The Falkirk FC Thread

[FFC 1876]

7 minutes ago, Sarah67 said:

Yep and people lapped it up as they are desperate to see us sign a proper striker. The new BOD need to give JM the cash to get a decent striker in as that’s the difference in this league as we all saw when we had McManus. Bet they’re regretting the huge amount of money wasted on Leigh Griffiths now. Damage is done now but we can’t afford (literally!) another mistake like that again. 

I don't think monies got anything to do with it, hardest position on the park to find is a goalscorer. Mind Holt went through 14 before landing on Wilson & Ompreon.

[Reggie Perrin]

2 hours ago, Sarah67 said:

Yep and people lapped it up as they are desperate to see us sign a proper striker. The new BOD need to give JM the cash to get a decent striker in as that’s the difference in this league as we all saw when we had McManus. Bet they’re regretting the huge amount of money wasted on Leigh Griffiths now. Damage is done now but we can’t afford (literally!) another mistake like that again. 

The thing is the BoD gave the money for Griffiths as the manager thought he was a decent striker.

Most of us welcomed the return of Rory Loy a few years back as our marquee signing, didn’t work out.

In the event that the current manager was given a pile of cash (hah!) to sign who  he thought was a decent striker there would be no guarantees that it would be a successful signing.

Every signing is a gamble to a certain extent.

Edited July 12, 2022 by Reggie Perrin

[Blame Me]

Anyone catching McGlynn's update will know that it's not necessarily money that is the issue. 

Strikers worth their weight in goals are hard to come by as clubs who have them don't really want to part with them.

[Blame Me]

1 hour ago, Aufc said:

The issue with this is there will be hundreds (thousands for a club like you) who are investing in a very small percentage of shares (I’m assuming it’s done via a lottery or something?). So if these people are expecting a say in the business then you end up with far too people involved. Additional issue is that the majority of them have an emotional tie to the club so hard to step back sometimes and see the bigger picture.

From my experience, these things are a very beneficial way of raising additional funds for the club whilst allowing the participants a chance to win an amount each month (and get some nice share certificates as a keepsake). It is not to allow the participants to get a say in how to run the club. As a shareholder, they also get invited to the AGM where they can ask questions of the board.

This method is actually a pretty good way to get people, who ordinarily don’t go to games and don’t have an emotional tie to the club, to donate money. Something like £20 a month with the chance to win some money each month plus a nice certificate of shares. Most of these people don’t want to sponsor a shirt or buy a season ticket.

Just to clarify - it's the FSS who are buying the shares not individuals so collectively Falkirk fans have more say in how the club is ran rather than each fan having a say.

[TheScarf]

31 minutes ago, Sarah67 said:

Yep and people lapped it up as they are desperate to see us sign a proper striker. The new BOD need to give JM the cash to get a decent striker in as that’s the difference in this league as we all saw when we had McManus. Bet they’re regretting the huge amount of money wasted on Leigh Griffiths now. Damage is done now but we can’t afford (literally!) another mistake like that again. 

You've probably answered your own point there.

[Rugster]

Here we go

[Falkirkfan1985]

I wonder if its anything to do with Partick...given they quoted them 

 

[FFC 1876]

1 minute ago, Rugster said:

Here we go

Nah they're just trying to mock Partick for copying our approach to revealing a new signing.

[Rugster]

3 minutes ago, FFC 1876 said:

Nah they're just trying to mock Partick for copying our approach to revealing a new signing.

Ah for f**k's sake

[gav-ffc]

With Weston going to Partick hopefully that means McKinnon is Falkirk bound.

[LatapyBairn.]

2 hours ago, Blame Me said:

Forgive me but it does seem like there is confusion as to the purpose of the FSS.

The contributions are to have more say in how the club is run and gain more involvement in the decision making - and future direction of the club - by buying shares. 

It's not to sustain the clubs cashflow as supporters are already doing that with season tickets, match tickets and retail alongside the wider sponsorship deals the club has.

 

 

I think it’s a bit of both, when/if the FSS reaches its target of 26% looking forward longer term I presume the money raised will still be re-invested in the club in some other way than the purchase of shares. Not to bankroll the full club operation as such but certainly to provide an extra income stream that would give us a competitive advantage, ideally with the members being canvased on how money raised each year should be spent. 

Edited July 12, 2022 by LatapyBairn.

[Marshmallo]

Weston was one I was really hoping we could get in on loan so that's a bit of a blow. Scored for fun in the LL and seems to be really highly rated.

We're in a tough position in some ways but I feel like there's loads of players I'd been hopeful of signing that have either gone to clubs around us (eg Ballantyne), clubs up a league (eg Easton, Weston, Brown) or re-signed with their current clubs (eg Frizzel).

I'm hoping a few players get freed up for loans as clubs further up the chain complete their business. Our squad is really thin atm - tonight it's basically 11 players who can start, a sub keeper, Wilson and bunch of weans. Hopefully we don't panic and sign any old dross but we're going to have to twist at some stage.

[Bigbri Bairn]

I think it was a fake news story. We've got Oliver, Malcolm and Wilson who are all going to score 10+ goals in training this season. 

Wilson is our pre season star remember so his season is now over

[FFC 1876]

8 minutes ago, Marshmallo said:

Weston was one I was really hoping we could get in on loan so that's a bit of a blow. Scored for fun in the LL and seems to be really highly rated.

We're in a tough position in some ways but I feel like there's loads of players I'd been hopeful of signing that have either gone to clubs around us (eg Ballantyne), clubs up a league (eg Easton, Weston, Brown) or re-signed with their current clubs (eg Frizzel).

I'm hoping a few players get freed up for loans as clubs further up the chain complete their business. Our squad is really thin atm - tonight it's basically 11 players who can start, a sub keeper, Wilson and bunch of weans. Hopefully we don't panic and sign any old dross but we're going to have to twist at some stage.

Sevco loaning to Partick is inevitable unfortunately and losing out on Savoury to money bags Queens Park is another major blow as he looks like a right good player.

There'll be plenty of options for loans becoming available as the months go on, just down to McGlynn to try find a DKD/Rudden/McManus as opposed to a De Vita/Jarvis/Haber.

We need an energetic midfielder and two strikers as a bare minimum. Cole Mckinnon was obviously mentioned earlier in the month but the reality is if Mccall wants him he'll be Partick bound. 

[Bairnardo]

Cole McKinnon is already away out on loan no? Didn't he go to Killie?

Eta no iv mixed him up with Kerr McInroy ffs

[NUMBER 7]

2 hours ago, Van_damage said:

With regards to fan ownership is there any reason the club isn’t actively offering shares deals to fans? I know a few had the chance to buy some over a year ago but it didn’t appear to be widely advertised.  

Think the FSS is a great concept and hope more sign up but fan ownership can also be as simple as getting more fans to buy shares.

If we got 500 fans to buy £500 worth then that’s an extra £250,000 of investment to the club and another 625,000 shares held by fans. Likewise if you got 1,000 fans to buy £250 worth. 

The patrons done a brilliant job of creating a group of 20 odd people that created over £200,000 of new money and are represented by 2 positions on the board. Not many can afford a £10,000 buy in, however I’m sure many would pay similar in a different structure. We’re missing the third leg of the stool now with the Rawlins absent so is there room for another structure or would that cause too much chaos? 

Absolutely spot on. The club should be targeting folks looking to buy shares in £ 500 lumps for themselves and not via FSS

[StuartA]

22 minutes ago, NUMBER 7 said:

Absolutely spot on. The club should be targeting folks looking to buy shares in £ 500 lumps for themselves and not via FSS

Anyone can buy shares in the club. The club can’t market that fact openly though, for legal reasons.  But there’s nothing stopping you sending them a £500 cheque asking for shares. 

[LatapyBairn.]

28 minutes ago, NUMBER 7 said:

Absolutely spot on. The club should be targeting folks looking to buy shares in £ 500 lumps for themselves and not via FSS

There are still unsold shares available for this at minimum purchase of £400, I don’t think the club can actively advertise the sale of shares (something to do with company law) but they most definitely welcome any fan wanting to invest. If you are interested email the club and get in touch with Gordon Wright who I think deals with that side of things. Although for what it’s worth I do think the FSS is a better mechanism as it allows a large block of shares to be controlled by the fans giving us a real influence, where as individuals with tiny shareholdings really cant have a proper influence other than being able to attend the AGM and ask questions. 

Edited July 12, 2022 by LatapyBairn.

[Dawson Park Boy]

2 minutes ago, LatapyBairn. said:

There are still unsold shares available for this at minimum purchase of £400, I don’t think the club can actively advertise the sale of shares (something to do with company law) but they most definitely welcome any fan wanting to invest. If you are interested email the club and get in touch with Gordon Wright who I think deals with that side of things. 

Yes, that’s spot on.

I bought my son the minimum purchase, as you say, for a present.

Gordon Wright issues the certificate.

[Guest FFC1965]

One of the barriers to me investing more individually is the asking price of 40p a share.  

Remember that the initial patrons proposal https://www.falkirkfc.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/FFC-Fan-Ownership-QA.pdf - January 2019 so before relegation to L1 - was based on 33p a share.  How much value has been destroyed since then?  A lot.   

I get the fact that shares in Falkirk FC are something of an illiquid asset and putting money into a football club is at least as much a donation made from the heart than it is hard nosed investment.  However if you factor in the series of financial calamities since the initial patrons proposal then 40p a share really is fantasy land stuff.