To whom it may concern,

I am pleased to provide a reference for David Friend, of whom I have known of his work for over 9 years.

I first worked with David when I was chairman of the Central Coast Mariners for the first six years of its existence where he developed and drove the implementation of our membership program. I then kept in contact with David during my time as head of A-League and then invited David to develop the membership program for the Western Sydney Wanderers when I commenced as Executive Chairman (my current role). During this period he and his team also fully managed our licensing and merchandise program. We contracted him for just short of two years.

The results he achieved were exceptional with our membership numbers reaching 7,000 in the first year of our existence and rising to a remarkable 17,000 in the second, while our licensing and merchandise program now produces well in excess of a million dollars of revenue in only our second year of operation.

David’s experience and influence has ensured that the fundamental foundations, systems and strategies are in place for our club to have a best in class membership program in place.

David’s integrity, professionalism and commitment to deliver on promise is second to none and I recommend him strongly as being a leading edge specialist in the very key area of membership and licensing and merchandise program development and the essential customer service that is fundamental to those programs.

I have no hesitation in being a referee for David and I unhesitatingly look forward to working with him again in the future.

Best Regards,