Guest Posted April 18, 2014 Share Posted April 18, 2014 (edited) The "Trust" up in Livingston way seemed to have the reputation of being some all seeing benevolent deity that would only exercise it's power every now and then (once) to sweep away the horrible people not paying their bills. This seems to have only been down to Nixon's "friendship" with the Council, and his ability (at that time) to get them to run with his masterplan wrt Massone. Now, I'd guess the Livi Trust is little more than a dozen well meaning decent souls holding coffee mornings, manning turnstyles, and selling the occasional brick. Other than consenting to chip in the occasional few hundred quid now and then, it's hard to see from where they would weild any power whatsoever. It's probably the same with most Trusts. Put it this way..........the Perthshire Pony Club generate more cash than Livingston Trust. The elephant in the room is of course, the massive debt. I am sure that Rankine would be more than happy for the Council to offer up a seven figure sum in order to get the ball rolling. The existing Trust structure would be struggling to generate 10k. In the case of a CIC in Livingston, it's got to be council cash to make the current board go away,or it is simply not going to happen. Edited April 18, 2014 by Guest 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
distresseduke Posted April 18, 2014 Share Posted April 18, 2014 Lots of junior clubs in West Lothian too which have a few hundred fans each, and also lots of people that are just not interested in going to a football match. I didn't realise west Lothian had so many junior clubs that would pull support away from the regions big club. Are you suggesting that the relatively well supported Linlithgow rose takes fans away from Livingston as opposed to a senior team five miles from them? 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
renton Posted April 18, 2014 Share Posted April 18, 2014 (edited) I see the Livi board are considering the proposal of a name changed to West Lothian United to engage the club more in its catchment area . How would the Livi fans feel about the proposal? Would the name change bother you if it helped to attract a few more through the turnstyles? How about Meadowbank Thistle, classy, simple and might bring in some of the edinburgh punters who dont follow Hearts or Hibs..... Edited April 18, 2014 by renton 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LIVIFOREVER Posted April 18, 2014 Share Posted April 18, 2014 I didn't realise west Lothian had so many junior clubs that would pull support away from the regions big club. Are you suggesting that the relatively well supported Linlithgow rose takes fans away from Livingston as opposed to a senior team five miles from them? It's another factor of why Livingston fc don't pull in fans from the surrounding towns. Nearly every town has a local junior team, Fauldhouse, Whitburn, Armadale, Bathgate, Broxburn, West Calder, Blackburn, Livingston etc, that's a lot of footballing fans that wont be attracted to Livi. West Lothian has a decent sized population but I'd guess a lot wont be interested in going to games too, either because they have other interests that are family orientated, or 'support' a big team and just watch them on tv. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
distresseduke Posted April 18, 2014 Share Posted April 18, 2014 It's another factor of why Livingston fc don't pull in fans from the surrounding towns. Nearly every town has a local junior team, Fauldhouse, Whitburn, Armadale, Bathgate, Broxburn, West Calder, Blackburn, Livingston etc, that's a lot of footballing fans that wont be attracted to Livi. West Lothian has a decent sized population but I'd guess a lot wont be interested in going to games too, either because they have other interests that are family orientated, or 'support' a big team and just watch them on tv. As well as a plethora of junior teams we have two other senior teams..one from falkirk & one a mile outside ...if your going to use an excuse for a Pish support your going to have to come up with something that makes sense 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sergeant Wilson Posted April 18, 2014 Share Posted April 18, 2014 It's another factor of why Livingston fc don't pull in fans from the surrounding towns. Nearly every town has a local junior team, Fauldhouse, Whitburn, Armadale, Bathgate, Broxburn, West Calder, Blackburn, Livingston etc, that's a lot of footballing fans that wont be attracted to Livi. West Lothian has a decent sized population but I'd guess a lot wont be interested in going to games too, either because they have other interests that are family orientated, or 'support' a big team and just watch them on tv. If the council try to bale this mob out and fill the pockets of Rankine and his associates, I hope the residents and representatives of these clubs have something to say. What council help have they had? 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Newbornbairn Posted April 18, 2014 Share Posted April 18, 2014 The elephant in the room is of course, the massive debt. I am sure that Rankine would be more than happy for the Council to offer up a seven figure sum in order to get the ball rolling. The existing Trust structure would be struggling to generate 10k. In the case of a CIC in Livingston, it's got to be council cash to make the current board go away,or it is simply not going to happen. Given that councils are cutting services left, right and centre including support for the elderly and disabled, I can't see it going down well if they were to offer up huge sums of money for a football club. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
distresseduke Posted April 18, 2014 Share Posted April 18, 2014 Given that councils are cutting services left, right and centre including support for the elderly and disabled, I can't see it going down well if they were to offer up huge sums of money for a football club. Correct..if there is going to be a livingston it should be a part time club as that is what the hardcore support would justify...Falkirk were part time when i started watching them & im beginning to think we should go back there. if a full time business model means having to sell your best players every single season just to keep afloat & then replacing them with youth team players then what is the point 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted April 18, 2014 Share Posted April 18, 2014 It's another factor of why Livingston fc don't pull in fans from the surrounding towns. Nearly every town has a local junior team, Fauldhouse, Whitburn, Armadale, Bathgate, Broxburn, West Calder, Blackburn, Livingston etc, that's a lot of footballing fans that wont be attracted to Livi. West Lothian has a decent sized population but I'd guess a lot wont be interested in going to games too, either because they have other interests that are family orientated, or 'support' a big team and just watch them on tv. That is actually a very valid point. Livingston FC were parachuted into an area that wasn't exactly screaming out for a "pro" club. The Lothians (as a whole) are pretty much covered by Hearts and Hibs with a quick run west on the M8 getting you to Parkhead in half an hour, and Ibrox is only another 15 minutes further on. Eight or so junior teams in an area where junior football is a strong part of the culture isn't going to turn it's head easily for seventeen quid football where you can't usually stand around with your mates. The fact that a Livingston FC overspending like crazy can only bring in a shade more than 1,000, tells you exactly where the crowds will go if they were to start spending only 70% of what they earn on the team and operating the stadium, and set aside the other 30% for debt repayment. Crowds would be down at the 400-600 mark pdq. I don't know a lot about CIC, but it sounds fine in principle, but exactly what triggers people to suddenly start caring more, I really don't know. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sergeant Wilson Posted April 18, 2014 Share Posted April 18, 2014 Good points made above. Livingston prove the failures and pitfalls of business applying its principles to football. The business case for having a team in the area looked sound, but plans like that don't take in to account the irrational nature of football supporters. Most folk knew it would never work. The latest lot of directors knew better than anyone. They took over for minimal cost and are know looking to walk away, losses covered and probably a wee profit and some fun along the way. The worst that could ever happen was the council buying out their lease to build shops. Leading to another tidy profit. Anyone who thinks Rankin's was in it for love of the game is a loon, he is a speculator and he seen a potential profit. He'd shut Livi tomorrow if he was a pound up. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MCL Posted April 18, 2014 Share Posted April 18, 2014 If the council try to bale this mob out and fill the pockets of Rankine and his associates, I hope the residents and representatives of these clubs have something to say. What council help have they had? The council started the ball rolling to put Massone out by calling in the debt for unpaid rent. Once he was gone they wrote off the debt and charged the new owners a lot less for rent. I don't think they would have cut house rents quite as fast. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LIVIFOREVER Posted April 18, 2014 Share Posted April 18, 2014 The council started the ball rolling to put Massone out by calling in the debt for unpaid rent. Once he was gone they wrote off the debt and charged the new owners a lot less for rent. I don't think they would have cut house rents quite as fast. Most people wouldn't rent out a 10 bedroom house when they can only afford a 1 bedroom one though. Right from the start there has been a misconception that Livi would fill their stadium and every owner has fallen into the same trap, looking at the catchment area without having a fucking clue. If they had come in and tried to grow a support over the years then Livi may well have risen to what Falkirk have in attendances but with all the financial fuckwitery putting us into admins and general piss poor public relations there was no chance of having a steady support let alone one that would grow. The old chestnut of thinking we belong in the top tier is another one that has led to every owners doom. This current mob came in with promises to spend 99p in the pound but again let any sense they had go right out the window. Fair enough they got a curve ball thown at them by the SFL chucking us into the bottom league but they have to take responsibility for throwing caution to the wind and waiting until we were back a season in the 1st div before making drastic cuts to the budget. Really looks like they had to be on the brink of admin and couldn't afford any more director loans before they took action, crazy! 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
distresseduke Posted April 18, 2014 Share Posted April 18, 2014 Talking strictly business though directors loan accounts count for f**k all ..as long as you pay the right amount of corporation tax which bear in mind can only be paid on profit then the only time a dla counts is when you f**k up ...then hmrc can pursue the directors personally for the dla in leui of what should have been paid...to sum up if your accounts show a loss fair enough as long as hmrc can't prove directors were taking dividends out a non profitable company 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doink Posted April 18, 2014 Share Posted April 18, 2014 Has the court case involving Ged Nixon been heard yet 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ginge123 Posted April 27, 2014 Share Posted April 27, 2014 At the risk of being perhaps too positive, when are details about season tickets for next season usually announced? I had a look about on the two Livi forums but couldn't see them being mentioned. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LiviLion Posted April 27, 2014 Share Posted April 27, 2014 At the risk of being perhaps too positive, when are details about season tickets for next season usually announced? I had a look about on the two Livi forums but couldn't see them being mentioned. Could be wrong but I'm sure the past couple seasons they've been available to order for current season holders a couple weeks before the season ends. At one of the fans forums earlier in the year they said prices would be cheaper than this season's, not sure if they actually mentioned how much it would be though. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mozam76 Posted April 27, 2014 Share Posted April 27, 2014 (edited) Could be wrong but I'm sure the past couple seasons they've been available to order for current season holders a couple weeks before the season ends. At one of the fans forums earlier in the year they said prices would be cheaper than this season's, not sure if they actually mentioned how much it would be though. There was a piece in the Record just before Christmas, where Rankine stated that season tickets would be cheaper for next season. The article said £200 for adults, although it's not a quote from Rankine as such. http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/livingston-fc-neil-rankine-west-2918521 Edited April 27, 2014 by mozam76 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andylivi1 Posted April 27, 2014 Share Posted April 27, 2014 At the fans forum, the one about Nixon and the plans for the future etc, it was stated by Rankin himself that they overcharged considerably this season, the prices set by Nixon. He said that an adult season ticket would be £200 and I'm not certain but I'm sure he said £100 for concessions, maybe less can't really remember but he definetly said £200 for adults. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LiviLion Posted April 29, 2014 Share Posted April 29, 2014 Statement on the OS from McDougall. Season ticket prices confirmed as being £200 for adults, and £100 for full time students and over 65s (I think), and £60 for under 16s. 10% discount for those who buy one in May, which for adults ends up being £10 a game, not bad at all. Clicky 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EdinburghLivi Posted April 29, 2014 Share Posted April 29, 2014 Yep, I'll be picking one up this season. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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