ON A turnover of just over £375,000, Brechin City made a profit of £4074 last season.

Treasurer Martin Smith reported to last night’s annual meeting that the club had to continue to work hard to reduce its overdraft and should be very pleased with the dramatic turnaround achieved during the last financial year.

Expenditure was down by over £38,000, income up by almost £37,000 and a loss of £71,508 in 2006/07 turned into a surplus of £4074 in 2007/08.

On the expenditure side the most notable difference was in wages which were down by £20,000.

“For this we have to thank our manager who has done everything in his power to reduce both wages and travelling expenses while still managing to put a team on the park which came extremely close to reaching last season’s play-offs,” said Smith.

The only item that exceeded predicted expenditure was equipment.

The purchase of a new home and away kit as well as jackets, tracksuits and training gear proved much more expensive than had been originally envisaged.

Most of the other items in expenditure were either on a par with last year or have been reduced.

Travelling expenses were down due to the manager’s careful organisation of the players travelling to training and the fact that they only hired a team bus for the longer away games.

On the income side the most disappointing feature was the drop in home league gates, down by £16,000.

Cup competitions were disappointing but there was success in the transfer market with the signing and then selling of Ian Russell to Morton.

As with expenditure, most of the other items in income were on a par or showed an increase from the previous year.

Fund-raising and sponsorship were well up.

“Overall then another step in the right direction,” concluded Smith, who had particular thanks for main sponsor Mackie Motors and the Northern Hotel, as well as the supporters’ club who have donated over £11,000 to club funds in the last two years.

Season ticket holders topped the 200 mark and the Glebe Gamble contributed nearly £13,000 to the club’s coffers.

Chairman Ken Ferguson reflected on the season which opened with five points from a possible 27 in the first quarter, recovered in the second and third quarters to challenge for a play-off position only to stumble at the final hurdle.

“Brechin City finished the season in 15th position out of the 30 SFL clubs and of the 15 teams ahead of them all were full time or operating from far larger catchment areas than we can ever hope to have,” he pointed out.

“I cannot recall ending a season with 18 registered players, therefore providing a solid foundation for our 2008/09 campaign.”

Club secretary Gus Fairlie reported on the various signings and said one of the most important was that of manager Michael O’Neill, who agreed a deal to stay at Glebe Park until 2010.

Fairlie congratulated the management on the club’s disciplinary record that saw only five players suspended.

Attendances for the season totalled 10,555 compared with 12,667 for last season, reflecting the lack of a derby fixture and the fact that only Raith Rovers brought a substantial away support.