StuartA

Over 400 said they'd join in our survey a year ago. Morton - fkng Morton - got over 850 members. And 1000 said they’d join the BtB scheme in 2019. It's basically up to Falkirk fans if they want it to work. We'd held off launching for ages given the state of the club and covid. But we knew it was a tough sell even when we did launch. More to come on the BAIRNforLife partnership. Just need to get the admin right so we're handling data properly. But as LatapyBairn says, that puts us up nearer 400 members and nearer £5k a month. Progress.

We're looking at a 3 year window to buy the 750k shares that are currently available to us, to add to the 90k-ish we already have. That means £300k at the current share price. Lots of water to flow under the bridge in the meantime, but the graph is starting to look like that's achievable, with momentum behind us. We need to think through how we work with and, if they want, represent existing small shareholders who own a decent chink lf the club but aren't co-ordinated. And we don't yet know the intentions of pre-existing major shareholders. There’ll be elections for the FSS committee in March and their early challenge, other than organising director elections, will be to drill down on that strategic point. https://falkirksupporters.org/subscribe/

Do you know how many we have on board now. Last count was sometime ago at 200 but I think it will be larger now. Time to make it more OUR club rather than it being in the hands of big investors with different agendas Over 250 members paying well over £3k a month total (excl B4L). Nearly 30 joined today. Lots of work to do and we're still learning, but we're getting there. https://falkirksupporters.org/subscribe/

Thanks very much! There’s an annual subscription option - the bottom left option for £120 per year. https://falkirksupporters.org/subscribe/

Thank you! No pens (good idea though) but tap me on the shoulder in Behind the Goals one day and I’ll buy you a beer. https://falkirksupporters.org/subscribe/

Yep, well into double figures! Can we ask them to sack anyone else? Shall we start a poll?? (thanks for signing up, too) https://falkirksupporters.org/subscribe/

Thanks to you and everyone else. I was never going to publish a list - I'm not into public shaming, unlike, erm... https://falkirksupporters.org/subscribe/

I do have a list of the five that said they'd sign up once Holt had left. https://falkirksupporters.org/subscribe/

You should have received a confirmation email from Pay Pal initially. Email subscriptions@falkirksupporters.org if there are any problems. Next members’ newsletter later this week.

Don't want to appear too keen, but there were several folk on here who said they'd now join: https://falkirksupporters.org/subscribe/

I understand that 100%. Are you boycotting matches, FFcTV, merchandise etc too?

That is a fair point, but another point is that the more we invest, the more influence we have on these decisions. And of course, the bigger picture is that fans have more ownership in the longer term. This is a long term project - today, it's Holt. Next season it might be a director or a player or a manager or something else. If we refuse to engage if we don't like one thing that's happening - however strongly felt - then we'll never, as can't, have enough influence.

Thanks. Stating the obvious - FSS doesn’t hire and fire club employees. We’re a separate organisation, a holding company if you like, for amassing shares in the club. We can obviously advise the board what fans think about current issues, but the directors must by law act independently. The more members and investment we bring, the more likely the board is to act on our advice. The implication of folk withholding being the opposite.

Nope - that’s a wee bit of a leap. Just trying to do do one or two things: explain what FSS can realistically achieve at the moment, or make sure we know who to approach if/when Holt does leave. I’m surmising that those who state explicitly that they won’t sign up while Holt is there support what we’re aiming for otherwise.

Can I just do a head count of those who have said they’d join FSS only if GH left? Not being facetious - I’ve seen a couple of folk mention it and we’ve had one cancel his subs after one payment citing that as a reason. It’d be useful to know so we can either discuss your perception of what FSS is about and where our powers are in reality, or make sure we chap your door once he leaves

We’ve said in comms that we eventually want to hit 25% ownership so that we have effective veto over special resolutions. The point of that is to protect the club from far-reaching decisions, such as overall ownership, restructuring or turning us into Livi. However sitting alongside the patrons’ we will have that soon enough. Under the current model, 750,000 shares are available for us to buy, on top of the 90k we already own. On current trajectory, we’ll have around 240/250k by the end of next month. It’s a decent start but there’s a long way to go. It’s not semantics to say that the board spots aren’t “meaningful” but the second slot could be described as vulnerable to FSS failing or larger shareholders changing their minds. The directors hold equal weight to the other four. With more members and investment, they’d hold greater moral authority, but they have no less power than any other director. It’s true that under the current rules, 10% gives you the right to a board seat. Equally, having under 10% doesn’t preclude you, it just means you need to maintain support of the board and/or enough shareholders. We’re in a fortunate position that all three legs of the stool - however imbalanced in terms of shareholding - want the concept to work. Even if that changed, it’d be a brave board or large shareholder that tried to overturn the directorships, unless FSS failed dramatically. The quicker we increase our membership and shareholding, the safer the concept. It’s a longer term project, but the opportunity to cement fan involvement is now. We won’t get everything we want and our directors obviously can’t communicate everything they try to do because of their legal duties, which will understandably frustrate people who want action on specific issues. I obviously respect everyone’s reasons for investing or holding back - no judgement from me. That’s why we’re taking the “does what it says on the tin” approach and explaining clearly what you’re buying into with FSS, so you know whether or not it’s for you.

All six directors have joined the patrons, that’s correct. The two FSS guys were approached before they signed up to the patrons’ group. They’re both also understand their mandate clearly, that they’re on the board as FSS reps. They were selected because they met the pretty challenging criteria we set, including agreeing to the interim nature of their positions. It’s also true that they’re all FSS members, as are many of the patrons, minor and major shareholders and others. Lots of them subscribe to Bairn for Life, Equity Bairns, and have contributed to the Crunchie Initiative fundraising. Some might have been Junior Bairns too, though that’s maybe stretching it The key point is that we want to get away from factional thinking - it’s a bit childish, and patrons are Falkirk fans too, just with a wee bit more to invest at the moment.

Just giving this a wee bump. Last night’s news gives us something to talk about… https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/falkirk-supporters-society-meet-the-board-evening-tickets-224793331907?aff=ebdsoporgprofile

It’s a mutually beneficial partnership, I’d say. B4L contributions to the club will now be by way of a share purchase. The shares will be held with the wider FSS shareholding. B4L contributors will be offered FSS membership, unless they opt out. And the FSS will give B4L webspace.

Agree with that. We did the other week and will do again.

He’s also a bit of a looker, I’m told.

Haha - I understand that all too well. Mrs A isn’t overly enamoured with the time this takes up :-) It's a valid debate, how the organisations and their members operate and interact and one which I’m sure will continue. Given the speed at which we had to move, I'm amazed that we managed to get to where we did. Questions like yours will have to be considered - I’m only one voice and can only explain how we got here. Our focus was on ensuring we got good people for the interim positions, and I believe we achieved that. The patrons process was running in parallel, so we didn’t know for certain who was or wasn’t a patron when we approached them. We did however ask everyone we approached to confirm that they weren’t being considered for a board position via another route, which they did. As I said, more than happy to have a chat/coffee and go over it. Thanks for the good wishes though.

Thanks for the comments about FSS interim directors. We explained the process in our FAQ, which I've pasted below. The other point I'd make is that we’re keen that this isn't about factions. You're right about the numbers of patrons v directors. I'd also say that they've likely all signed up to be FSS members too, so it goes both ways. We don't have a rule that excludes members of the patrons’ group from becoming FSS directors. I think it'd be a shame if we went down that route as it’d act as discouragement for those people to get involved with FSS. But you, or anyone else, are welcome to make the case from within the organisation and when we have elections next year. I'd be happy to discuss in more detail if you're at the AGM tonight, or any other time. The board asked FSA to nominate two directors following the four resignations in November. The ethos is to establish the “three legged stool” model of governance at the club, where no single group – major shareholders/external investors, medium-sized shareholders (eg patrons) or small shareholders/ordinary fans – had overall control. As the FSS was in the process of launching, we could not credibly run elections in the few short weeks before the AGM. The current FSS committee has not been elected by a membership, so committee members have decided for ethical reasons not to put themselves forward as candidates. The tight timescale means that we would not be able to build a membership and run an election process in the few short weeks before the AGM. We didn’t want to miss the opportunity to accelerate fans’ representation on the board, so decided to appoint interim directors who have the skills and experience to help improve the club and establish the supporter-director model while FSS gains a membership and has time to organise democratic elections for both the committee and supporter directors. The positions will last from the AGM until around June 2022, when we would conduct an election from the new FSS membership.