Jimmy1876

It's now even funnier that they've also not posted their usual "Match Reaction" video as well

Not surprised given they've started blocking falkirk fans on twitter left right and centre. Sour grapes

Very much looking forward to next week now!!! Just hope they don't sack Rankin before then.

But no one is disputing that. The issue is with you suggesting they are superior to those who don't contribute to FSS. But I can see you will just continuously and deliberately try to deflect from the actual point. So one last time - the issue is that you undervalue and disrespect the contribution of non members. It would be great if they joined but that's dependent on if they can or want to. It does not make them a lesser fan. If you don't see what is wrong with having that opinion then I can't help you. I won't reply any more as we are going round in circles but have a nice night.

Just because you call your opinion a fact does not make it so. You thinking people are not stepping up is not a fact and you feeling its unfair is not a fact. Personally I think FSS have done a great job in their growth and have already filled a massive part of that funding gap. I would absolutely trust them to continue on that growth trajectory as their communications have been great so far and have led to just under 900 fans joining with this growing almost every month from what I can see. I don't see why you seem to think that will halt or won't continue. What I think doesn't encourage people signing up is comments like yours. You keep bringing up that in other businesses you get more if you pay more. Clearly you're unhappy with what you're getting for your money with FSS otherwise I'm not sure what the purpose of even making the statement is. I'm happy to put my money in for the vote but if you're not maybe you should come up with some ideas rather than just complaining people aren't doing enough.

When you say its unfair that some don't pay as much, or that they aren't stepping up I'd say that is berating people for not spending enough. So you're not just pointing out a hole that we all know about. You're blaming people for not doing enough financially about it. The rest of what you've said are good reasons why we should encourage more people to join. What you are doing is antagonising those who haven't or don't want to and its not going to help any of what you've just said.

Generally people are able to make deductions based on what others say. Saying its unfair, that people are not stepping up as much as you are and that it's not enough generally points to you being either resentful or annoyed. Do you think berating people for not spending enough is going to encourage them to put more money in when they are already spending hundreds?

Never in my life have I resented another person for not spending as much as I do on anything. And if you do, you need to give your head a shake. Not everyone has to have the same views, opinions or ideas as you. I am an FSS member because I want to be, I like the idea of having more say and I support fan ownership. Not everyone agrees, has the means to or is interested in that. But what you've just said is a wild take. "Not stepping up"??? What do you think would happen if every non FSS member stopped buying tickets, going to games, buying merchandise? Do you think FSS members alone can keep the club afloat? No. Here is a couple examples of how people have "stepped up" in recent years. 1. The growth in match attendance over the last several seasons. At its lowest it was around 2,000 people after several years in League 1. 2. Falkirk TV subscriptions during covid and beyond. An additional £150-£180 per year. 3. Season Ticket growth, don't need to say anymore than that. 4. Breaking merchandise sales records with the new kit. 5. Ultras making a MASSIVE difference to the atmosphere. 6. Attending other club events like the calendar signing, fundraising nights and speaker nights 7. Match sponsorship and hospitality sell outs. Explain to me how 3000 odd fans are not stepping up enough? All of that could cost £400-£500 per season. Yes the additional FSS contribution is another means but the weird contempt you have for people who don't spend as much as you is completely illogical given how much every person actually has contributed. Do you get equally as annoyed at FSS members who don't also pay for Falkirk tv? Do you get annoyed at FSS members who don't buy 50/50 tickets?

This is where the offence is though and I can't see how you are so far removed you don't see why this rubs people the wrong way? It devalues other contributions while simultaneously saying that anyone who does contribute more is superior and somehow deserves more? Then you said its unfair that non members get the benefit while it was the patrons and FSS who stumped up the cash. Not only does that ignore the non members who absolutely did stump up the cash with season tickets, merchandise and other things, but you are effectively saying they should be thankful because they didn't do enough while others did. How can you not see that is offensive? It's one thing to say what the patrons and fss did saved our club from part time (fact). It's another to say its unfair that others didn't contribute above and beyond and what they did contribute was not good enough (opinion) which frustrates people. I said I wouldn't comment anymore but I can't help it when someone who is well known to be involved with people at the club makes comments like this because those comments are given more credence than others. You are alienating a large portion of the fanbase with your comments and certainly not encouraging them to join FSS. Be a bit more respectful.

I am too. But I get a bit defensive because I know people who couldn't justify an additional expense and when their contribution is devalued like it has been I get frustrated. I also can't imagine it helps recruit new people when that's the kind of rhetoric that floats about. Puts a sour taste in the mouth of non members to suggest they aren't doing enough and they are going to be less likely to join if they think that's what people who are related to the club are saying. Anyway I've made my points so I'll stop now so we can get back to the football.

Agreed, it wasnt the FSS I was referring to. FSS has had their communications on point imo.

Terribly repetitive isn't it. Can't wait to get back to all the formation examples and debate about Long vs Hogarth so we have something fresh to talk about

I don't remember anyone being derided for not buying the kit that season or deciding to buy PATG instead of ST in the past. They were certainly not made out to be lesser fans and guilted into taking on a bigger financial burden because its "unfair" that they get a good club with good football when they are not spending as much money as someone else. If I wasn't an FSS member I don't think that kind of rhetoric would entice me to join knowing my current contribution was both taken for granted and undervalued.

As I said I don't deny FSS members put in more, that would be dim. I'm pointing out your phrasing of financial burden not being fair is unjust. Burden is proportional. And saying its unfair that non members get the benefits of a well run club is frankly wild. FSS or not if you pay to watch your team, you're entitled to have a good experience and trust your money is going into a well run club. Fan ownership or not. FSS just gives us and those interested an excellent vehicle to have more say in that running.

There will absolutely be people who can't join because of financial reasons. There will also be people who are simply not interested in running of the club. There are also people who just haven't been bothered to do it. And there will be people who don't like fan ownership at all. It doesn't really matter. Saying that it's unfair that those people get a good experience from the club because FSS members pay an extra £10 more is disrespectful to the much larger proportion of finance that comes from everything outside of that. Regular fans who pay £20 a game are still entitled to a positive experience and that financial contribution is as important as FSS. I never denied FSS members put in more money, they absolutely do. But talking about burdens is not right because its proportional. And saying its unfair is not right because even if you just can't be bothered with FSS you still pay to go watch good football.

But the burden on any individual is proportional. £50 per month to someone who has an income of £1500 per month is a much bigger burden than £60 per month to someone who has an income of £3000. So it's unfair and disrespectful to say its unfair that 25% are carrying the financial burden. And similarly its not quite 25% as I would suggest at least another 25% are kids and not going to be part of any financial decision. Not sure what FFF has to do with it as it had nothing to do with fan ownership, it was a donation of money which someone can also do by buying 3 50/50 tickets per week? But by your standard that doesn't seem to count?

I think this does a disservice to the FSS and the fans to be honest. The purpose of paying for the FSS is so that you can get a vote, both on board members and other things and you also get the money monthly draw. I think saying that not being a member has the same benefits devalues the hard work people on the FSS have done to get us to the point. Plus the growth of the club are because of a board who are making massive positive strides, whether an FSS member or not I'd hope that is the least a fan of any club deserves. We are fortunate that with FSS we can be involved in ensuring that but it doesn't make it unfair that a non member also is able to see that. You are also massively devaluing contributions outside of FSS. If you go to every game, buy food, drinks, merchandise you are easily putting in £50 per month which is a lot of money for many people. Saying that isn't worth an opinion is really disrespectful to a large part of the fanbase. Also saying 25% are carrying the FSS is probably not quite right. People take their kids and families who might not all have individual accounts but are represented. If a parent has an account they are hardly going to make an account for their three kids (until the junior account comes into play). So while it's 25% by number, we are never going to get everyone with an individual account.

I understand if people get frustrated over continuous disagreements on both sides. But not sure why we are policing what people can and can't say on a forum about the club. From my perspective I like to be on here to see people's opinions and chat with others about mine. That is completely separate to whether I do or don't communicate a concern with the club/fss. I don't live in Falkirk so I don't know many falkirk fans to go to the pub with and talk about the club and that's why I'm here talking about things I'm concerned about as well as the pure excellence that has been throughout the season. If there are disagreements there are disagreements but I would hope that everyone on here is balanced enough to be respectful at the very least and let people discuss what they want to discuss.

I don't think the ultras themselves deserve to be tarred here and the three strikes has to be related to ultras specific things. If they start throwing flares onto a plastic pitch, trashing up seats they are sitting in etc. But I don't think this is because of the ultras, seemed a group of young boys who got carried away with stupid nonsense and need to learn the lesson. It shouldn't be minimised and the statement was excellent because of that. I would hate for the ultras to be disbanded after all the good they have done - and that's undeniable. But it's inevitable that when you put out a brand that some people might want to attach themselves to that for the wrong reason. That's why I think the ultras should be a bit more careful with what they endorse online so they are not encouraging that.

I've seen it on twitter/x as well. Don't understand it at all. And the risk of something like Saturday increases when you have groups like that coming to our stadium who have no real emotional connection to the place. Much easier to get carried away when you don't really care about damage or fines.

I mainly mean posting it to their social media and endorsing it. Graffiti is inevitable to some extent and its not surprising the brand is used for that but I don't think they should be semi-officially endorsing it online. Not a great look.

I agree with this. Especially now that it seems to be that St Mirren and Sheffield fans were involved. The only thing I'm not a fan of from whoever is running the ultras social media is the graffiti. Maybe poor timing but it does add to the perception of hooliganism which by all accounts is not at all the case of the main organisers. If the perception starts going down that route it pushes the club into a difficult situation because they can't be supporting a group of kids spreading tags around the place as well as getting into fights.

There seems to be a group of fans from St Mirren that have some kind of relationship with ours. Don't understand it, but it was mentioned on the discord that they were also involved.

I agree with most of this other than Yeats, I think he is a young prospect and is continually developing and could go even further in the future if he continues on this trajectory. I also think getting championship experience would help spur that on. So would love to see him get 2 years. I can't imagine at his age/experience he will be on much anyway.

I wouldn't like to condemn a whole group for the actions of a few idiots. But at the same time, it's also not a good look for the ultras Instagram to be posting pictures of graffiti tags all around the place. Just adds to the theme of what's going on and isn't exactly going to bring people onside. Acting like some sort of gang is just going to entice the group of people who do only attend to cause trouble. Would hate for parents to see that and stop their kids going to the game out of fear of them being part of the ultras.