Sturt tax troubles

[doggies4eva]

Drebin, you really have no idea about how Sturt is run. Don't pretend you do.
The Sturt footy club Board has done a remarkable job with bugger all resources to keep the club not only afloat but highly competitive at senior level. They have operated under financial pressures for the last 2-3 years but they are highly competent and ethical people and have gone about their work that way. They haven't been perfect but no Board is. It's easy for a person like you to rubbish them but your knowledge of the work they have done I suggest is zero.
When North where in financial strife they were holding up the bottom of the ladder, that's what financial stress did to them. Thankfully North are out of that now and soon Sturt will be too.
But the next 5-6 months are going to be very tight.
Judging by your various comments you obviously have the Premier down in your pocket giving you the info on all the SANFL clubs and the way they are run. It's laughable how little factual stuff you post about clubs other than North.

I don't pretend to know how Sturt works and never claimed to have - part of last post was "tongue in cheek" but you can hardly claim that some people at Sturt are highly ethical and competent when the club has landed in the "poo" with the ATO!!! I have seen posts from other Sturt supporters after the clubs financial statements were released who were quering the lack of info actually contained in the statements and the fact the clubs actual financial position had not been fully disclosed. Was Sturt trying to paint a rosier picture than was the reality - which now has proven to be the case?. At least our club in the past has painted the full picture as bleak as it may have been, at least members new the full extent - something Sturt members could not claim given the recent events at Unley - ask yourself why and what does it acheive? I suppose next you will tell me that this tax issue and the closure of the social club are things that nobody could see coming so there could be no financial mismangement.
P.S. At least your club is now newsworthy - top of Page 2 in the Tiser today.

Further to these comments, there were a number of errors in the accounts which I pointed out at the time. So I would have to question competent!!!

[stan]

Well we hope sturt can sort this out, as they were just looking to get out of the red. Since i dont know any details about the situation im not going to comment on it, prehaps some others should try that approach rather than stating trivial comments about paying tax.

A bit touchy there Stan. I thought that this forum was for general comments from trivial to non-trivial!!!

If you know nothing about and want to state the obvious, then heck its a free for all. Let me get things back on par........."sturt might be in trouble......"

[Ronnie]

I must admit Drebin i haven't seen the article in the paper yet but it doesn't surprise me that it takes a negative story involving an SANFL club for the league to get to page 2!
The issue with the ATO has to be played out more fully yet before conclusions can be drawn.
It is a cause of concern but the full facts need to be established first, as is the case with any tax ruling.
The financial woes of Sturt relate entirely to their gaming venue, a venue which has now been closed. A new opening is imminent at a venue the club has worked hard to secure. This venue will be set up on a completely different footing to the one they have had, in terms of the attractiveness of the site amongst a range of other issues. To that extent there is great confidence about the future.
But if you took a snapshot of things as they currently stand today you would justifiably say the club has no future and question the role of the Board. I don't think that is the full story by any stretch but i can understand why the headlines provoke that response.

[drebin]

I can't honestly see the tax issues being a big deal. As someone else pointed out - the ATO are interested in getting the money so I would imagine a deal over time to pay back the outstanding monies would be the way to go - at least Sturt now have some financial light at the end of the tunnel with their new ventures so I would imagine this will be old news in a few weeks - then maybe you can convince the tiser to put a positive story on page 2 - but we all know that will happen

[doggies4eva]

The issue with the ATO has to be played out more fully yet before conclusions can be drawn.
It is a cause of concern but the full facts need to be established first, as is the case with any tax ruling.

Ronnie, if the comments made in the media and by previous posters are correct - that this is simply a matter of not paying GST then this is not a tax ruling matter. It is either an administrative blunder or an organisation with a serious cash flow problem. The comments by SFC seem to support this.

[Punk Rooster]

Please note this bus trip will now cost $220 - (plus $20 GST)

Punky - you seem to have inflated the cost of this trip a tad.

Yes, apparently they've got a cash flow problem.

[Ronnie]

I think we're agreed Drebin a positive SANFL story on page 2 of the paper will only happen in dreams!
Doggies i must admit my first reaction to the GST issue was that somebody has buggered this up badly in an admin sense. That may well be the case.

[zipzap]

Well we hope sturt can sort this out, as they were just looking to get out of the red. Since i dont know any details about the situation im not going to comment on it, prehaps some others should try that approach rather than stating trivial comments about paying tax.

Well, I could have stated (allegedly) that the money going missing was linked to the return of a former player, but I didn't

Hmm...to delete or not to delete?

[Wedgie]

Bar room blues 'Crunch time' for local football club
By MELANIE REED

Sturt Football Club has been forced to close its 30-year-old bar because of ongoing revenue losses in a move illustrating the SANFL club's dire financial condition.

Two full-time staff and several casual employees, numbering as many as 10, were immediately made redundant. The Sturt board made the unanimous decision last Thursday (February 9) to immediately cease its bar and gaming operations, known as Jack's Bar & Bistro, at 39 Oxford Tce, Unley.

The club acknowledged the closure of Jack's marked the "end of the era" for the club but said it was adamant the move would help the Double Blues secure its long-term future.

The bar and pokies officially stopped trading on Monday; the club's 31 poker machines will be shifted to its new Unley Rd venue, which is expected to open in June. The Oxford Tce clubrooms will still be used as Sturt's administrative base until the current lease expires in 2007, but the bar will only be open to the public on match days and for special functions.

Double Blues CEO Stuart Totham blamed the closure on ongoing revenue losses - including a $102,000 drop in trade last year. He said the club's recent tax bill, expected to reach up to $100,000, was a "separate issue" but nevertheless impacted on Sturt's financial stability.

Mr Totham confirmed Jack's would never re-open as Sturt's social base and said the club would work out a plan with its bank to "get through the next four or five months".

"The club has simply come to crunch time," he said.

"We've been aware of the losing trade for a long time - it's certainly irresponsible for the board to keep trading in the current climate.

"It is disappointing and a tough decision to make but there is silver lining... it's our priority to stay (in Unley).

"Tough periods happen in life and in business but we'll be okay."

Mr Totham said "things should start looking up" once the club finalised its agreement to take over the Castle Tavern, at the end of March, and opened its new Unley Rd social venue in June.

Sturt announced last August it was sub-leasing the Castle Tavern, at South Rd, Edwardstown, giving the club access to revenue from the tavern's 32 pokies until 2017.

The club won approval in January to move its own poker machines to Unley's old post office at 166 Unley Rd. The club announced late last year its new premises would be renamed "Jack's" but maintained all efforts would be made to keep the Oxford Tce base.

A person involved with the club said 12 staff had lost their jobs.

"I'm just devastated - this came as a really big shock to me," she said.

"It's a community club and we've now got the pleasure of telling patrons it's all gone.

"It's just a huge chunk of your life - it's a big, happy family and (the news is) just so surreal." Meanwhile, the SANFL has distanced itself from Sturt's monetary woes, saying the Double Blue's tax bill was "a club issue only".

SANFL corporate affairs manager Paul Anderson last week declined to comment on Sturt's financial affairs, saying only the club "would work it out".

Mr Totham said the club was meeting with the tax office this week to receive an official notice on the sum owed.

[am Bays]

Well we hope sturt can sort this out, as they were just looking to get out of the red. Since i dont know any details about the situation im not going to comment on it, prehaps some others should try that approach rather than stating trivial comments about paying tax.

Well, I could have stated (allegedly) that the money going missing was linked to the return of a former player, but I didn't

Doesn't need to, still (alledgedly) spending his North and former team mates money (alledgedly), did that player ever get that birthday present..........