Just to illustrate my point above about profit not really being the primary indicator of the health of a club, Collingwood's 2011 Annual Report showed us with a profit of 2.1 million.
The important facts are we generated 75.5 million in total revenue and income. This allowed us to spend 19.4 million on Football Expenses (dept). That's what you want ultimately, to have a massive revenue generated to spend on the footy dept, as much as possible while putting significant amounts into further money generation.
Having revenue generating streams that can pump money back into the footy dept. From our social club/gaming we spent 15.9 million and made 19.2, in marketing we spent 15.2 and made 22.1, in m/ship we spent 7 and made 16.4. Some of that largesse goes to the footy department, but a lot into generating more money.
That's where North needs to marshall their troops. Stay competitive in FD spending, but spend as much as you can in generating revenue so you don't have to keep going back to the well.
So, to sum it up: Collingwood spent $20m on the football department, but couldn't win the flag.
I'm sure you're happy with your balance sheet though.