AllyMonc

Aye, hopefully Spartans stay down so we get the derby, Bonnyrigg as well and with Dick Campbell in charge and the new trainline ready the trip to Methil is even more appealing than usual! Very much looking forward to being in a league without any full time teams. Leave the diddy leagues for the diddies

A couple of podcast appearances from me this week. Terrace Extra https://www.patreon.com/posts/97984965?utm_campaign=postshare_fan Supporters Club Can't pretend I'm radiating positivity about the whole thing

I believe a lot of the unfairness chat comes from a belief that other clubs have had lesser punishments (fines, in some cases suspended) for similar offences. Whether that's true or not I don't know (or particularly care if I'm honest) As I've said on here and on Twitter, if we've acted in the way laid out in the statement then I don't see how we can argue against the punishment and we'll just have to suck it up. However, for the players, the management staff and the fans, it is too harsh a punishment, they are suffering the consequences of actions that had nothing to do with them or they had no control over. I don't think policing their (our) reactions does anyone any favours.

I honestly think if we'd have been upfront and open with the SPFL it would have been a fine and, hopefully my wife isn't reading this, I'd put away some cash to contribute. At least I've saved some money I guess

Yeah hard to disagree with any of this. Hard to take.

Absolutely devastated at the points deduction, I had been anticipating a fine but when you read the statement we've not got a leg to stand on. If we've refused to engage with the process and essentially stuck our head in the sand then that's unforgivable. Those players and the staff deserve a sporting chance to avoid relegation, and the fans deserve a chance to watch them try, they've earned that right and for some of these players it could have been career defining and a springboard to bigger things. To have that chance taken away by an off the pitch decision that had nothing to do with them is heartbreaking.

Sorry, for clarity this all happened before the end of last season (not the summer!) They were not an SPFL league club when this was being proposed

A confusing day Jan.

Never been prouder of a group of players than I was today. Not sure I've been angrier at a referee either.

Haven't seen that but when Spartans were up for it in the summer the prize for them was our league place. We'd have had to 'take over' them to make it work. Therefore the plan Tom Tracy posted about on LinkedIn. It was appalling and ludicrous back then, it's the same now but additionally doesn't make any sense at all, on any level.

Not an expert and no insider info on it but I think the winding up order sounds worse than it actually is. There is clearly a tax debt that needs to be repaid and HMRC are pretty good at going after these type of sums/entities (not so good at the bigger more sophisticated stuff). Winding up orders are part of that process. As others have said, I expect a payment plan to be put in place and the order to be withdrawn. Not good news by any stretch but not as bad as it might look at first glance. From my point of view we really need to avoid administration at all costs as I don't see how on earth we'd get out of admin if we entered it. Well, we'd get out of it by being liquidated but you know what I mean.

Aye, he'll be grand. I think his natural level is mid table League 1 and he was generally very good for us. Good athlete and decent technique, I think he's probably best as a number 8 in a 433. Not surprised to see him leave (obviously) but a wee bit surprised he's dropped a league

Yep! In my occasional robust discussions with the previous owner, specifically around the FC Edinburgh name, I told him I thought he'd fundamentally misunderstood the Scottish football fan and therefore his proposed audience/customer base

You get the odd outsized gate - Falkirk, Accies etc. which might make more of a difference I guess. It's really about short term revenue boosts to get us through the season I think. We've already cut costs by having to release all our players!

Spartans weren't in the League at this time - where as we were in League 1. I assume that was the attraction to Spartans. They tried to buy Cowdenbeath's place in the league 10+ years ago https://www.scotsman.com/sport/cowdenbeath-fans-fear-spartans-takeover-as-owners-try-to-cut-losses-2442712

You've got to go some to make Doncaster look like the good guy but Tom has managed it here I'd say.

Well. Didn't see this coming. What on earth was he thinking. FC Edinburgh Spartans - is that the worst name of anything ever? Would crowds have got above double figures? Challenge at the top of the Championship?? We knew a merger was proposed but thought it was the other way around! "Wrote off my investment and walked away" probably tells you all you need to know about our finances just now. Would rather be liquidated than this monstrosity. Genuinely in shock

A few people have mentioned (here and Twitter) about the savings from the Women's team and the U20's not being significant. I've been told that the savings are enough to make a material difference to our financial position. By material difference, I mean might be enough to stop us going under. Which is quite material! It is a good question though and one we posed to the board.

Yes can't really spin those numbers any other way which totally contradicts the public (not private assurances, not subtle nods) statements from the previous owner stating that the club was being passed across debt free. Of course the owner could have settled those debts or converted any loans he had made to the club into equity but could is very different than did. On the balance sheet you can see a significant deterioration in financial position across the reporting period: Fixed assets is negligible across both periods. Current assets drops by a lot and I assume that's the playing squad? Not always easy to tell in short form football club accounts. Creditors due within 1 year (so debts the club needs to pay within 1 year) shoots up by about 90% which is loads and I can't really think what that would be, maybe short term bridging loans the owner has made into the club? Did we make loads of expensive loan deals during this time so would have loan fees to pay and I don't imagine you can include the loan players as current assets (as their not ours) so would partly explain the drop in the current assets figure. Creditors due after 1 year (so longer term debts the company has to pay) goes from zero to circa 50k - this can only be a loan facility and based on the state of the club and the timings of the loan it will have been a Coronavirus Bounce Back Loan. They have incredibly generous repayment schedules/terms but they do need to be repaid and can't be wiped by going into administration. A balance sheet is different than a profit and loss account so it's not like the club made 50k in 2021 and lost 100k in 2022 but if you can't service those debts then that's an insolvent entity. Finally accounting is backward looking so we have no indication of what's happened (good or bad) between those accounts being filed. Long way of saying I don't see how that reconciles with the debt free message given when the club was passed over.

Thanks mate. I think the club's idea was to wait until they had something concrete to update on. I (and others) said interim statements to keep people at least broadly informed would be a better idea but it's up to the board I guess. I think a vacuum is a bad idea in instances like this as people will inevitably try to fill it. In terms of the 'why', well I certainly think the club should be clearer about this and I don't really understand the reasons why things are hinted at rather than addressed. I've not seen the books so to speak but I think we can say with certainty that the financial position the club was handed over in is not what was advertised by the previous board (or understood by the current board?). There has also been issues with merchandise and sponsorship falling through but from what I can tell the big factor is a simple, outgoings well above incomings, and without a benefactor in place to plug the gap we've simply run out of money. Best case scenario is this allows the club to reset and find its true sustainable level, wherever that may be. I did promise yer man that I'd come back on the Terrace when things were a bit clearer so hopefully get that arranged soon.

Statement out now and I think the tone is appropriate all things considered. I feel for all the players involved, they are totally innocent parties in this and have paid a heavy price, good luck to all of them in finding new clubs. The owner ran the price increase by me last week and while it's very disappointing to have to increase walk up prices I do think it was the only option (other than folding). The 3 match package (at a discounted rate) was a supporters club suggestion so good that it's been implemented. If there are any questions here I can take them to the board and try to update.

I really don't think we can criticise the players at all. If they're not being paid and there's no guarantee they'll be made good at any point soon then they are well within their rights to walk away. Some of these guys will be relying on their wage to meet mortgage obligations etc.

Statement from the club being issued today I believe. Won't be anything in the way of 'good' news but hopefully gives everyone involved some clarity and allows us to focus on what needs to be done to get to the end of the season without being liquidated. Getting to the end of the season the only aim now really

Shanley is absolutely brilliant and if McGlynn can get him to screw the nut then Falkirk have got an absolute diamond. One of my favourite City players in recent years and wish him all the best - definitely got a chance of making a career in full-time football (if he screws the nut which is far from guaranteed).

Got a bit emotional at Danny's goodbye there. A player I've loved watching over the years. I think he'd have stayed if at all possible.