Thank you to Chris Rhodes…

I'd like to say a few words to thank Chris for his contribution to the Club as he stands down as Chairman.

He leaves the Chairman's role with Aston Villa at the top of the Champions League. Yet he became Chairman seven years ago when the Villa were in the Championship. I am sure that Chris will have made a contribution to that impressive improvement, for which some of us thank him.

Whilst the fortunes of the Club have not improved quite to the same extent as the Villa's during Chris' tenure, his contribution to the Club has been significant.

Chris has put a lot of time, thought and enthusiasm into developing and driving forward the Club's agenda. He has his own style.

• He takes on board others views, often seeking opinions before making decisions. (Some opinions more than others). Yet at other times he is determined that his view will prevail.
• He is good at delegating activities but will also get stuck in himself.
• Some of his speeches have been memorable.
• He has managed some of the more dominant personalities in the club with diplomacy (and some have even stayed at the Club).

The success of this style can be measured by the stability of the General Committees’ membership during his tenure as Chairman. Only Chris Barker, Chris Malone, Anthony Morris, Sarah Pattison and Jackie Bland have left the Committee in the last seven years. In the previous eight years, there were twenty changes in Committee Members.

But the bigger measure of Chris’ success has been how the Club has changed in the last seven years. Looking at some of our key measures:

Membership: Whilst junior members have stayed the same, senior membership has increased by 39 over the last 7 years.

Teams: We had 14 teams in 2017 playing 156 league fixtures. This has grown to 22 teams playing 256 league fixtures in 2024.

Performance: Both the Men’s and Ladies first teams have performed in the Premier League, something that occurred very rarely in the past.

Operating Surplus: Excluding sponsorship, our average operating surplus in 2015-17 was £13,000 per annum. This has increased to an average of £28,000 over the last two years.

Court Condition: We have continued to invest our surpluses into the courts and facilities. Court 3 has been reconstructed, courts 4 and 5 have been resurfaced and the fencing has been replaced to all but court 6. The court surrounds have also been improved in order to prolong the life of the courts.

But not only has Chris been Chairman of the Club for the last seven years, he was a Committee Member for the eight years prior to that.

Chris had come to prominence as being a shrewd 4th Team Captain. By 2010, he had made his mark on the Committee, arranging the first of his many memorable Race Nights. The Committee minutes identify that Race Night made a huge profit. This contributed to the Club’s funds. Chris’s efforts to arrange such memorable nights resulted in a significant contribution to the Club’s funds over the following years.

Then in 2013, Chris was instrumental in arranging John Shepherd as the Club’s sponsor. An initial 3 year deal, worth £3,000, was extended for a further three years at an additional £9,000 income for the Club.

Income from social activities has been a significant contributor to the Club’s facilities since its foundation in 1948. It was Chris who encouraged turning the focus of the social activities from raising money for the Club’s benefit to raising money for charities. As a consequence, the Club has donated over £6,000 to charities in the last three years.

So, Chris, a big thank you for the huge contribution that you have made to the Club over the years.

And yet, in some ways, nothing much has changed. Because Aston Villa are now 6th in the Premier League, one place lower than they were on 16th November 2009, when you joined the General Committee.

And we should not forget the part that Julie has undoubtedly made in supporting Chris in his role as Chairman.