The Club's annual accounts for the year ending 31st May 2007 are due to be presented to STFC shareholders at its annual general meeting on February 20th. The Club always believes it is right to do this before making public comment on its accounts.

This remains the case and full comment on any details will not be made until that time. However, in recent days, extracts from the accounts filed at Companies House have been widely publicised with significant misinterpretation and, crucially, lack of context. To provide some of this context, without pre-empting the AGM, the Club has therefore decided to publish below the Chairman's report which accompanied the accounts filed at Company's House and is therefore a matter of public record.

Chairman's Report

The end of the 2006/07 financial year also saw the last days of the Gay Meadow as the home of professional football in Shropshire. Given its history and the thrills it had seen, it was surely fitting that the last first team game to be played turned out not to be the last league match of the season but a play-off semi final as our team surged towards Wembley.

Many a supporter shed a tear as we prepared to leave Gay Meadow, but at the same time the play-off push saw us become the first Football League team ever to score at the new Wembley. Of course Gay Meadow's final legacy after 97 years service was to provide the core funding for our new, state-of-the-art stadium. This transition is reflected in these accounts, where the asset value of our new home is incorporated in the balance sheet and funds related to the ongoing project show in our cashflow. Indeed a Martian landing on earth and reading these accounts might be forgiven for thinking the Club's financial position has been transformed overnight.

The reality, of course, is very different. In a year when we enjoyed the financial benefits of going to Wembley and also sizeable income from commercial activities surrounding the 'End of Era' at Gay Meadow, we achieved a trading profit of £33K. Without these one-offs we would once again have posted a trading loss, underlining the financial challenges the Club continues to face.

This is why the stadium move is so crucial. We start now with a clean sheet - with outstanding facilities and without debt. While new stadia are often linked with years of pain to pay off building costs, we own ours outright.

The evident quality of the new stadium and its facilities, together with the momentum created by 23,000 people travelling with us to Wembley, has served to remind everyone of the value of professional League football to this area. It is a pity that some were not more aware of this during the struggles of the last decade, but clearly it bodes well for the future as people seek to align themselves with the Club and acknowledge its immense positive role in the community.

I am now in my eleventh year as Chairman and the milestone of the stadium move is an opportune time to reflect on what we have achieved together. Patience has been necessary and at times we have been accused of lacking ambition. Nevertheless, we have moved forward while, over those years almost all of our neighbouring clubs have, at one time or another, been in administration. We started with combined overdraft and trade debts of £750,000, turnover restricted to around £1.5M a year with little potential for growth, annual trading losses of around £300,000 and a decaying stadium that was uninsurable, had a licensed capacity down to just 8,000 and drew average crowds of about 3,000. In contrast, we will shortly be operating from a brand new, 10,000 seat facility standing on 26 acres of freehold land. This is the essential foundation for the future that I have always sought and, correctly applied, it is an asset that will now underpin a concerted drive forward.

When history judges us on this period, I believe it will focus not only on the outstanding achievement of building a new home, but on how well we exploit the lifeline it provides. We cannot afford to leave any stone unturned as we create further financial stability for the Club and the resources to sustain a rise through the Leagues. I am delighted, therefore, that during this year we have made a number of key staff appointments in financial, commercial and hospitality areas. Indeed, on the latter point, not only will we shortly have a stadium that will be the envy of many higher League clubs, I believe we will also have a seven-day-a-week social and business venue that sets new standards for the town and county.

The process of moving homes and developing our new facilities requires much hard work. Accordingly, I would like to record my thanks to fellow Directors, staff and volunteers who have contributed so much. Also to our sponsors, business supporters and fans who continue to demonstrate how much the Club means to them.

Since, first and foremost, we are all fans, the ultimate way to repay people for their support is to achieve success on the pitch. Our progress in that respect is clear for all to see - from the low point of playing in the Conference a few years ago to coming within minutes of promotion to League 1. Better still, that progress is built not on the transient individual brilliance of a player, but on a solid, sustainable, across the board improvement in all aspects of player recruitment, training and support. A transformation for which Gary Peters and his team can take great credit. Individual games can turn in seconds and the best team doesn't always win. Nevertheless there can be no doubt about the overall direction in which this Club is moving on and off the field.

Much has been achieved, but much remains to be done. Above all, I genuinely believe exciting times lie ahead.