The refinancing - made possible by November’s merger between the Power and the Magpies - was completed with the assistance of club benefactor Gordon Pickard.
The Magpies this week also returned ‘home’, with the club’s SANFL administrative and football operations staff now operating out of the Alberton Oval precinct for the first time in 14 years, whilst thanks also to the terrific cooperation from Matthew Primus the Magpies’ SANFL juniors are now training at Alberton on a regular basis for the first time in more than a decade.
Port Adelaide President Brett Duncanson says the integration of the Power and Magpies into One Port Adelaide is proceeding fast, with the benefits already tangible.
“It’s just 10 weeks since the merger vote and really just eight weeks since the clubs formally came together on December 1, but there’s been plenty achieved already,” Duncanson says.
“The Magpies have this week moved back to Alberton, we’ve already integrated the financial operations of the two clubs, we’ve achieved some exciting AFL/SANFL double-header fixturing outcomes, and been able to refinance the Prince of Wales Hotel, which is worth some $300,000 a year to the united club.
“The support of Gordon Pickard in achieving the refinancing has been just outstanding.
“It is just one part of Gordon’s ongoing commitment to our club - which in total is the size of a Joint Major sponsorship, with one of the key outcomes being for the Club to grow our membership and attendances.
“Importantly, the club’s membership is tracking very well. We have now passed 23,000 members with the season proper still two months away, with the figures showing us well head on both the Power and Magpies sides of membership compared to the same time last year.
“Increased membership was one of the major motivations behind the One Port Adelaide merger, so while we still have a way to go to achieve our target of 35,000 members the indications are very positive as we enter the next stage of our membership campaign, which appeals to all Port Adelaide fans to make the extra commitment in 2011 by becoming a member of the club.
“Our key message is there has never been a more important time to be a member of your club and to turn up to the footy, and with someone like Gordon leading the way we now need all our fans to do their bit.
“Also importantly, the Magpies have been able to focus for the last two months on their core business - football.
“While there is still plenty to do on the integration, Tony Bamford and his team have been able to get on with their football planning and preparation for 2011 knowing that they at last have financial security about the SANFL side of the business.”
Integration steps achieved in the eight weeks since the Magpies and Power formally merged in December 2010 include:
- Finance operations consolidated - PAFC managed the end of year reconciliations for the Magpies and all payroll and financial reporting for both the Magpies and the Prince of Wales Hotel are now being conducted by a merged Finance Department
- Re-financing of Prince of Wales Hotel loan - new finance arrangements for hotel borrowings, saving the united club $300,000 per year
- Hotel re-development options - a working group headed up by PAFC Board member David Basheer will be presenting a number of options to the Board in the next few weeks for the re-development of the Prince of Wales Hotel. David is Vice-President of the Australian Hotels Association (SA) and Managing Director of the Strathmore, Woodville and Brompton Hotels
- People integration - Magpies staff have been integrated into Port Adelaide staff systems and processes
- Fixture: Double Headers with the Power & Magpies in 2011 - Magpies v Norwood to launch the SANFL season prior to the Power’s first AFL home game v West Coast, and Magpies v Sturt in round 11 prior to the Power’s game v Carlton. No fixturing clashes between Power and Magpies games
Duncanson says the nuts-and-bolts of the merger are being overseen by an Integration Committee, which has members of both previous Boards as well as people like Tim Ginever, George Fiacchi, Jim Nitschke and Geoff Monteleone
“That Committee meets regularly and will continue to work throughout the year, working through a list that includes more than 150 actions, including items such as future branding of the united club, website integration, and Life Membership,” Duncanson said.
