Livingston - all the threads merged

[Ayia Napa Daz]

Whitburn Vale I agree with what you say about the sense of superiority held by the LLSC and the The Lions Den lot...they've always thought they run the show and I'd go as far as to say bully other supporters into how they should behave and what they should believe and say. Gotta love how they say all fans are welcome to join the LLSC whilst they've outcasted many people over the years. They're the ones turning fans against one another and causing a divide. Some of the scenes at Starks Park a few weeks ago where very very bitter.

Disagree that Livi are part time at best. The team is very poor, things on and off the field look dodgy and LOTS of fans are staying away. Yet we're still full-time and turning a profit. A strong Livi (similar to the 2011/12 side) would be attracting crowds of 1800-2000. Im realistic about Livi but I genuinely believe we have a decent fanbase there. It's up to the club now, and I think now more than ever the LLSC brigade really need to pipe down. They're a noisy minority.

I'd describe Livingston as morally bankrupt which is a shame cause we were on the up massively between 2009-2012 and it was a cracking club to support. Anyone who disagrees is blind.

[Whitburn Vale]

Whitburn Vale I agree with what you say about the sense of superiority held by the LLSC and the The Lions Den lot...they've always thought they run the show and I'd go as far as to say bully other supporters into how they should behave and what they should believe and say. Gotta love how they say all fans are welcome to join the LLSC whilst they've outcasted many people over the years. They're the ones turning fans against one another and causing a divide. Some of the scenes at Starks Park a few weeks ago where very very bitter.

Disagree that Livi are part time at best. The team is very poor, things on and off the field look dodgy and LOTS of fans are staying away. Yet we're still full-time and turning a profit. A strong Livi (similar to the 2011/12 side) would be attracting crowds of 1800-2000. Im realistic about Livi but I genuinely believe we have a decent fanbase there. It's up to the club now, and I think now more than ever the LLSC brigade really need to pipe down. They're a noisy minority.

I'd describe Livingston as morally bankrupt which is a shame cause we were on the up massively between 2009-2012 and it was a cracking club to support. Anyone who disagrees is blind.

Well said aya,there is potentially a good livi support out there,totally agree with you,just feel that the support needs to be encouraged back and soon for full time football to go on in the mid to long term.I feel it's up to the club to re-engage with the West Lothian community again they've lost their way with that in a big way and yes as we've both said some of the livi support mentioned above need to take a long look at themselves,barracking other fans for how they vocally support the team,it's pure nonsense!!

[AMC13]

I couldn't say we have a part time support, when we were winning in the second and third division we had a decent average home support and cracking away following.

Since then though we have watched some of the worst football in years and the people running the club are atrocious thus making people stay away, I don't think our pricing is too unreasonable maybe we could do more for kids pricing wise though.

Our support would pick up if circumstances changed with a combination of good result and better running of the club.

[Ayia Napa Daz]

I don't think the people running the club are atrocious. Problem is they're business people, which is fine, but there's no football-minded or marketing people at the top of the house. The LLSC lot are being put in their place so there's a good note. Having another fan on the board wouldn't be a bad idea...just not one of the usual suspects this time.

[Blackandamber]

I'm looking forward to you guys Ayia, Whitburn Vale, Gnaw taking on an active part in getting things at the club improved. How about one of you three as fan on the board? Failing that you sound as if you'd have a go at getting the fans better organised.

Edited March 20, 2016 by Blackandamber

[LIVIFOREVER]

Two main problems are stability and marketing.

 

Some stability with the managerial staff being there for more than half a season and having a decent pre season to build on the squad from the previous season would be good to start with. We've had two horrendous pre seasons with a huge turnover in players. The Bollan era saw stability at the club and the att rose, since then off field dramas have ruined all that good work,

 

Marketing is shockingly bad to non existent. The prices are good but apart from the Courier and OS nobody knows about them, we really need to engage with the community and get out there spreading the word about Livi to encourage folk down to games.

 

I've suggested numerous times to get a float on at the local gala days with youth players on the back of it chucking sweets, Livi badges and the like out to the kids, handing leaflets out with special deals on the first game, with ST prices on them too.

 

Have an open day down at the stadium during pre season and lay on all sorts for the kids, bouncy castle, shooty ins, face painting, meet the players and tours of the stadium etc. Have stalls out with merchandize, get leaflets on the go with the ST prices, plus first game of the season deals, and even a special rate 3 home game deal to low interest games against the likes of  Morton, QoS, Raith.

 

I could go on and on but you get the gist, just something done by the club to actually make an effort to get the club out there to the community and bring fans down to games, they wont come unless they're made aware and encouraged along with some vibrant selling of the club.

[Livithegreat]

And you obviously DONT

great debate here.

There is no way DM has just walked into Livi FC and practically running the day to day show for the good of his health.

As I said the transparent part is he has a criminal past that's very public. It will be interesting to see ST renewals next year. Over the years we have seen so many come & go from running our club

[TheLad]

Mmmm

Interesting

If DM walked we would have no club. Almost true as no one does as much as him down there I hear.

Worrying. No assistant first team coach should have so much control of a football club. No club should have to rely on such a person either. Only ever 5 minutes from disaster

[orco]

Worrying. No assistant first team coach should have so much control of a football club. No club should have to rely on such a person either. Only ever 5 minutes from disaster

Agree 100%.

[The Moonster]

 

Read that Airdrie were going FT again, would say we're at least on par with their fanbase. 

 

 

Is there anything to suggest that's feasible for Airdrie though?  A read of their thread will see plenty of scepticism about that, and they have similar stadium rent issues to Livi.

[McGuigan1978]

Two main problems are stability and marketing.

Some stability with the managerial staff being there for more than half a season and having a decent pre season to build on the squad from the previous season would be good to start with. We've had two horrendous pre seasons with a huge turnover in players. The Bollan era saw stability at the club and the att rose, since then off field dramas have ruined all that good work,

Marketing is shockingly bad to non existent. The prices are good but apart from the Courier and OS nobody knows about them, we really need to engage with the community and get out there spreading the word about Livi to encourage folk down to games.

I've suggested numerous times to get a float on at the local gala days with youth players on the back of it chucking sweets, Livi badges and the like out to the kids, handing leaflets out with special deals on the first game, with ST prices on them too.

Have an open day down at the stadium during pre season and lay on all sorts for the kids, bouncy castle, shooty ins, face painting, meet the players and tours of the stadium etc. Have stalls out with merchandize, get leaflets on the go with the ST prices, plus first game of the season deals, and even a special rate 3 home game deal to low interest games against the likes of Morton, QoS, Raith.

I could go on and on but you get the gist, just something done by the club to actually make an effort to get the club out there to the community and bring fans down to games, they wont come unless they're made aware and encouraged along with some vibrant selling of the club.

Funnily enough, pretty much every idea you've mentioned there has been put into practise by Raith Rovers in the last two years or so.

They've set up a weekly email which gets sent out every Friday about news and events concerning the club, which has just under 2,500 recipients each week.

They've set up a Roary Club for youngsters who get special offers and various bits and bobs of Rovers merchandise throughout the season.

They do open days, family days, they've had a celebration of the UEFA Cup tie v Munich, as well as sending the mascot and players to as many fetes and local gala things as you can possibly imagine.

What this has completely relied upon however, is fans being willing to give up their own time to volunteer to deliver these things.

Like most clubs, Rovers have the bare minimum amount of staff members, and while they muck in, they'd never be able to take on what I've just described on their own.

Additionally, the Raith fans involved have tried to deliver all this with a budget which was pretty much zero, which is a tricky business.

Everything you've listed is a great idea, but unless yourself or a group of other fans are willing to get behind it, it'll be difficult for the club to do it on its own (I'd imagine)

The sad part is, while the feedback the club has received about the increase in communication, the open days, family days etc has all been positive, it's barely made any difference in the amount of fans turning up on a Saturday, and that's with the team doing well, which is pretty disheartening.

I'm really not sure what the answer is, but a competent social media output would certainly be a decent and reasonably easy place to start.

Edited March 21, 2016 by McGuigan1978

[LIVIFOREVER]

I think in Livi's case it would make a big difference as there are a few thousand lapsed fans to target as well as the possible new ones around the community in West Lothian, but the club is making no effort to get them back/attract new ones.

 

The open day was mentioned by McGlynn but it fell through with the pitch being renewed, as a game was going to be played on it, imo you wouldn't need a game being played though, just lay on fun events that families would be attracted to, to entertain the kids. Petrofac did and excellent job in their pre match set up before the cup final last season up at Perth, something similar to that would be great, I dare say the usual volunteers at Livi would be landed with helping out right enough, the ones that do the turnstyles, HT draw tickets, MDM, are there whenever needed clearing snow away etc, those that MCL keeps having a dig at that are Trusr memebers. Whether you like the Trust or not they've done a hell of a lot keeping this football club going in troubled times and get little thanks for it. It may have its faults but there are good people in the Trust too.

 

There is a College right next to the stadium, tap into that for help with ideas on promotions and marketing, I know someone who teaches there offered and was told by the guy running our commercial business it was a 'fucking stupid idea', well he's not there anymore and he was hardly doing a bang up job for him to knock back idea, prob was afraid he'd be shown up by students.

 

Another problem at Livi just now is nobody knows what the feck is going on down there and what the plan is, a 4G pitch was mentioned to get use of the pitch every day hiring it out, and some company set up to rent the pitch out to Livi (would take it the Council would have to agree to sell the stadium to them). Is that a good thing or just another dodgy scheme for a land grab to make a quick buck, has a Rankine esque dodgyness feel to it.

[Gnaw]

Agree 100%.

Did you ask Nixon before you posted that Don

[Livithegreat]

Did you ask Nixon before you posted that Don

You're not as cleaver as you make out to be. Orco is well known across all Livi FC forums and it ain't Don Paul.

So are we agreed that what's transparent is our current Assistant Manager/coach has a previous criminal conviction. You seemed to have dodged that in our exchanges.

[Livithegreat]

I think in Livi's case it would make a big difference as there are a few thousand lapsed fans to target as well as the possible new ones around the community in West Lothian, but the club is making no effort to get them back/attract new ones.

The open day was mentioned by McGlynn but it fell through with the pitch being renewed, as a game was going to be played on it, imo you wouldn't need a game being played though, just lay on fun events that families would be attracted to, to entertain the kids. Petrofac did and excellent job in their pre match set up before the cup final last season up at Perth, something similar to that would be great, I dare say the usual volunteers at Livi would be landed with helping out right enough, the ones that do the turnstyles, HT draw tickets, MDM, are there whenever needed clearing snow away etc, those that MCL keeps having a dig at that are Trusr memebers. Whether you like the Trust or not they've done a hell of a lot keeping this football club going in troubled times and get little thanks for it. It may have its faults but there are good people in the Trust too.

There is a College right next to the stadium, tap into that for help with ideas on promotions and marketing, I know someone who teaches there offered and was told by the guy running our commercial business it was a 'fucking stupid idea', well he's not there anymore and he was hardly doing a bang up job for him to knock back idea, prob was afraid he'd be shown up by students.

Another problem at Livi just now is nobody knows what the feck is going on down there and what the plan is, a 4G pitch was mentioned to get use of the pitch every day hiring it out, and some company set up to rent the pitch out to Livi (would take it the Council would have to agree to sell the stadium to them). Is that a good thing or just another dodgy scheme for a land grab to make a quick buck, has a Rankine esque dodgyness feel to it.

Good post!

[Gnaw]

You're not as cleaver as you make out to be. Orco is well known across all Livi FC forums and it ain't Don Paul.

So are we agreed that what's transparent is our current Assistant Manager/coach has a previous criminal conviction. You seemed to have dodged that in our exchanges.

I never mentioned Don Paul you did.

Agreed on second point.

Just need everyone to pull together and support the club, never mind who's doing what and for how much.

Can everybody not pull together and support the team, if all the effort that people put into ripping the piss out of each other and put that time into supporting the club then I think it's fair to say we would all be happier people.

[The Moonster]

Just need everyone to pull together and support the club, never mind who's doing what and for how much.

 

Don't mind about any convicted drug dealers who may or may not have paid a good whack of money to our "previous" dodgy owner for his current job at the club, just keep coming to games and supporting the team.

 

[Gnaw]

Well said

[MCL]

Around 20 - 30 people already talking about forming a new legitamite transparent supporters club for next season.

Are you one of them....

 

No, I won't be one of them.

[Ayia Napa Daz]

This legit supporters club: who are we talking? Ex trust and/or LLSC folk? Is it just a carbon copy breakaway of the LLSC or a proper supporters club with booze and camaraderie? The LLSC is more of a cult/clique than an exclusive supporters club tbh.