Wow Big Boss...you seem to be a man in the know. A finger on the pulse kind of guy with his ear to the ground in Gala. I like your style. A man (or lady...I wouldn't want to make an ill advised or unfair pre-emptive judgements without knowing all the evidence and making a fool of myself!) who doesn't let the facts get in the way of a good story kind of person. Good on you!
I don't know where to begin with your post really...but first things first. The club is no longer Gala Fairydean...whether in crisis or not. The merger in 2013 created a new club, Gala Fairydean Rovers. A genuine merger that brought together two traditional rivals for the sake of trying to advance football in the town.
Is that Aye Been? Taking a decision to end the histories of two well established clubs and starting afresh with a new name, badge, strip and club identity? Maybe it is? Maybe that was the conservative option? Maybe those old cliques at both the clubs thought that the best way to protect their unassailable positions was to hoodwink everybody into appearing all progressive and forward thinking but in reality it was an elaborate ruse dreamed up to fool a gullible public and not change anything at all and carry on as usual...those evil geniuses.
A new committee was created with elements of both the Fairydean and the Rovers along with a completely new intake of members drawn primarily from the youth and junior teams in the town. As far as I'm aware only one person has left the committee since the merger...for work related reasons. However, you seem to know better so maybe you could let us know about all these new people who walked away? No pressure like...in your own time. Answers on a postcard type thing.
Crowds have increased, sponsorship has increased, revenue has increased, a substantial debt had been eliminated and the club have tried to promote themselves better with more professional marketing materials and a programme voted best in the Lowland League last year and runner up across Scottish Non League football. The website is rubbish mind...I'd give you that...but a they're working on a new one which will go live later this month at the address www.ayebeen.com.
As for Galadean...then you nearly got it right about their formation.,,only about a decade out. Galadean JFC was formed in 2007...but what's a year or two or nine between friends?
Galadean JFC has subsequently become part of the new set-up, changing their name to Gala Fairydean Rovers Juniors (catchy I know ) and along with the Youth section form the first ever player pathway for a Borders club that can see a child join in Primary 1 and stay with the club all the way through their football career. Around 300 young people are part of this pathway in the traditional heartland of Borders Rugby. For the first time in anyone's memory, rugby is struggling for players in certain age-groups. Still..its Aye Been!
I see from the local press that the club just won Club of the Year at the local Sports Council awards for their award winning community engagement programme. One of the first, (if not the first?) non-league clubs in Scotland to sign up to Show Racism the Red Card and have established community partnerships with a number of local charities and organisations like Nil By Mouth who organised a Scottish Book Week Event at the club last week.
Due to this programme the SFA South East Region selected the club to be part of the UEFA Captains for Change Programme and a McDonalds coach mentoring programme. The club runs a girls development squad, a Walking Football team has been established and the club is in discussions around taking over a disability team in the Borders. You know...just like it was in the 1970's!
Your post is not all complete gibberish however...it is true that throughout the years that young footballers from the town have left to join clubs in Edinburgh to further their career. In order to try and stop that from happening then along with the pathway the club has started to play youth teams in the Edinburgh leagues meaning that kids can play and train in Gala whilst competing against high quality sides from the Capital and the Lothians. Already this has dramatically reduced the numbers of players leaving not just Gala but the Borders in general. It will take time too get this right however, which is why the club did not rush into having an Under 20's team too early.
Also it is true that the managers Dad is on the committee. He had played for both the Fairydean and the Rovers during his playing career and was a member of the Rovers committee that played an important role in arguing for and agreeing to the merger. The manager, Steven Noble was tasked, with just a few weeks notice and one of the smallest playing budgets in the league, to get a team that could survive in the Lowland League. The previous season Gala Fairydean had finished 7th in the second tier of the East of Scotland League and the Rovers played in the Border Amateur League. He was asked to buy into the new ethos of sustainability, of not paying over the odds for players, of selecting local guys and ensuring that unlike the Fairydean who trained in Edinburgh, that all training sessions were local. In the first season the team finished in 10th position and then last season improved to 8th. He gained is B License, is currently sitting his A Licence and has been a driving force of change for the better at the club.
Had the Aye Been attitude that previously existed been there then the club would have by now been on its third or fourth manager since 2013, with a revolving door policy on players and staff, with supporters not knowing from one week to the next what the team was, paying unrealistic wages and crossing fingers for cup runs that could pay bonuses promised on the never never. Instead the club has a long term strategy of sustainable growth, involving the community in the club, producing local talent and not paying more than it can afford for players.
Nobody would claim that the club is perfect but there is a sense that things have changed for the better.
So anyway....Aye Been? Status Quo? I don't think so Big Boss. But hey...I'm sure you'll reply with more fact based updates on everything that is going on down Netherdale way. I look forward to them.
Take care now!
