An update from Chairman Simon Hallett

Happy New Year everyone!

I’d like to thank every member of the Green Army for their continuing extraordinary support in what has been a difficult year. Difficult because we’ve not had the stability we seek in our football staff and difficult because, as I write, we are bottom of the Championship and without a head coach.

Along with the obvious low points, there have been memorable highs.

I won’t forget the Friday night match under the lights when Mustapha’s goal and a battling defensive performance saw us beat Leicester.

I will also, of course, remember Joe’s goal against Hull that confirmed we would play Championship football for another season.

Even in the current season, we had fantastic drama in home wins against Sunderland, Luton and Blackburn.

Despite, or perhaps because of the turmoil and the danger, 2023-24 was a memorable season, reminding us what a wonderful division the Championship is at the pinnacle of the English Football League.

Make no mistake, we want to stay in it and everyone at your Club is focused on doing so.

Although we’ve not yet completed the transaction with a new investor I, together with the partners at minority shareholder Argyle Green, will provide the funds to give us the greatest possible chance to improve the squad in the January transfer window.

I think we have already shown that commitment by breaking our transfer record again and signing Michael Baidoo. We hope to be able to give you more good news in coming weeks.

We also hope to be able to announce a new Head Coach in the very near future.

We have moved quickly to identify Head Coaches with a track record of playing the kind of football we want to see at Home Park and have a track record of improving the teams they inherit.

There are many factors other than his own abilities that contribute to results achieved under a particular head coach.

One, of course, is the money available to him.

Having the resources to buy the best players doesn’t guarantee success but it certainly helps, and many coaches have benefited from clubs with much larger revenue bases than ours or from shareholders willing to risk financial losses and consequent financial instability.

That is very much the case in the Championship where average losses are £25 million a year and where a minimum of three clubs every year benefit from enormous parachute payments that follow relegation from the Premier League.

As you all know, we have taken a different approach. We seek financial stability, while generating enough revenues to fund a competitive first team squad, if we spend our money wisely and make good decisions as often as possible.

Like all football clubs we get money from ticket sales, the shop, sponsorship, media and net player sales.

We all get the same media money, and we have one of the smallest stadiums in the division - so we must compete by generating revenue in other areas.

Under Andrew’s leadership, we have expanded and diversified our revenue base by improving what we have offered fans – attractive and winning (until last year) football in a clean, safe stadium.

We have successfully increased revenues from ticket sales; from sales in the stadium and in our shop; from hospitality on match and non-match days; and from any ways we can find to use the stadium.

In the last year alone, we began a Fan Zone open to all fans in Higher Home Park and invested a significant amount in buying the building from the Green Taverners.

We spend money to make money to spend on the first team squad. All spending and investment must have a business case associated with it - it needs to generate a return.

That return will be available for investment in the first team squad, whether it be the obvious fees and wages, but also in anything that gives a greater chance to win—for example, better travel options, training facilities, sports science.

This year the squad will cost over £14 million, even before we allow for spending in this transfer window. Just a few years ago, our squad cost £2.5 million.

We always have a choice—we can spend a pound today, and it’s gone, or we can invest it so the returns can be spent for many years.

At times like today, of course, the fine balance between the present and the future swings in favour of short-term demands. Hence, our beginning to spend in this transfer window.

We have begun a program of being more active in player trading, investing in players such as Mumba, Whittaker, Al Hajj and now Baidoo.

Kudos should also go to our recruitment team for identifying Lewis Gibson as a promising and undervalued young centre back, whom we have now sold at a profit.

We have, of course, also begun the significant investment in Foulston Park to provide facilities for our Academy, while also providing a home for our Women’s team.

And while the first team fights for every point, let’s not forget the progress being made by our young talents in the FA Youth Cup. Their journey is a testament to the strength of the Argyle Academy and a hopeful sign of the future we are building together.

Development and sale of young players is somewhere where we think we can turn our geographic disadvantage into a strength.

Thanks to your support, the stadium is now full and in coming years, we will look to invest in the stadium (yes…including filling in the corners!) to increase capacity.

We will invest in a first team training centre, based on the Harpers facility in which we invested a couple of years ago.

We do not do ‘vanity projects’. Our goal is to be a successful football club. Our vision is clear and has been in place for several years. We want to be “a successful football club supported or respected by everyone in the South West and many beyond”.

We have gained respect; we are now embarked on winning support. More supporters mean more revenues, which mean more funds available for the first team squad.

We will be announcing various programs to further grow our supporter base in coming months, including to raise our profile in the United States.

Raising our profile was not one of the considerations in hiring Wayne Rooney.

We thought that he would be able to help us win football matches. During Wayne’s tenure as Head Coach, we saw glimpses of what was possible, but clearly both results and underlying performances were showing few signs of being at the level we need.

We thank Wayne for what he did achieve in his months at the Club. He united the players, helped restore a positive attitude at the Club and won over the fans whose support had been tested for a few months in 2024.

His approachable nature and down to earth personality made him a popular figure and we will miss him.

As a result of Wayne’s departure, we have cancelled the plan to film a documentary centred around him and his time with Argyle.

We were approached by a production company that had worked with Wayne in a previous project, and believed that the proposal was consistent with our desire to raise the Club’s profile.

We also thank Simon Ireland for the work he has done in his brief time at Argyle.

Turning back to investment and first team squad spending, we have many opportunities to expand Argyle’s revenue base and facilities – to “raise the ceiling” above what we can achieve and, finally, realise the potential we all often talk about.

I have always been clear that I could commit enough to enable us to get to the Championship, but that beyond that would take new sources of capital.

As the Championship has developed and resources available to other clubs have grown, it has become increasingly difficult to generate enough internally for a squad that is going to compete in the upper half of the division.

As a result, and, as you know, we have been seeking new investment for well over a year. We are close to finalising a transaction, but the final stages may take some time.

I apologise for being so opaque about this, but we are simply not allowed to reveal the party concerned. As I said, until any deal is finalised shareholders will provide funds for player investment.

As we look to the second half of the season, it’s clear that every voice, every song, and every bit of support matters more than ever. The role of our supporters in creating an atmosphere at Home Park cannot be overstated. When the Green Army is in full voice, it gives the players that extra edge.. that belief.

Our away support has also been nothing short of extraordinary. Week in and week out, you travel the miles to stand by your team, a commitment that inspires everyone at the club.

Your support has been one of the reasons for our success in the last few years.

That same energy, passion, and belief can help drive us forward.

This is a time for unity and determination—on the pitch and in the stands.

In 2020, we played in League 2 and in 2023, we played in the Championship.

We’ve come a long way together and we are determined to build on this success and not take a step backwards.