Ye Olde Hamiltonian

We have tried to make them see sense at the Fans Forum and flooding Social Media with comments about these disgraceful PATG prices but they see it as another Accies Fans v The Board matter and thus are not budging. Perhaps if all the SLO’s/Supporters Groups of the other 9 clubs put out a joint statement warning of a mass boycott it would do the trick. They won’t listen to us, so a combined Away fans threat would perhaps bang heads together in the boardroom. I am absolutely sick of decades of having Owners and Directors who acted against the fans of our club. For me in my 48 years supporting Accies, the only board who acted in the best interests of the club and fans was that of Alistair Duguid/David Campbell. Unfortunately, they were ousted when Jim Watson bought the Shares of Robert Gibb(who died in a car crash travelling from Yorkshire to a Board Meeting)from his wife via underhand methods as she was unaware who she was selling them to. That corrupt Board of Watson, Stepek and Fulston made a fortune from selling land and housing the club needed back to the club for vastly inflated sums which left us with £650,000 to build a ground. This is why we only have 2 Stands…plus the Gazebo when the original money was for 4 Stands. In addition, the overage money from The Hamilton West Retail Park- £2 million was earmarked to build a Ten Pin Bowling Alley in one of the stands as well as a retractable Roof which would have been a first up here. I could weep at the corruption which has went on over the years and now we are left with a mob who are pricing out Accies fans who can’t afford it as well as interested locals and away fans unable to afford to take their kids. Add in the non-existent promotion of our 150th Anniversary: no strips out yet, no glamour friendly( they were rabbiting on about an away friendly in Turkey) nor any Special Deals and I am done with these new Club Owners. Meanwhile, McGowan wants £1.5 million to sell the Stadium back to the Football Club to add even more “chaos”. I just want a club where prices are reasonable, strips are out before the start of the season, a decent Club Shop, fans are treated as pivotal to the club and where there is no separation over ownership of the club and Stadium. Not too much to ask for is it?

I notice Rankin has a tendency to play any of our players when they play a club they used to play for, so we know what is coming here in all probability. Thistle have picked up as expected whereas we have had 2 dreadful performances in a row, so hopefully no more tinkering to fit square pegs in round holes to give us a fighting chance. Be good to see Dan O’Reilly as have a lot of time for him and he is always good for a football related chat when I bump into him(usually in Lidl’s). As ever, I never make a prediction till I see the line up.Last Saturday every Accies fan knew that was a dreadful starting line-up bar the Manager.

I heard 2 weeks ago the prices were going down to £25(not sure I posted it on here as haven’t been on much)but this decision to nearly double the kids prices is the latest of many own goals. Part of me also thinks this may be a deliberate policy by the club to punish young fans who they perceive as being involved in recent trouble after matches against Ayr and Airdrie. Less youngsters, less chance of trouble and an easy life. It punishes all young kids- including away fans and those who do a PATG Parent/Child. Of course, that may be a bit far fetched, but we are talking here about a Club who banned supporters after they found out one of the Directors was using a fake name to have a go at fans aka Marty Mulligan. Even McGowan wouldn’t charge these prices for kids. Meet the new regime, the same as the old regime vibes here.

Don’t as he has been ““underwhelming” to put it politely and he was a man short at Livvy when he came off the bench.

2-0 going on 4 or 5. I was sitting with the home fans today and the contrast, pre and post match between the dugouts was very noticeable- even more so listening to Davie Martindales post match speech in Hospitality. Let’s say today showed a real Manager versus an imposter seeing the way Muirhead and Winter played vis- a vis-our subs who were at the minimum equal ability wise.

Only in the last 15 years have we haemorrhaged support though and the homeless era saw us with decent “home” attendances for big games. We are the only side I reckon who have won promotion to the top League and now this League who have lost support once we have went up a League. Cutting these dreadful PATG prices would instantaneously increase home attendance by 3-400 which is the number we have lost since pre Christmas last season.

I’d cut the losses already on Williamson and Maguire.

If you can get the Jamie Hamilton who first burst onto the scene in the top League, you would have the best defender in this League as he was fantastic as a teenager. Question is whether or not his potential has vanished for good.

Bad enough we are charging home and away fans £26 which is badly affecting attendance in both ends, but the clueless lot are now charging £16 v Dundee United B team tomorrow.

£16 and £8 v Dundee United B team tomorrow; expect the lowest home attendance of all time incoming and I was there a Friday night in Coatbridge when there was 249 during the homeless years.

I walked out the game with Airdrie fans I know and we had a laugh at Rankin’s Subs. I don’t get it as we hit you guys on the breakaway and the game was never over.

They were running from the cops as you know. To be honest, surprised there was no cops there to be honest. Good point for you guys but surprised some of you left at 2-0 as still in the game.

Bullshit big man;Accies young boys were on their way to Pub until a few loudmouths started in the tunnel. Wrong on both sides but seeing the guy attacking a wee 12-13 year old get leathered was poetic justice.

Young team leathered you fannies…get over it getting battered off wee boys 14-18.

If only the clowns in the Accies Boardroom could read this and other recent Game threads. Bad enough pricing out away fans but seeing Accies supporters I know not being able to afford to take their kids is unforgivable- especially as they have continued to support us after 2 relegations in a short period. As for the game, it will be a close affair and whoever scores first will probably prevail. I am still not convinced with the Accies midfield as Barry Maguire and Ben Williamson have not impressed me and I would like to see young Liam Morgan replace one of them, but this Manager refuses to give youth a chance which goes against the Accies ethos. If he repeats the Todorov/Oli Shaw combination, the Airdrie defence will have an easy day as both were dreadful as a pair. Narrow Accies win perhaps after Airdrie dominating possession could well be the shout, but I always wait to see what team he picks first as the occasional Rankin brainfart has handed victory to opponents on a plate.

There is a lot of anger amongst our fans at these prices. People I know who rarely miss games can’t afford to take their kids and we can forget any walk ups. There was a lot of discussion at the recent Fans Forum and when I said away supports would be half what they should be , the Board Members present disagreed. Well, it is working out as I warned and they only have themselves to blame. Pricing out Accies fans in our 150th season is beyond the pale and perhaps if away fans announced an official boycott, it may force heads to be banged together.

We are 3-400 fans down per game this season compared to pre Christmas last year. Quite a few folk who were regulars are not going and the numbers in Section A are easily half from last season. Rumours are they are considering putting the PATG price down…to £25.

Post I put on WAH page about the “inactivity” iro our 150th Anniversary. This 150th Anniversary is at the moment “ a damp squib” with the potential to turn into an unmitigated disaster financially. This- like all other Accies matters- is easily avoidable and as usual it is all self inflicted. Let’s start with the actual 150th Anniversary.This is undoubtedly the most historic Event in our long history, but the publicity from the club has been negligible and basically non-existent. Every Social Media/Press post should be hammering this home and reminding people, but as it stands unless you are a committed supporter, then folk will be unaware. I can guarantee 90% of the townspeople don’t even know and any publicity has come from Accies fans themselves publicising this and basically doing the job that the club should be doing. Ditto for Scottish Football sites in general where virtually no-one knows about this historic Anniversary. There are plenty clubs in Scotland nowhere near this historic landmark( never mind a 100th Anniversary) and we should be hammering this very important milestone at every opportunity. There should have been a mass publicity around the town of this: people buy into history and this would have also tied in with getting in new fans, lapsed fans and the curious who could have become fans. An opportunity missed in many ways: the shambles of the sub -par , shoddy strips and Merchandise is another example and the fact there is no official 150th Merchandise- not any mention on these Paddy’s Market quality strips again sums up this lack of foresight, lack of vision, lack of the sense of history and a fundamental lack of Marketing. Other Clubs-Morton for example- had quality strips out in time for the Summer…we are now approaching Autumn in the worst Summer ever and still no strips available and the lack of a Sponsor is no excuse. Kids should have been running around Hamilton all summer with the special 150th Anniversary strips and seeing the 150th Anniversary on the strip properly marketed would have brought some youngsters into the fold as not every kid wants to be “ just a number” as they are at the Old Firm where they are easily replaced. Look for example back in the day at the amount of people who wore Accies strips due to the tie in with the then Phillips Factory. Another example here is Airdrie: the 100th Anniversary of their Scottish Cup win and they hammered it everywhere: Anniversary Dinners with Guest Speakers like Sir Alex Ferguson, special Merchandise in The Club Shop and making the general Scottish Football Supporting public aware of this. In addition, this was a season to reconnect with not just the town- but lapsed supporters.This has so far been lost, but there is still time to salvage this if the will is there and the effort is put in to do so. The Pricing is the big issue which ties in with the aforementioned paragraph.Months after these PATG prices were announced, we are now seeing the result of this short-termism: much smaller away supports(Airdrie fans reportedly boycotting on Saturday and if true, I can’t blame them), a drop in the home support despite winning promotion when it should be the opposite and an overall ANGER at long-standing Accies fans priced out of supporting their team at HOME games…this should NEVER happen and especially not in our 150th season. Things looking a bit rosier on the park and a mid-table finish looking likely but the momentum off the park has been lost. Fans I know without Season Tickets unable to afford to go with their kid(s) to Home Games in our 150th Anniversary Season is the ultimate No No for me and is unforgivable no matter what was spouted at The Fans Forum. This was the season to be brave and do the opposite. I would have set Season Books at £150 and got every Accies fan to publicise this through Social Media or leafleting doors; cheap kids tickets in addition and I would have targeted it as giving something back in a time of hardship for people. Plenty anecdotal evidence this would have worked and if local Companies had been tagged along , this could have made up for any perceived shortfall and it would have been gold-mine publicity for the Companies which would have helped to advertise this. No Glamour Friendly either-how hard would it have been to get a side down South or a side from abroad to play in the International break. There are other avenues we could have utilised also to get bums on seats and a feel good factor back.The area behind The Gazebo or The Sainsbury’s End could have had pop up Food Bars, Live Music, A Beer Hub, kids facilities this season all with the 150th Anniversary message at the forefront and Covers when the weather turns. Sorry for the long post folks, but I sit here frustrated at the inaction by those in charge of our Club who either don’t get it, can’t be arsed to do anything or are only interested in their own way of thinking. Our young fans “get it” and appreciate the significance of this Anniversary, so why do our Club Officials not do likewise- apart from one in particular. Another mess of our own making and this continued PATG pricing must be challenged as it is now costing us money. Final point which I shall reiterate- NO Accies fan should be priced out of any Home game in our 150th Anniversary- that is the bottom line in this sorry state of affairs.

He also bullied Scott Struthers in that video at the 4-4 game v Raith Rovers threatening to report him to McGowan remember.

You know what to do here ffs.

Another ex Holy Cross boy,but the shite design and quality is the issue here and not the origins of the club.

Absolutely dreadful how they can fcuk up another simple design: the gold wtf; cheap, shoddy material, non alignment of hoops/sleeves ; the terrible badge and that is before looking at the origins of Kurt. Like last season, everything is Paddy’s Market quality whether that be strips, tee shirts or Polo shirts etc. Oh to be a normal club with a decent range of quality branded strips and merchandise.

Seeing all the young kids running about the town with their various strips on and not ONE with an Accies top due to the continued nonsense season after season is so depressing. Why can’t we be a normal club with reasonable PATG prices, a decent Club Shop, strips out the same time as everyone else and Match highlights for fans to watch… surely this isn’t too much to ask?

Nah, they want £46 now. Odds on for you guys now…if it goes ahead. Read the posts on the Accies thread about this.

They haven’t been paid for 2 weeks and McGowan’s Admin people have left the club in a shambles after the changeover in staff- unable to process Season Tickets etc with everything being done manually i spoke to a guy who went down to purchase a Season Book on Tuesday ( he is partially blind, so qualifies for a Disabled Ticket which is not on Fanbase)who had to walk all the way to the bank to withdraw money to then walk all the back down to pay in cash. Lots of folk who bought Season Books from the Club and not Fanbase haven’t received the cards as the aforementioned regime haven’t registered it electronically apparently with all records being kept manually at the moment.