Q&A - Gary Harwood

New Chairman Gary Harwood answers your questions in the latest Cambridge United club website Q&A.

Congratulations on your new appointment. How do you think that you can improve and continue on the work done by Reg Smart?
Ben, Cambridge

Gary Harwood: Thanks Ben. Reg will be an extremely hard act to follow but I will do my best to continue all the good things that make Cambridge United the club it is and improve and/or change those things at our club that are not so good.

Reg was a very 'hands on' Chairman wanting to be involved in every minute detail of club business. That was his way and it worked for him. I prefer not to be involved in all the detail but rather set the strategy, lead, facilitate and consult and ensure that those around me are empowered to make decisions within their area of expertise. This I believe leads to greater teamwork where the sum of the abilities of the whole is greater than the individual constituents.

I have taken over at a time when the weekly losses of the Club are greater than they have ever been and are at a level this Club can not sustain for very long. If we are to continue and improve then we have to dramatically change the Club's financial trading position. I will be focusing a lot of my attention on helping the Directors and staff implement the changes necessary. I will also be focusing on improving the Club's image with its fans, local businesses, the community and local authorities.

Give recent history, how hard do you find it separating your unquestionable love for Cambridge United "the team" and your professional role as Chairman? Do you worry that one affects the other?
Rob Howes, Cambridge

GH: I am a great believer that a club of our size needs to be run at Board level by real fans of the Club. I also believe, however, that those fans at Board level have to be astute business men or women. It is very easy to let your heart overrule your head in football. As you say Rob, I am a fan and always will be. Fortunately I have had enough time on the Board to recognise when hearts cloud the judgements and cloud the decisions heads should make. I know what my heart wants and expects but I believe that I am experienced enough to let my head guide me through my professional duties.

Do you think that you will be learning on the job, or do you think that you are ready to start straight away in changing a few things around?
Ben, Cambridge

GH: After 12 years on the Board I believe that I have learnt a lot. That doesn't mean I will ever stop learning but I am confident enough with my knowledge, and with the expert support I have around me, to introduce changes early. We have to be brave enough to do that as, without some very necessary changes, we could face insurmountable difficulties.

As the new Chairperson, what is your personal vision for the club for the next 5 years and do Cambridge actually have a Business Plan to achieve the set aims?
Andy Rogers, Norwich

GH: I have always had a vision of the U's playing regular first division (old second division) football. We've had a couple of spells at that level albeit that the second spell was very brief. Finances of the football business in the 21st century make achieving that vision almost impossible for clubs the size of ours. That doesn't mean it can't be done but it does mean that we have to become more professional and more controlled in everything we do. We may then be able to make this Club a little bigger with more chance of turning my vision into a reality.

Andy, we do have a five year business plan (and interestingly when we presented it to the Football Foundation to support our redevelopment grant application they said it was one of the best they had seen) but I have to say that 2001/02 has not gone according to plan! We will have to re-visit the plan over the coming weeks and make the appropriate amendments to it.

If Cambridge stay up do you have any major investment plans?
Mattster

GH: Our biggest investment plans, regardless of which division we are in, relate to the redevelopment of the Abbey Stadium. It is essential that we complete the first two phases of the redevelopment at the earliest opportunity. Without the redevelopment we will not be able to produce sufficient profits from non footballing activities to keep the Club in business, let alone hold on to our more talented players for longer in order to help us achieve the vision I described in an earlier answer.

Gary, what are your short and long term priorities for the club? (If it was me, I would make improving the commercial side top priority)
Terry Wilby

GH: As I answered earlier Terry, the first priority is to make sure the plans we are putting in place will address a significant portion of the current, weekly trading losses. I have, however, set a number of other short term goals and one of those is to take a long, hard look at the commercial strategy, change it where necessary, and then begin to implement the changed strategy.

Our longer term objective is to get, and keep, the Club on a sound financial footing and to stop the yo-yoing between the bottom two divisions and establish Cambridge United as a more permanent member of a higher division.

As Chairman, when do you think is the right time for Shaggy's testimonial? Also, as a fan, should there be any music played when we score a goal?
Matt Frost, Royston

GH: John and I have talked about his testimonial. We both agreed that it would be best if it was towards the end, or better still at the end, of next season. I have an open mind about the playing of music when we score.

If the fans want it that's fine. If they don't then that's also fine. Please let Graham Eales have any feedback on your wishes.

I know the club is in a difficult position financially. But do we have any hope of seeing some new signings at the end of this season?
Dave F, Stradishall, Suffolk

GH: John and Dale have their plans and those plans include bringing in some new faces. The Board will support John and Dale within the financial constraints that must be put, and remain, in place. I am confident that there will be a new face or two in the squad next season.

When are we going to get some decent players on the free transfer as all the other teams seem to be getting some. We need a chairman with a wad of cash in his pocket to stop us going down to the conference - forget the ground for the time being save the club!
bashbish, via the club message board

GH: I thought we had already got a number of decent players from free transfers. We will continue to use this source of supply when the right players are available and when the squad needs, and we can afford, those players.

I am not a Chairman with "a wad of cash in his pocket" and I never will be. I don't believe that is the answer and there are many good examples to support my belief. However, if you know someone with a "wad of cash in his pocket" who was prepared to put that cash into United, my Board and I would gladly discuss a proposition with him or her. While I am Chairman we will not forget the ground. Saving the Club and redevelopment are intrinsically linked.

I know we are losing lots of money but we really do need to bring in some players to even have a hope of staying up, or if we do come straight back up would it be possible to bring in some players?
Robin

GH: Robin I think I have answered a similar question already. We will bring in new players but we will also operate within our financial means. To continue not doing so would bring disaster, let alone putting us in breach of our duties as Directors of a registered company

Why don't you stop building on a bigger stadium and start buying some experienced defenders?
Madmansattic

GH: We spent a lot of money on three experienced defenders a couple of years ago. Arguably we spent a lot more than we should have done at the time. History has proved that we definitely should not have spent that amount of money. Do you really think our current defence is that bad and will not improve? I feel that our back four has looked reasonably sound over the last half a dozen games, with the exception of the Stoke game. I also believe they will improve.

We must do the redevelopment (as I have already explained) and, within reason, John Taylor must be able to build a squad capable of meeting our vision and plans. It is not a case of a bigger stadium being required at the moment but it is a case of needing the ability to generate non footballing profits from the redeveloped Abbey.

At the match on Wednesday night, you said that the contract has still not been signed for the new South Stand. What are the constant hold ups for?
Ben, Cambridge

GH: I don't recall saying that, Ben. Was it something in the programme that was said before the original, postponed Port Vale fixture date? The programme for the game was produced for the original scheduled fixture date. The contract has been let and the contractors have been given an end date. I expect them to be on site any time now. Indeed John Howard, the Director who now has Board responsibility for all stadium matters, has met with the contractors this week to begin discussions with them on their approach to, and costs for, doing the North Stand as soon as it is feasible after completion of the South Stand.

What exactly are you and Club officials currently doing to attempt to make up the shortfall in the redevelopment? Is anything happening behind the scenes as from here it seems that nothing is being done? There is no publicity of any kind and no attempt to keep this vitally important project in the public domain. Since the 'Buy a brick' and season ticket bond scheme the only visible fund-raising seems to have been the initiative of CFU.
J.C. Habbin, Cambridge

GH: Quite a lot has being going on behind the scenes recently. I hope to be able to release a statement in the very near future that will show supporters how the funding gap for the North Stand might be closed.

When will I be able to enjoy looking at the named bricks my wife bought for me a few years ago? Also, Is there any way we can save the fence? It is a cult classic now.
Stephen Longden, Cambridge

GH: I can't answer that question right now but I will repeat that I hope to be able to announce some very good news within the next few days. As for the fence - it would be a shame to use it for firewood! I am sure that our stadium staff will come up with a way of using it somehow and somewhere and, when they do, perhaps we can organise visits to it, once it has been dismantled, for a small fee thus retaining its cult status and raising funds for the North Stand at the same time!

Dear Gary, has the board of CUFC thought of getting an company to sponsor the new south stand? (examples at Peterborough, Middlesbrough, etc) This would on the face of it seem a good way of obtaining extra finances, which will be greatly needed and could go back in to the NRE stand, which as we all know, we don't have all the funds to complete and then truly make CUFC a much more stable and financial football club. Also, will the NRE stand get built if we get relegated to div 3?
Cheers, Shane, a long lost united fan in Edinburgh

GH: Yes we have considered selling naming rights for all four stands as well as for the stadium as a whole. Once visible activity begins on the South Stand we will be actively marketing the naming rights for it. Regardless of which division we are in my Board and I have every intention of completing the redevelopment of both the South and North stands for all the reasons I have already stated.

As John Beck quit rather than get the sack, was he entitled to a pay off? Does he receive any money if any of his signings for Cambridge United are sold on?
Matt Frost, Royston

GH: John Beck and the Board agreed mutually acceptable terms when he resigned. I have always made it clear that I do not discuss the terms of employment contracts with anyone except the employees concerned. Regardless of my strong belief in this matter, the nature of our employment contracts prohibit disclosure by way of confidentiality clauses within those contracts.

We have got the worst club shop in the league. There is never any stock, unless you want to buy a CUFC pen or rubber, and the club must be losing thousands of pounds every year. As a club which is losing so much money, is this not an area that the club should be trying to make changes to as soon as possible?
Richard

GH: I agree that our shop leaves a lot to be desired. I'm not sure I agree that it is the worst in the league but it would be well down the list. Our current facilities make it difficult to hold an extensive range of goods or large stocks of bulky items.

The new North Stand will include a superb new shop that will stock not only United merchandise but also general sports items. Until the redevelopment is complete our retail activities will not, unfortunately, be as good as we all want them to be. I have, however, asked Gerald Lowe, the Director who now has Board responsibilities for all retail matters, to take a fresh look at what we do and how we do it. He will look at what short term improvements could be made.

Cambridge is a town that attracts so much tourism but it seems as though Cambridge United are not marketing ourselves to our full capacity. I think we would benefit from having a club shop in the city centre or even a less costly Cambridge United Stall on the market square. This way, we would sell shirts to visitors to England and give the club a bigger market for sales.
I know that several people that have been on holiday to a foreign town/country and bought football shirts just because they have seen them. I think we could do the same! Has anyone looked into doing this? We may as well use what we have to our full potential. (I did mention this thought to Nick Pomery from the CFU over a year ago but as yet haven't seen any developments).
We would possibly also be able to sell match tickets in the town centre making the whole of Cambridge sit up and see that this city does have a football team that we are proud of. How many Cambridge United shirts do you see when you are walking around town on a Saturday morning? Hardly any! We need to change this and put Cambridge United on the map too. I know it won't improve our on the pitch activities but it will save us from having to sell all of our talent!
Ambercelery, via the club message board

GH: A city centre shop would not be financially viable (I did personally look into that several years ago) but a stall on the market might be a very good idea. Please see my response to Richard's question above. I will ask Gerald Lowe to include your idea in his review of our retail activities.

Under John Beck we were losing twenty grand a week. Now he and Reg are gone, you seem to be tightening the purse strings. Financially, do you think mistakes were made during the ex-manager's last reign at the club?
Matt Frost, Royston

GH: Hindsight is a wonderful thing. After retaining our second division status at the end of last season the Board and John Beck agreed that major changes to the squad would be required if we were to be more comfortable in the second division this season than we had been in the previous two seasons.

The Board, therefore, sanctioned a number of new signings and we anticipated a number of the existing squad would move to other clubs either for small fees or on free transfers. Unfortunately the movements out did not happen (and have still not happened) and the results from John Beck's squad did not materialise leaving us struggling for the third season running with a squad much larger than we could afford.

Clearly we can now say that mistakes were made but these were not just John Beck's mistakes - the whole Board supported his strategy so it was our collective mistakes.

After Wednesday's performance it is obvious we are going to be relegated. The club is obviously lacking in finance we have relied on selling players to balance the books and today there are probably only two players who may give us some income on the transfer market.
My question is what are the board going to do to raise money for the team outside of the football arena? We apparently live in one of the richest areas of Europe with more entrepreneurs per square foot, yet we do not see them taking part or helping the football club. What are you going to do to redress this situation (why not invite all the MDs of Cambridge high tech companies to a match?
Could I suggest a look through the Sunday Times listing of richest people in UK and you will find that the 13th richest person happens to be a young lady with assets of £1.3bn who lives in Newmarket. How about starting there?
babraham, via the club message board

GH: I agree that relegation now looks more likely but I know that John and his squad will not give up until it is mathematically impossible for us to retain our second division status. We have always had to sell players to survive (relegation or not) and part of our financial problem stems from not selling anyone for a while.

We do have to get more businesses, and more business men and women, involved with the Club. Renford Sargent, the Director with Board responsibility for commercial matters, is redefining our commercial strategy and he and I plan to raise the Club's awareness with businesses and business people. This will not guarantee positive results but, if it doesn't, it will not be for the lack of trying.

At last Saturdays game my son purchased me a cup of tea from the cabin behind the police control office. The tea was absolutely disgusting. It tasted like antiseptic. What chance of a review of the catering arrangements and why not try it for yourself on a match day?
Mark Dann

GH: We are currently reviewing our catering arrangements. I am sorry the quality of the tea was poor last Saturday. I will mention the tea problem to Julie Wright, our Catering Manager, and Gerald Lowe. I will also sample the tea myself.

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John Taylor is the subject of the next Q&A, which will be published weekly from now on so you must hurry to send your questions! If you have any questions for the manager please send them by Thursday 21st February including your name, town and 'John Taylor' in the subject field.

Previous Q&As:
10Feb02  - Richard Summerfield - Finance Director
03Feb02  - Lionel Perez
27Jan02  - Stuart Ayles - First Team Physio
20Jan02  - Paul Wanless
13Jan02  - Dale Brooks - New Assistant Manager
06Jan02  - Mark Johnson - Match Programme
27Nov01 - John Taylor and Dale Brooks - The New Management Team
17Nov01 - Gary Harwood and Colin Davies - Redevelopment

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