CEO PROFILE: MICHAEL CLANCY

Stepping up

In a wide-ranging interview, newlyannointed Bankstown Sports CEO Michael Clancy tells Club Management editor Grant Jones about his plans for the future.

WHILE GENERAL MANAGER Michael Clancy seemed the obvious choice to take over as CEO after the shock resignation of 30-year Bankstown Sports Club veteran Mark Condi last year, it has taken a little while for the board of Bankstown Sports Group to confirm his appointment. A year, in fact.

But a 24-year Bankstown Sports man himself, Clancy said he understood it was a process the club needed to go through after Condi resigned.

“The board asked me and I was extremely grateful to even have the opportunity,” he says of the interim role. “They have been very supportive from the outset, and we have certainly continued in our vision for the future and focussed on our core business and, as you know, it hasn’t come without its challenges in the past year.”

Bankstown Sports CEO Michael Clancy at the club’s administration hub in the Flinders Centre.

Picture: Grant Jones

Mother’s Day was a turning point, not only for Clancy as official CEO but for the direction of the club as 13,500 people walked through the doors that May weekend. La Piazza took $70,000 from more than 2000 covers and, overall, the club set record numbers.

“Funnily enough, with the external environment we haven’t fully felt – food and beverage wise – the discretionary spend drop off too much,” he says.

Now that his role is official, it’s time to get the ball rolling for the club group and its 135,000 members.

“It will give me a lot more clear air,” he says. “It allows me now to put my stamp of authority on things moving forward.

“When I first got into the interim role and looked at it, I thought more focus in the near future needed to be on reinvestment in our venues,” he explains. Among them are Birrong Sports, Bankstown Bowls, Acres at Greenacre and the newly-merged Bankstown Golf Club.

“Birrong has outgrown itself. It’s full and busy all the time, so whether that means expanding into one of those greens, we are looking at that. We are also looking at what we do at Baulkham Hills Sports, too, which was last renovated in 2008.”

Clancy is also looking to finalise several existing plans for other clubs in the group. Acres, at Greenacre, recently received DA approval for a deck on the front green and another kids’ area, fenced off for ball sports, including a basketball hoop.

“Internally, we are going to do a kitchen update, because it needs it, massively,” he says.

Other internal works include lifting the low roof and improving the gaming room with more alfresco space as existing members have urged. While pizzas from the woodfire are still on the menu, Clancy is looking to reinstate food from the two smokers.

“It’s very hard to get a skilled chef who can do that.”

At Bankstown Golf Club, the over-55s accommodation plan has been shelved since the merger as the site was on bio-diverse land and can’t be built on. The focus now is on viability of the proposed distillery and scale of the brewery, given several breweries have gone under recently.

When I first got into the interim role and looked at it, I thought more focus in the near future needed to be on reinvestment in our venues.

-Michael Clancy

“We are currently working on the master plan. That will be a process to work through,” he says. “We are still working on feasibility for the big brewery and distillery and what that actually looks like down there and whether it can fit,” he says, as part of the merger MoU included keeping the 150 car spaces.

“We are very engaged to do a very good food and beverage concept down there and a new clubhouse,” he says. That new clubhouse would also tap into a residential growth corridor, with Mirvac’s housing development of Riverlands Golf Course and Western Sydney University

Bankstown Campus also being turned into residential accommodation.

“Golf is always going to be very important. It’s a beautiful golf course. [But] the facilities are tired and perhaps they [the old management] didn’t have the skills set to bring it up to the standard that they would be happy with.”

The club will going to the market with an EOI. Up the road from HQ, Bankstown Sports Bowls has had a facelift: new carpet, paint and furniture.

“It has really lifted it up to a standard we are quite happy with,” he says. Closer to home, the redevelopment of the three-storey concrete-cancer riddled car park across the road from HQ is still a long way off. A highline vision, working within the local council masterplan, has been proffered with first-responder and over 55s-housing plus retail and open parkland in the mix.

As busy as it gets, a thriving community club is a club that stays open, says Clancy.

“You can have a hard day here,” he explains, “but as I always say, ‘We are not closed’. People have short memories.”

Lady Banks rooftop bar at Bankstown Sports.

With smaller clubs on the brink, the group’s administrative ability and resources also offer merger solutions to struggling venues.

“I think amalgamations will be a big part of our future. I think there is a fair amount of consolidation in the industry,” he says of the upside.

Back at HQ

In the meantime, Canton Kitchen contractor Jason Chan came to him just after Covid with a few F&B ideas. Chan has since introduced the club’s first Japanese fast-casual offering, Miso Oishii (see page 66), and has re-organised the operation at Lucky Cheng’s.

“He’s the kind of contractor you want to deal with: passionate, trying to drive his business and always trying to do something different,” says Clancy in praise. “His food down there is always very modern and different to the normal club scene which has been good for us.”

Rather than be subsidised by gaming, all food venues have to stand on their own two feet. The only venue that doesn’t is Cornerstone Cafe.

“Our cafe loses a bit of money, but that’s what happens when you have a cafe open 21 hours a day,” he says. In a bid to appeal to a new demographic, Cornerstone now offers Campos coffee, while the rest of the group offers Vittoria.

“We are very excited,” Clancy says of the Campos deal that could see a Bankstown Sports blend from its on-site roaster and even pods to take home. Other internally-run food offerings are currently under revision by new Culinary Director Olivia Casson (Compass, Solotel) who took over after the departure of long-term executive chef Helmut Gundendorfer who is now at Parramatta Leagues Club. Reviews include Basement Brewhouse. While popular at night, it has struggled for numbers during the day, so it is now open to families with teenagers who love the burgers.

A speakeasy/whisky bar is also on the cards, but just where that will be is still up for discussion. The Flinders Centre office complex also includes a new hair salon, bottle shop, pharmacy, dentist and medical centre floor, plus beautician and gym in the tower, an almost one-stop shop for members. Not to mention the successful Lady Banks rooftop bar. It’s almost a one-stop shop for memebers.

A numbers game

Sitting at No.2 in the top memberships list – Mounties is No.1 – for Clancy it’s all about recruitment and retention.

“We did a whole re-engagement campaign recently and we had members from before Covid that were still in there but dormant and we did a cull at the end of that … I think 20,000,” he says

The group has added 37,000 members in the past year, partially due to the removal of the paid membership hurdle and free digital membership at the door, with CircleScan assisting with the digital sign-up. Meanwhile, the average age profile has dropped from 52 to 42.

Where to for gaming

With the change in state government, Clancy is keen to see the results of the Wests Newcastle cashless gaming trial. He also recently visited Club York, in Sydney’s CBD, to see how its IGT trial is going.

“I think digital payments will be a way of the future,” he says “My son, who is 11, won’t go to a bank, doesn’t carry money. There will be a next generation coming through here in the next couple of years who won’t go to an ATM.

“As an industry we need to work with the government on what the next transition looks like. I’m certainly hopeful that we will come up with a good outcome.”

The club has trained more staff in harm minimisation and recruited another responsible gaming officer in preparation for the self-imposed ClubsNSW Responsible Code of Gaming that will take effect from 1 July.

“I think the industry is very much behind making sure that we have sustainable gaming,” he says. “There’s no one silver bullet solution to these things but as we move forward, the industry is being more proactive in that area. Nobody wants problem gambling.”

Putting down new roots

On the ground, staff numbers are back to pre-Covid levels and, while middle managers and restaurant managers are still hard to find, the club has engaged with local schools in trialling under 18 recruits. Around half a dozen graduates are now employed full-time.

“It just forces us to look a little bit differently to what we are used to,” he says. Expect more of that different thinking from Clancy in the future. That includes the group’s interest in dry goods, cleaning supplies and beverage wholesaler ClubCo, which it owns alongside Norths Collective, Twin Towns and Gosford RSL Club.

“We’re very excited to watch and see what the future holds,” he says of the different interest the group now has. But, he adds, he hasn’t lost sight of the main game which includes supporting 46 sporting clubs and sundry community groups.

“We are a hospitality precinct, and all the other aspects are very exciting but we are a club and we are here for our community and we are here to make a difference,” he says. “We will never ever lose sight of that, either as a board or myself.

“Growing up in this area, I know what impact Bankstown Sports has within the community. I am very proud of that, and I want to continue that.”