The Falkirk FC Thread

[Bairn in Exile]

5 minutes ago, NavyBlueArmy1876 said:

And here's that list of the 12 in front adjusted for an average of 1-200 away supporters like what we have had this season:

1. Celtic 58,000
2. The Rangers 48,500
3. Hearts 18,000
5. Aberdeen 15,500
6. Hibs 15,000
6. Dundee United 7,500
7. Dundee 5,200
8. St Mirren 5,000
9. Dunfermline 5,000
10. Falkirk 4,600
11. Kilmarnock 4,500
12. Motherwell 4,000
13. St Johnstone 2,800

St Mirren's crowds are up a fair bit because of the season they're having, five seasons in league 1 and they'd be getting half of that like they were when they were struggling in the Championship. 

Dunfermline's figure gives us a realistic idea of what we can expect next season.

Raith would knock St Johnstone off 13th spot based on home fans only, as would Partick Thistle 

 

 

 

Thanks for this, it pretty much confirms my thinking. Now, if we were to see a return to the Premiership, this is how I think things would pan out:

You have the big 2 of the bigot brothers out on their own.

Then the next "big 3" of Hibs, Hearts and Aberdeen. Dundee United might have been grouped with them in the past but I think that they now stand alone in 5th place.

Then the next 6, including ourselves, and I think that given a reasonably successful season we would be nearer 6th place for average attendances than 12th. I think both ourselves and the mutants would have bigger crowds than St. Mirren, Killie and  'Well with maybe just Dundee pipping us for 6th place.

[tirso]

6 minutes ago, LatapyBairn. said:

Both Cove and Hamilton are operating higher football budgets than Falkirk, this was confirmed by their own directors at TFS. In fact there are players at Cove still on part time contracts earning more than any of falkirks full time players. 

Find that really hard to believe with their crowds but if so shows the draw of the Navy blue , were it not for money.  

[LeodhasXD]

7 minutes ago, LatapyBairn. said:

Both Cove and Hamilton are operating higher football budgets than Falkirk, this was confirmed by their own directors at TFS. In fact there are players at Cove still on part time contracts earning more than any of falkirks full time players. 

But surely not from just Cove. Would be from their part time job too? They are fishing in the really low end full-time market like QoS. That's a lot of cash wasted if they have  similar budgets.

Had a friend who went to hospitality at yours and he heard boasting about how much falkirk were paying a player and I about fell off my chair. I'm assured this person was in the know too.

[LatapyBairn.]

1 minute ago, tirso said:

Find that really hard to believe with their crowds but if so shows the draw of the Navy blue , were it not for money.  

What do crowds have to do with it? Look at the money Queen’s Park are spending, or Gretna before them ect ect. The list of Scottish clubs that have been able to spend outwith their means is endless. 

[Skyline Drifter]

10 minutes ago, LatapyBairn. said:

Both Cove and Hamilton are operating higher football budgets than Falkirk, this was confirmed by their own directors at TFS. In fact there are players at Cove still on part time contracts earning more than any of falkirks full time players. 

Including their income from other jobs maybe. I know what some of your players are getting. Not a chance Cove are paying part time players more than that on their own. Possibly more than some of Falkirk's full time players, but not ANY of them.

[LatapyBairn.]

10 minutes ago, LeodhasXD said:

But surely not from just Cove. Would be from their part time job too? They are fishing in the really low end full-time market like QoS. That's a lot of cash wasted if they have  similar budgets.

Had a friend who went to hospitality at yours and he heard boasting about how much falkirk were paying a player and I about fell off my chair. I'm assured this person was in the know too.

Directly or indirectly players are being paid by the club and/or by individuals and directors who own the club, the people running cove are actually quite open about it. It’s does not take the brains of Britain to work out what is going on up there. 

Edited April 3 by LatapyBairn.

[tirso]

1 minute ago, Bairn in Exile said:

Thanks for this, it pretty much confirms my thinking. Now, if we were to see a return to the Premiership, this is how I think things would pan out:

You have the big 2 of the bigot brothers out on their own.

Then the next "big 3" of Hibs, Hearts and Aberdeen. Dundee United might have been grouped with them in the past but I think that they now stand alone in 5th place.

Then the next 6, including ourselves, and I think that given a reasonably successful season we would be nearer 6th place for average attendances than 12th. I think both ourselves and the mutants would have bigger crowds than St. Mirren, Killie and  'Well with maybe just Dundee pipping us for 6th place.

I agree, getting ahead of myself but we have a great potential to push on.  Falkirk is a growing place in the central belt, can imagine parents moving here want their kids to evade the old firm poison.  the atmosphere has improved no end, helps when you are winning.  would be great to push on and see a real move up the pack,  we can but dream but would love to see the stadium get completed to improve the atmosphere further.  it's the one thing that sticks in the craw, looks tinpot and ruins the atmosphere somewhat.

[tirso]

9 minutes ago, LatapyBairn. said:

What do crowds have to do with it? Look at the money Queen’s Park are spending, or Gretna before them ect ect. The list of Scottish clubs that have been able to spend outwith their means is endless. 

I have no idea, I just find it hard to believe for teams in our own league rather than QP.   at our level our crowds will have a lot to do with it, i'd imagine.  granted there are examples of unsustainable spending but thought those days were largely gone.    without knowing, I can't say.. 

Edited April 3 by tirso

[LatapyBairn.]

16 minutes ago, Skyline Drifter said:

Including their income from other jobs maybe. I know what some of your players are getting. Not a chance Cove are paying part time players more than that on their own. Possibly more than some of Falkirk's full time players, but not ANY of them.

Well you’d be wrong then, there remain players at cove still on part time contracts earning more than any of the full time players in the division. Whether the wages are supplemented by the clubs owners or not is pretty irrelevant to be honest. 

Edited April 3 by LatapyBairn.

[Ranaldo Bairn]

Just compared the last 5 fixtures with my life/work calendar... and it looks like I'll not get to any more games this season. 

I've been there in person for all the promotion parties/trophy days in my time... East Fife 86/Meadowbank 91/Clydebank 94/Ross Co+QOS 05 but I'm going to miss the Alloa silverware show. At least I was at Montrose.

[Aufc]

2 hours ago, bridge of allan bairn said:

Really interesting, thanks for sharing @Bairn in Exile.

With Arbroath likely to be replacing Falkirk in League 1 its going to mean a big drop in away fans/revenue for clubs in this League. Stenhousemuir coming up in place of Edinburgh will be slightly better at that end but not a significant uplift. If you assume we take an average of 1,000 fans to an away game (sometimes significantly more), twice a season, at say £20 per head that's £40,000 not allowing for add on's like hospitality, sponsorship, food and drink etc. Montrose probably banked more than £50K extra on Saturday alone, which will go a long way to helping their player budget for next season.

Will also be interesting to see how much our home attendances increase next season with more home fans and more away fans. Stadium could be pretty full most weeks, especially if we are challenging at the top end. 

Thinking about next season, I'd really like to see us extend the already excellent free tickets for schools initiative to many more kids at games where we know it won't sell out, especially at that half of the North Stand where smaller away crowds are expected. If we gave away 18,000 free tickets a season (1K on average per home game where space permits) and just 1% of these kids became a fan then that's 180 extra fans every season, potentially for life, not counting if they convince their parents to take them. Also keeps local kids away from the old firm. Worst case scenario we have given local kids a day out and promoted the club in a positive light in the community.

Given the massive success of the ultras, would be great to see the group double for next season (and sit in the middle of the south stand behind the goals). I know its early days but are there any plans for growing the ultras/flags/drums etc?

Final thing, would be great to see the brilliant and much appreciated Falkirk TV move to the other east side to take highlights so they show the crowds/atmosphere rather than the vast emptiness. With viewing figures going up, the team doing well, in a bigger and better league, this would surely help promote the club to even more sponsors and fans? A semi-permanent platform with toilet and decent broadband connection etc surely should be doable for the guys if that's the issue? In the Championship we might feature on mainstream TV more too so no having to build these things ad hoc. I'm guessing there's probably a logical reason I haven't thought of why the Main Stand is always used?

Either way, new signings aside, I'm looking forward to all the off field positive ideas that will come out between now and next season (that, per above, don't necessarily cost any or much money).

Montrose will almost certainly be better off compared to this season. Arbroath is a derby so will get two decent crowds. The first game against Falkirk this season moved to mid week due to cup game so reduced everything. Assuming the same doesn’t happen next season with one of the derbies

1 hour ago, Skyline Drifter said:

Says who? It's undeniably been a shambles of a season. We should as a minimum, have been in the promotion playoffs and not still looking over our shoulder. The idea we have a bigger budget than Falkirk though sounds nonsense. I'd imagine we'll also be behind Hamilton.

Lots of falkirk fans said it. I found it hard to believe. I also find it hard to believe cove have a bigger budget. If they did then they would surely be out of business

[bridge of allan bairn]

55 minutes ago, tirso said:

under 12s already get a free season ticket don't they?  We could send out a periodical reminder of this to the schools every month?  

 

Yes, with a paying adult

[Springfield]

Cove has Gretna written all over it, the only difference - they've got individuals who are propping the club up., not just one.  With attendances not even reaching 1K, I’m sure the constant inputting will eventually peter out. 

[ShaggerG]

23 minutes ago, Aufc said:

Montrose will almost certainly be better off compared to this season. Arbroath is a derby so will get two decent crowds. The first game against Falkirk this season moved to mid week due to cup game so reduced everything. Assuming the same doesn’t happen next season with one of the derbies

Lots of falkirk fans said it. I found it hard to believe. I also find it hard to believe cove have a bigger budget. If they did then they would surely be out of business

How do you think Ross County have been able to pay the wages they've been paying to the players they've attracted?

[ShaggerG]

4 hours ago, Springfield said:

Considering there’s barely been any significant away numbers at the TFS, (SA & Accies arguably) pretty impressive stats. At least we’ll have decent away numbers next year, which hopefully contributes a decent wedge of the shortfall cash. 

It wouldn't surprise me if our average away attendance was under 100 when you take into account the numbers that EC, Annan, Cove, Kelty and Montrose have brought. Certainly under 150 I would think.

[Aufc]

11 minutes ago, ShaggerG said:

How do you think Ross County have been able to pay the wages they've been paying to the players they've attracted?

Yeah but Roy Mcgregor is a different fish to compared to the boy keith from Cove. 

[Skyline Drifter]

37 minutes ago, Aufc said:

Lots of falkirk fans said it. I found it hard to believe. I also find it hard to believe cove have a bigger budget. If they did then they would surely be out of business

I see your problem then.

[StuartA]

Doesn’t matter now. Third or tenth best budget, the outcome was the same. What we know is that Falkirk came into the season on the back of near oblivion so weren’t spending beyond our means but instead counting every penny, servicing high overheads, and improving how we raised money commercially and from fans. Seems to have worked. 

[Shodwall cat]

14 hours ago, Bainsfordbairn said:

Whenever we played Inverness in the past the boy Oakley always looked a handful. I see he's now at Cappielow, and given that we can take anything Morten value any time we feel like it..... 

Yes that's a good shout he always looks a tough player to play against. Not sure what his contract situation at Morton is at the moment.

[LatapyBairn.]

1 hour ago, Aufc said:

Montrose will almost certainly be better off compared to this season. Arbroath is a derby so will get two decent crowds. The first game against Falkirk this season moved to mid week due to cup game so reduced everything. Assuming the same doesn’t happen next season with one of the derbies

Lots of falkirk fans said it. I found it hard to believe. I also find it hard to believe cove have a bigger budget. If they did then they would surely be out of business

Can you show me these multiple Falkirk fans that have said this? I’ve read back and can only see the one poster who was corrected as being confused with Cove and Hamilton having higher budgets, not Queen of the South.