The Falkirk FC Thread

[Sarcastic Bairn]

7 minutes ago, Springfield said:

Huge gamble 

I'm not sure what you are looking for, It's what the shareholders voted for and they are carrying that out.

[Springfield]

2 minutes ago, Sarcastic Bairn said:

I'm not sure what you are looking for, It's what the shareholders voted for and they are carrying that out.

Simply stating the facts 

[JulioBairn]

5 hours ago, Raybowski89 said:

Defo. Falkirk's website is so much better than the clubs around them and it isn't even remotely close.

You have no idea what you’ve just done. A certain section of our support will be seething at this comment. Probably frantically driving past the stadium to see if the boards been updated or searching Twitter to see if Jamie Swinney has had the audacity to tweet from his personal account. 

[ShaggerG]

40 minutes ago, Gaz said:

 

Yeah I was meaning about the gas leak. My brother-in-law works down there and so far he's not been told if they're to go back in tomorrow as they're not sure how safe it is. 

Herald says the stadium's closed until further notice. Hopefully that's tomorrow!

[Sarcastic Bairn]

 

10 minutes ago, Springfield said:

Simply stating the facts 

Not sure what part you are referring to that's a fact, however I thought it was a pretty positive statement.

[Springfield]

Just now, Sarcastic Bairn said:

 

Not sure what part you are referring to that's a fact, however I thought it was a pretty positive statement.

We have 850 FSS members. We need 2400. What bit do you not understand?

[ShaggerG]

3 minutes ago, Springfield said:

We have 850 FSS members. We need 2400. What bit do you not understand?

We all know that we need more members though. What do you think they should have done differently? Would you be happy with an outside investor coming in that could put the club in danger?

[StuartA]

3 minutes ago, Springfield said:

We have 850 FSS members. We need 2400. What bit do you not understand?

It would be a “gamble” if we weren’t more or less covered for this season following the cup run and FSS investment this year. If we fail this season and don’t reach that (albeit unlikely) membership figure you quote, then next season will see significant cuts, unless there’s new investment or a windfall.  
 

A gamble, to me, would have been acquiring another half mil through borrowing to throw at the first team, not what we’re doing now. 

[Springfield]

1 minute ago, ShaggerG said:

We all know that we need more members though. What do you think they should have done differently? Would you be happy with an outside investor coming in that could put the club in danger?

I’m assuming that the BOD have/are considering all options. The option of having the financial shortfall covered by the FSS membership is the obvious fix, unfortunately the numbers are barely covering a third of the required investment. 
Today’s press release however positive of where the club is presently at, doesn’t lie. The football side we’ve put together is the best we’ve seen since dropping down to the third tier of Scottish football. But financials are not good. 

I honestly don’t think we’ve done to much wrong, but we need to have investment from somewhere. Keep on hearing that any external investment would put the club at risk, surely the people who we have appointed as our BOD have enough experience/expertise to identify any rogue investment.?

[Sarcastic Bairn]

32 minutes ago, Springfield said:

We have 850 FSS members. We need 2400. What bit do you not understand?

A bit cheeky!

I said it was a positive statement, showing the recovery they have made since taking over, simply that.

I'll make the suggestion you don't get personal.

 

[Springfield]

4 minutes ago, Sarcastic Bairn said:

A bit cheeky!

I said it was a positive statement, showing the recovery they have made since taking over, simply that.

I'll make the suggestion you don't get personal.

 

Wasn’t personal 

[Bainsfordbairn]

1 hour ago, Gaz said:

 

Yeah I was meaning about the gas leak. My brother-in-law works down there and so far he's not been told if they're to go back in tomorrow as they're not sure how safe it is. 

It's safe to go in, as per the announcement from the stadium company earlier today. If it weren't the team wouldn't have been allowed to train there this morning 

Facebook

 

 

Edited December 7, 2023 by Bainsfordbairn

[StuartA]

17 minutes ago, Springfield said:

I’m assuming that the BOD have/are considering all options. The option of having the financial shortfall covered by the FSS membership is the obvious fix, unfortunately the numbers are barely covering a third of the required investment. 
Today’s press release however positive of where the club is presently at, doesn’t lie. The football side we’ve put together is the best we’ve seen since dropping down to the third tier of Scottish football. But financials are not good. 

I honestly don’t think we’ve done to much wrong, but we need to have investment from somewhere. Keep on hearing that any external investment would put the club at risk, surely the people who we have appointed as our BOD have enough experience/expertise to identify any rogue investment.?

The financials have to be considered in context though. From near extinction in 21/22 leading to a delayed AGM while we sorted ongoing concern, erm, concerns, we turned a £1m+ loss in 21/22 into a marginal loss in 22/23 and no such concerns. The club has told us that we’re covered this season, thus my disagreement with your characterization of this season’s approach as a gamble. 

It is of course still precarious and hand-to-mouth. But the club can at least be thinking about next season’s scenarios with more certainty, be that a reduced wage budget in L1 or a similar approach to this season in the championship. 

We’re making progress but need to fight for every last bit of it. Only if we get promoted will that progress be baked in. And even then, we’ll have to dig deep again to stay up and thrive. 

[ShaggerG]

36 minutes ago, Springfield said:

I’m assuming that the BOD have/are considering all options. The option of having the financial shortfall covered by the FSS membership is the obvious fix, unfortunately the numbers are barely covering a third of the required investment. 
Today’s press release however positive of where the club is presently at, doesn’t lie. The football side we’ve put together is the best we’ve seen since dropping down to the third tier of Scottish football. But financials are not good. 

I honestly don’t think we’ve done to much wrong, but we need to have investment from somewhere. Keep on hearing that any external investment would put the club at risk, surely the people who we have appointed as our BOD have enough experience/expertise to identify any rogue investment.?

You continually regurgitate the same stuff though. It always comes over to me like you're criticising the FSS and BOD when discussing finances, although I'm sure you don't mean it that way? I really don't think there's anything obvious that they could be doing to improve the situation, other than consider any external money that may be offered.

Not every external investment would put the club at risk, but it's crucially important that we don't take someone like Mark Campbell on, and yes, I'd trust the BOD to ensure that anyone that comes forward would be the right fit.

[Raybowski89]

Certainly puts the fear of God into you, doesn't it? Whilst this season isn't technically a gamble, since the money has more or less been accounted for (including losses), the thought of next season still in L1 sends shivers down the proverbial spine and I dread to think what players we'd be left with. Gotta get out of this league. It has to be this season, it just has to be. Five bloody years man. I'm not currently signed up to the FSS but I probably will in the new year. Just curious - anybody on here that's not currently signed up, and not intending to? I know Falkirk Daft got a measured response that was against the FSS. I just personally don't see an alternative when it's fan ownership? No sugar daddies so the fans have to foot the bill.

[falkirkbairn23]

3 minutes ago, Raybowski89 said:

the thought of next season still in L1 sends shivers down the proverbial spine and I dread to think what players we'd be left with.

Praying we get out of this league this season. Only gets harder the longer it goes on.

[bairn88]

3 minutes ago, Raybowski89 said:

Certainly puts the fear of God into you, doesn't it? Whilst this season isn't technically a gamble, since the money has more or less been accounted for (including losses), the thought of next season still in L1 sends shivers down the proverbial spine and I dread to think what players we'd be left with. Gotta get out of this league. It has to be this season, it just has to be. Five bloody years man. I'm not currently signed up to the FSS but I probably will in the new year. Just curious - anybody on here that's not currently signed up, and not intending to? I know Falkirk Daft got a measured response that was against the FSS. I just personally don't see an alternative when it's fan ownership? No sugar daddies so the fans have to foot the bill.

It was an attempt at a measured response but I thought it was complete and utter bollocks. Glad Falkirk Daft aired it though. 

[LatapyBairn.]

3 hours ago, Springfield said:

We have 850 FSS members. We need 2400. What bit do you not understand?

I think it’s you that is misunderstanding. We don’t need 2400, our playing budget will be set accordingly based on whatever the numbers are, 2400 members is now simply a target. The more paying members the FSS has the better our playing budget will be, it’s that simple. The club is actually on a very stable financial footing but going forward we can only spend what we can afford and continuing in league one will unfortunately mean we can afford a lot less than we are currently spending, promotion and/or further investment (investment done in the right way from the proper people) or an uptake in FSS numbers would obviously solve that issue. The club are actively pushing these avenues so I’m not sure what more you expect here? Are you advocating we take on more debt via soft loans which will need repaid hindering us longer to medium term? Or do we budget to spend money we don’t have and simply hope for the best? What’s your solution here?! 

Edited December 8, 2023 by LatapyBairn.

[Bairney The Dinosaur]

1 hour ago, Springfield said:

We have 850 FSS members. We need 2400. What bit do you not understand?

We don't NEED 2400. 

To sustain a title winning budget in League 1/competitive Championship budget it's estimated that an extra 400k a year (over an above expected operational income) would be required. However, at the recent AGM (or maybe the FSS update meeting) the Board said that, because of the work behind the scenes, the club could now operate on a break even budget. In league 1 that may be a hybrid/part-time squad and in the Championship a lower full-time budget, but it could be done. 

The FSS (combined with other income generated) has already saved the club, now it's about trying to push forward. 

[Raybowski89]

10 minutes ago, bairn88 said:

It was an attempt at a measured response but I thought it was complete and utter bollocks. Glad Falkirk Daft aired it though. 

Yeah, I didn't agree with it either. You can't have it both ways. If you want fan ownership then this is the reality of that. We all need to put our hands into our pockets. We're staring semi-pro status right in the face if we don't have a successful season. Will that be the death of the club? Short-term, probably not but it'll make what's become an incredibly difficult task all the more difficult.