Zbairn
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Posts posted by Zbairn
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3 minutes ago, PedroMoutinho said:
I can totally see why the extra budget was made available, but ultimately of the money’s not there, it’s not there. I certainly wouldn’t have allowed Mcglynn to keep all of last season’s dross on the basis of squad harmony.
The target of 4000 FSS members was just not realistic.
It seems like the patrons were whether unwilling or unable to provide the extra funds so the club’s now left begging MR and SA.
The dross from last season have contracts that would still need to be paid. McGlynn’s budget would have to take that into account
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I never said 4000 is realistic, but if they got a 50 or even 40% uptake of fans who turn up every Saturday, that would make a huge difference,I believe some new Patrons have signed up. Other initiatives like the 10 yr season ticket all helps. The begging bowl might not be as deep as it could have been. With luck if we beat Alloa in the cup and a half decent draw in the next round, we may actually not need the bowl.
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19 minutes ago, PedroMoutinho said:
I have no idea whether it’s true that the auditors have refused to sign off the accounts. Clearly delaying the AGM is an unprecedented and serious step.
Possibly the bod are still in discussions with MR and SA about a funding package. If that is the case, those two will deserve enormous credit for yet again stopping the doors shutting.
There will also need to be careful consideration imo of whether adding an unfunded £150k to the football budget was a wise move.
If we didn’t, our squad would have been much the same as last season with a load of the dross getting regular playing time. Mid table at best. Attendances down, less hospitality and no feel good factor. Our slow decline would have been cemented.
At the moment there is a glimmer of hope. If by some miracle we get promoted then it will all have been worthwhile.
The hole in the finances is not insurmountable if all the fans stick together and help over the next few months. That includes possible loans, new Patrons, 10 yr season ticket uptake, increase in the FSS membership, higher gates etc.
As an aside, although the figure of around 620 FSS members is a great achievement in less than a year, imagine what a difference it would make if even half our core support of 4000 took up membership!
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6 minutes ago, TxRover said:
Like, perhaps the Present Value of an annuity, which is what these 10 years tickets are, at least from an accounting POV. So, assuming a 4% rate (bog standard long term rate assumption), a £7,500 a year payment stream for 10 years ha a Present Value of, wait for it….£60,831.72…less than half the £125,000 this could generate. If you want to buy the hype about inflation, we can go to a 6% rate, and see the Present Value drop to £55,200.65.
The one downside is the loss of the delta in ticket price over the 10 year period, but with the pricing at £5,000, it seems well over the odds to be a nice net positive.
Without having a clue what you are talking about……in idiots terms, is the season ticket a good buy for those purchasing it given loads of add ones? …..and is the immediate cash injection into the club sensible?
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8 minutes ago, Amarillo Bairn said:
Don't actually think I was getting my point across well last night, all I meant was cost off living crisis, Xmas coming soon, could have waited till January to offer this scheme and if it was only for "patrons " etc word it that way
The cost of living crises has hee-haw to do with offering this season ticket. It’s a way of getting much needed cash into the club within a relatively short time span.
There are still folk buying Mercs, BMW’s, new houses etc. out there who may just this view this as a good deal over the long term. If it helps the club to bridge a short term financial issue, then it can only be viewed as a good idea.
To have a pop at JS for this idea as you originally posted, which to me is eminently sensible, was a bit off. Possibly yes with some other stuff, but not this.
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3 minutes ago, PedroMoutinho said:
You can’t imagine prices will be kept the same for 10 years though, so the loss will be greater in future seasons.
Agree……but that’s probably why, with the add ins, it’s a good deal for those that actually buy a main stand ticket and a car parking ticket. I think the car park alone is £80 a season.
It’s a product that helps the club with immediate help. In the great scheme of things with around 2000 season tickets sold, it doesn’t really eat much into future finances, which we all hope will be better in years to come.
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12 minutes ago, PedroMoutinho said:
The one disadvantage I do see is that you’ll potentially be losing near enough £10k a season in future revenue unless whoever buys these tickets chooses to buy a season as normal on top. Not hugely material though in the grand scheme of things.
£7500 loss if prices were kept at this season price (based on £300 for early bird sales).
Not a lot in the great scheme of things if it helps get our club out of an immediate hole in finances, with potentially £125k in additional revenue coming in.0 -
2 minutes ago, Amarillo Bairn said:
Where in that statement did it mention "patrons" only ones it available to?
It didn’t. It’s available to the first 25 fans that want it. Your point is?
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2 hours ago, Amarillo Bairn said:
Is this some of 10 year season ticket a joke? cost off living crisis, folk struggling to heat houses etc and can get to games when they can, but can get 1 free parking space a season, that may have worked at Stenhousemuir, thought this Jaimie guy was some sort of marketing genius, can't wait to run out to Pendle strips next season
20 odd fans stuck in £10k to help out the club in return for a piece of paper.
Asking 25 fans to pay £5k up front for a 10 year season ticket with a load of “add ons” that actually mean they will be quids over time in is perfectly sensible to me.
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7 hours ago, PedroMoutinho said:
In my view it would be no bad thing having someone on the board with a different perspective. If MR and SA are effectively being asked to sage the ckuh from shutting the doors by putting in significant sums, they have every right to be represented on the board.
I think MR and SA still have enough shares to have their rep on the Board. The question is, do they really want to put someone on, or are they happy with the current incumbents?
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2 hours ago, roman_bairn said:
25 season tickets at £5k each that are probably worth around £3k over 10 years. Hardly Rangers selling the family furniture.
What a minter of a post from the virgin….I actually think its a good deal if you add it all up.
An "early bird" Prime Seat is currently £300 a season. If you take probable increases, it will certainly be a whole lot more than the £3k you mentioned.
I noticed there are also a load of "add ons". Car parking over 10 years (if you have/want it) is worth another £800 over the time span (assuming no increase). 6 free tickets each season over the course of the 10 yrs for mates could be worth more than £120/season. Hospitality for 2 next season only. Free access to the Westfield Lounge (around £20/season), 10% discount in the club shop.
All in all, you probably would be quids in if you currently use or want all of that.
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if only we could swap Williamson, Watson, Ross & Wilson for one half decent RB !
4 players for the price of 1 !!!
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Just noticed and for info...... tickets for the home game against Dunfermline on the 5th November are now on sale on the website.
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Keep making chances like yesterday and someone is going to take a tanking. Hopefully on 5th November
Nice to see McGlynn sticking with a settled (and winning) team choice. Long may it continue!
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2 hours ago, Dawson Park Boy said:
If the old MSG decide to help out I would think they would need strong representation on the Board completely independent of the Patrons or FSS. The Rawlins might also require board representation.
Aye, let’s get Gary Deans back….or maybe Lex Miller….how about Andy Thomson? They are independent of the FSS or PG!4 -
56 minutes ago, Dawson Park Boy said:
Indeed and back in around 2015, I think, they wrote off (forgave) a few hundred thousand of their loans.
Not much publicised but there was a Note deep in the Accounts confirming what they had done.
That should never be forgotten.There are those who, I believe, were in the MSG who did (and still) have the clubs interests at heart. Pretty clear that SA is one of them. Without them I don't think we would have a club or certainly not one we would recognise today.
There were others who didn't give a toss as long as they were in the Boardroom. Thank goodness they are now long gone !
The biggest mistake the MSG ever made was to appoint a series of "custodians" who they thought would take the club forwards. Unfortunately they continuously backed the wrong people who either lacked what it takes to run a football club, wanted to be Billy Big Baws or just wanted to line their own CV's.
Hopefully these days are behind us !
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With respect to the FSS and voting rights, its all pretty moot, the more folk sign up.
Having 10 votes if you stick in £100 a month will effectively make no real difference to any final voting result, unless you form an internal group within the group and proxy your votes together (all very highly unlikely, including someone sticking £100 a month).
Therefore it kind of makes sense for ease, just to have a one man one vote system.
As mentioned above, most folk buy into it because of an emotional tie, not because they want a huge say in the running of the club.
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9 hours ago, RC_Bairn said:
Are you actually being serious? This is like standard grade business studies all over again.
The Directors you are talking about were ratified by a vote of all FFC shareholders at an AGM. I can't tell you which one exactly but I'd imagine it'd be the 2019 or 2020 AGM.
One slightly interesting but important difference between 2019/2020 and now is that the BOD’s have been elected by fans Groups, either PG or FSS. In the case of FSS by around 500 members. Previous BOD’s were essentially selected by the very few MSG members due to their % shareholding. That’s how we got Doug Henderson, Margaret Lang et al.
To put this into perspective, remember the Doug Henderson fiasco at the AGM where virtually all shareholders wanted him ousted and he was still elected by 2 or 3 MSG members.
There were quite a few situations where it was a job for best mates and even then, some were only in it for themselves. On occasion not even FFC fans.
At least with the current guys we know that they are FFC fans. They may not get everything right, but I’m 100% convinced they are trying their best for the club.
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11 minutes ago, RC_Bairn said:
The current set-up is too heavily weighted toward the PG in my view. As I've said on numerous occasions they invested £270k into the club and effectively received four board seats. No other investor would be afforded the same reward for such a low investment.
My vision? We need to grow the FSS so they have more financial teeth and can restore a bit of balance to the board - at the moment they feel too much like the junior partner. We also need to attract external investment. All of which is easier said than done I appreciate - but you asked me for my vision.
The PG effectively received 2 board seats. The FSS have 2 seats. It’s up to that group who they appoint to the Board. It’s irrelevant that one of their picks happens to be a member of both Groups. It’s who the FSS voted for.
They can just as easily “unvote” him and get 2 non patrons on board….if they can find 2 guys willing to take it on.…..just as you can put yourself forward if you are an FSS member.
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8 minutes ago, RC_Bairn said:
None of which are a new phenomenon. Every board in the last ten years has had to pay rent on the stand, to the council and had players on the books that the new manager didn't fancy.
And don't forget the current board hired Martin Rennie!
Previous Boards hired Hartley and Sheerin.... if we go back even further - Lambie, Bannon, etc.
Your point is ? How often do a Board get the managers appointment right first time ?
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37 minutes ago, JulioBairn said:
I don’t think it’s just the 90%/10% comment, I think it’s the use of the phrase “it’s not fair”. What’s not fair is that the group of people who are privileged to get the opportunity to run our club continually run it into the ground. It’s not fair that fans are then just expected to bail them out whether they can afford to or not. Tbh it’s not fair on the current board either as this is not their doing. I have no doubt the fans will play their part as we are emotionally invested but I think a message of “help…we’re fucked” would’ve seen more fans put their hand in their pocket than that divisive garbage.
Through the FSS there is an opportunity to become a member of the Board. It’s not just for the “privileged” few any more. The problem is either apathy or folk don’t want to put their head on the block when issues like this arise. The FSS have around 500 members, how many have applied for the Directors job?
In saying that, the delivered message could and should not have been issued in a way that apportioned blame. As stated by someone else, the message was simple……………We have serious cash flow issues that we need to address immediately to enable us to meet our targeted budget for this season. Your help in any small way would be appreciated in allowing the club to remain financially stable during these difficult times. As always, our aim is for the club to increase fan ownership and allow the team to be fully focussed on winning the league. Please find attached ways you can help (links to FSS etc)
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4 minutes ago, LatapyBairn. said:
I actually quite like the brutal honesty of it, it certainly doesn’t offend me. There is no point in sugar coating things and to be honest I do agree the FSS numbers are pretty poor for a club our size, I’d like to think fans who can afford to do a bit more will. Do we want want to be a fan owned club or not? The model seems to be working well at other clubs of similar size so surely we can step up as a group and buy the shareholding that’s been made available to us, the idea that the club could sell of those unsold shares not to the fans but to another Mark Campbell type or even a Lex Miller type crook actually makes my blood run cold.
Don’t think this is why there is so much negative comment.
It’s not the intended message folk are getting angry about, it’s the tone and way it was delivered.0 -
I have mixed views on the Airdrie game. I thought their new pitch was atrocious and definitely played into their hands, as they are obviously used to it. The "stickiness" of the pitch with the ball not rolling freely and the strange bounces, was just not natural. Not to mention the injuries and having to finish with 10 men. Kelty was a disaster of McGlynns making, tinkering with the side.
However, since then we have played really well with a fairly settled team. What has been pleasing is that we have almost totally dominated and controlled these matches, especially 1st half v the Pars and totally against Partick.
McCann at left back has been a stand out. We need to keep momentum going with a good win against Clyde. Continue playing like the last two games and there were will be few in our league who can live with us.
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Think Yeats is currently our best option at right back. I think he is growing into that position and will get better as the season progresses.
Williamson had one outstanding game in a team on the front foot, but has shown time and time again that he can’t tackle or defend well. Plus the fact he is made of “glass” doesn’t help.
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Still early days, but todays game will possibly define the extent of our progression.
We need a result to show that we can mix it with those who will be our main challengers. Pity we didn’t turn up against Kelty as I think we could have gone into todays game with slightly less pressure to keep in touch with those above us.
Fingers and toes crossed for 3 pts. COYB!
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The Falkirk FC Thread
in Scottish League 1 General Chatter
Posted
I think it has been made pretty clear on various media channels that we need to find around £400k. It's not a secret !
They have asked the wider fan base to help through calls to join the FSS (or the Patrons Group) but this has been largely ignored. Remember they were castigated for the comment re actual numbers joined versus potential core support. Around 600 members of a 4000 core support, is roughly only 15% of our fans signing up to this initiative to help the club. If the fans truly want fan ownership, we really should be doing better than this.
One thing you cannot accuse the current BoD is that they haven't laid our situation out there for all to see. What we can perhaps argue is that we don't know the current status and where we are in respect to this shortfall.
I'm also of the opinion and agree with LB, that perhaps the reason for the delay in the AGM is to make sure that the funding is in place to satisfy the accountants, prior to the AGM going ahead. Whether it takes place in December or January is pretty much irrelevant as long as the work to secure financing has been done.