the club at what is a very prestigious tournament. ## SECRETARY REPORT Our secretary Sean thanked Paddy for his welcoming remarks and thanked Paddy personally for all his hard work and he reflected that without the efforts of Paddy the club would not be where it is today and the fact that we are celebrating our 50[th] anniversary is an incredible milestone for the club. Sean said the overall, participation numbers are on the rise and the girls’ section of the club is continuing to thrive after its launch just after the pandemic. He said the club has a record breaking number of teams and while this may cause headaches for the club in general, he said it is testament to the reputation the club has in being a development first club and one which puts young people first. Sean said that it had been a challenging year for the club, particularly with the growth in members and the issues around the cost-of-living crisis and lack of government funding is having an impact on the club. He paid tribute to the funders who continue to support our club through thick and thin including the Education Authority, Belfast City Council, the Halifax Foundation and the Department of Foreign Affairs in Dublin. Sean also thanked Belfast City Council for their support and highlighted that it was fantastic to see the Whiterock 3G pitch finally relaid. It had become a health and safety hazard and the new pitch is without doubt one of the best in the country. He thanked local councillors and council staff for helping the club to flag this issue and it was great to see the council investing in facilities on the Whiterock. ## TREASURER REPORT Sean McChesney issued copies of our independently examined accounts and asked the online audience if any financial issues needed explained further. Our primary sources of income were through grants received from the likes of Belfast City Council and the Education Authority through the TBUC Programme. The income was confirmed as £89,469, representing a considerable hike in income from the previous £59,774. In addition, our expenditure was £95,107, a considerable increase from £59,388. It is worth noting these figures are compared against 21/22 when football was ‘watered down’ and we had limited competitions due to restrictions in place from the pandemic. Our main outgoings continued to focus around pitch hire and the Foyle Cup summer programme. ELECTION – All office bearers were proposed, seconded and re-elected for the forthcoming season. Patrick McStravick (Chair), Sean Ervine (secretary), Sean McChesney (treasurer), Signed and adopted – 01/06/2023 Chairperson