Bairn in Exile Posted February 27, 2023 Share Posted February 27, 2023 3 minutes ago, SouthStander1876 said: I'm begging you to tell us this wasn't serious... We've been asked to come up with ideas to get more people signing up to FSS due to the relatively low uptake in membership, this was an idea to try and help. You are perfectly entitled to not like my off the wall idea but it came from a place where I am trying to help our club and secure its future. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kevin James Left Knee Posted February 27, 2023 Share Posted February 27, 2023 This is my personal view but I think rather than initiate a scheme like FF (which we should be honest has been received with rather a poor reception) the club should end the early bird scheme and put the prices up on season tickets. The latter will have to happen sometime - the price has been held stable for several seasons (and if we get promotion then ticket prices are higher in the Championship). I know this may cause some people issues and I am entirely sympathetic to their plight but this is a better way of raising money than asking for an additional donation which give you nothing, compared to the FSS where you get a vote in how the club should be run. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kevin James Left Knee Posted February 27, 2023 Share Posted February 27, 2023 1 hour ago, Richie Sacramento said: Can't believe theres been criticism of a board trying to think outside the box and come up with a way of creating a sustainable fan owned model. As i understand it, the new scheme will create a more tiered approach to the FSS, will bring extra benefits, and the additional funds over and above the Season ticket income can all be ring fenced and applied to the football budget, so first team, building the academy, all the things the fans want to be better. We have 2200 ST holders (or thereabout) and 600 odd FSS members...if we can convert even half of the ST holders not signed up then we instantly close the funding gap that we've been running with for years. If we found a way of converting existing ST holders and other fans into the new scheme with additional benefits, surely everyones a winner. As it stands more Falkirk fans travelled to Wick than have joined FSS...if we want the fan ownership model to work then we need to back it. Another personal view: There are 640 members in FSS some of whom are donating more than £10 a month. That is NOT A FAILURE. In fact the mention of Motherwell at the AGM was a mistake - their membership has a lot of young people paying next to nothing and a large number of £5 a month subscriptions. If you look at the other supporters schemes they pretty much max out at 50% of their season ticket holders. FSS has been a huge success from a standing start and I get annoyed when it is hinted at that it has failed. There has been a steady stream of new members to join FSS over the last month. Around a further 50 will have signed up in the last 6 weeks and it keeps on slowly growing. I expect we will have around 700 by the end of the season and a boost if we get to the Semi Finaly/promotion. That brings in nearly £8,000 a month - a decent amount to help John and Paul. It is important that FSS is well supported as it is the only voice of the fans - you can come to the AGM on the day after the Ayr game and ask questions, keep everyone accountable and meet the fan directors. That is much more important than simply just raising money for the club - you can have representation as well as helping keeping the team out of the red. Furthermore there is a lot of work being done behind the scenes of FSS which will, we hope, will bring long term benefits to the club. That is another reason to donate to FSS instead of another scheme that gives you nothing really. Time will tell. 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roman_bairn Posted February 27, 2023 Share Posted February 27, 2023 22 minutes ago, Bairn in Exile said: We've been asked to come up with ideas to get more people signing up to FSS due to the relatively low uptake in membership, this was an idea to try and help. You are perfectly entitled to not like my off the wall idea but it came from a place where I am trying to help our club and secure its future. I’m not sure asking our board to send out Donald Trump style miscommunications is really the appropriate approach here…… 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted February 27, 2023 Share Posted February 27, 2023 33 minutes ago, Bairn in Exile said: I hope this doesn't sound daft but maybe due to our recent good run of results in the league and progressing so far in the cup that people simply don't realise how precarious our financial situation is and don't think that they need to bother signing up to FSS? I go nuts during the close season, counting down the days until the new league season starts, imagine a life without having the football to look forward to! Doesn't bear thinking about. You never miss something until it is gone. Maybe shock tactics are called for? We should hang a huge big banner, 50ft x 80ft, outside the main stand saying that we are going out of business, maybe that would finally get people to donate to the FSS? Times are hard, I understand, but not every fan who hasn't signed up yet is down on their uppers, surely? (Got it of t'nternet, I know it says everythink instead of everything). I think people have taken this the wrong way but I understand your point. I wouldn’t put it like that but the message is correct that we do need to make more fans understand that to keep the club running as we know it, more need to sign up to the FSS. The message I got was clear. The board are volunteers and huge fans of the club. They want us to have a successful team on the park but they also don’t want to be the ones that lead us towards going bust. They’ve been under massive stress trying to steer us away from bankruptcy whilst keeping a winning team on the park. They deserve huge plaudits for all they’ve done and understandably they don’t want to sign off a budget that will result in a. £400k loss again. There are no more reserves to cover that and there are no rich fans to cover that. If no more sign up and we run a similar budget to this season then we will go bust. That’s the reality of the situation. I completely understand that paying an extra £10/month is not feasible for some but quite simply, the only way we can assure a good team on the park is more fans sign up to FSS. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roman_bairn Posted February 27, 2023 Share Posted February 27, 2023 16 minutes ago, Kevin James Left Knee said: This is my personal view but I think rather than initiate a scheme like FF (which we should be honest has been received with rather a poor reception) the club should end the early bird scheme and put the prices up on season tickets. The latter will have to happen sometime - the price has been held stable for several seasons (and if we get promotion then ticket prices are higher in the Championship). I know this may cause some people issues and I am entirely sympathetic to their plight but this is a better way of raising money than asking for an additional donation which give you nothing, compared to the FSS where you get a vote in how the club should be run. How does this approach raise more money when the number of people who will purchase a season ticket will inevitably go down?… 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kevin James Left Knee Posted February 27, 2023 Share Posted February 27, 2023 1 minute ago, roman_bairn said: How does this approach raise more money when the number of people who will purchase a season ticket will inevitably go down?… We cannot keep the prices at this level forever - the Club AGM more of less said as much. The level of increase is, of course, the issue but asking for extra money for nothing isn't going to work. I think the vast majority of season ticket holders will re-sign up next year if the price increases are reasonable. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NavyBlueArmy1876 Posted February 27, 2023 Share Posted February 27, 2023 1 hour ago, FFC 1876 said: 11 games left with us still waiting on a new date for Montrose away. Here's the run in. Falkirk vs Peterhead Dunfermline vs Alloa Dunfermline vs Falkirk Peterhead vs Dunfermline Queen of the South vs Falkirk Dunfermline vs FC Edinburgh Falkirk vs Kelty Hearts Montrose vs Dunfermline Clyde vs Falkirk Dunfermline vs Kelty Hearts Falkirk vs Dunfermline Falkirk vs Airdrie Dunfermline vs Queen of the South Alloa vs Falkirk Airdrie vs Dunfermline Falkirk vs FC Edinburgh Dunfermline vs Clyde Peterhead vs Falkirk Alloa vs Dunfermline Interesting sets of fixtures. Both sides appear to have 3 difficult away games remaining (both at Montrose and Alloa, us at QotS and Pars at Airdrie). Though with the Pars away record this season they may be more likely to drop points in their home fixtures The only real advantage we can claim is we still have to play Peterhead twice. The two head to heads look like they will be massive 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LatapyBairn. Posted February 27, 2023 Share Posted February 27, 2023 (edited) 18 minutes ago, roman_bairn said: How does this approach raise more money when the number of people who will purchase a season ticket will inevitably go down?… As long as any price increase is fair I don’t think it will effect renewals, on top of the fact season ticket prices have been frozen for 4 seasons now we also have double digit inflation as a country at the moment. It probably isn’t reasonable to expect the club to continually absorb all inflationary pressures indefinitely. Edited February 27, 2023 by LatapyBairn. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Proudtobeabairn Posted February 27, 2023 Share Posted February 27, 2023 At the very least there HAS to be an option on the ST renewal forms to sign up for FSS at the same time. The marketing for FSS generally needs to improve - no criticism of the guys running it all volunteers but we need to be much more creative to reach more people. It annoys me when some say "fans have to back it or it'll fail" or numbers aren't where they need to be when we're not reaching the a big chunk of our fanbase. Numbers will never increase via some chat on P&B. FSS needs to reach more people and be easy to join. E.g Where are the (non taxable) FSS benefits? Make it as easy as possible for people to sign up at ST renewal time. Are we distributing and collecting FSS sign up forms at hospitality each week? I can link to sign up to the 1876 Club (at £10 a month) directly on the website but I can't directly sign up to FSS (not even any mention of FSS which is the recognised branding only 'supporters society' among a lot of other groups). FSS sign up should be easy and front and centre online. If the money is to go to fund players then it's in the clubs interest and shouldn't be left to the FSS guys alone. Have we even had John McGlynn or the players do anything to push FSS (videos etc)? The COYB site could do much more too, a pinned link to sign up at the very least... Numbers will ramp up but not by sitting back and hoping for the best. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Brockvillenomore Posted February 27, 2023 Share Posted February 27, 2023 37 minutes ago, Kevin James Left Knee said: This is my personal view but I think rather than initiate a scheme like FF (which we should be honest has been received with rather a poor reception) the club should end the early bird scheme and put the prices up on season tickets. The latter will have to happen sometime - the price has been held stable for several seasons (and if we get promotion then ticket prices are higher in the Championship). I know this may cause some people issues and I am entirely sympathetic to their plight but this is a better way of raising money than asking for an additional donation which give you nothing, compared to the FSS where you get a vote in how the club should be run. I’m not sure a scheme that hasn’t been published can receive a bad reception, unless you’re judging by a handful of high level slides at the AGM. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Brockvillenomore Posted February 27, 2023 Share Posted February 27, 2023 26 minutes ago, Kevin James Left Knee said: Another personal view: There are 640 members in FSS some of whom are donating more than £10 a month. That is NOT A FAILURE. In fact the mention of Motherwell at the AGM was a mistake - their membership has a lot of young people paying next to nothing and a large number of £5 a month subscriptions. If you look at the other supporters schemes they pretty much max out at 50% of their season ticket holders. FSS has been a huge success from a standing start and I get annoyed when it is hinted at that it has failed. There has been a steady stream of new members to join FSS over the last month. Around a further 50 will have signed up in the last 6 weeks and it keeps on slowly growing. I expect we will have around 700 by the end of the season and a boost if we get to the Semi Finaly/promotion. That brings in nearly £8,000 a month - a decent amount to help John and Paul. It is important that FSS is well supported as it is the only voice of the fans - you can come to the AGM on the day after the Ayr game and ask questions, keep everyone accountable and meet the fan directors. That is much more important than simply just raising money for the club - you can have representation as well as helping keeping the team out of the red. Furthermore there is a lot of work being done behind the scenes of FSS which will, we hope, will bring long term benefits to the club. That is another reason to donate to FSS instead of another scheme that gives you nothing really. Time will tell. Nobody has ever said the FSS is a failure. Where does this come from? Have I missed something? 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roman_bairn Posted February 27, 2023 Share Posted February 27, 2023 6 minutes ago, LatapyBairn. said: As long as any price increase is fair I don’t think it will effect renewals, on top of the fact season ticket prices have been frozen for 4 seasons now we also have double digit inflation as a country at the moment. It probably isn’t reasonable to expect the club to continually absorb all inflationary pressures indefinitely. A modest increase is fine and I think the club have already advised that this will happen anyway. However a substantial increase, as would be required as an alternative to another funding scheme (as proposed above), would probably cost us as much in season ticket drops as it would in increased income from prospective purchasers……. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richie Sacramento Posted February 27, 2023 Share Posted February 27, 2023 2 minutes ago, Brockvillenomore said: Nobody has ever said the FSS is a failure. Where does this come from? Have I missed something? I think the consensus is more that its not failed, but the time frame required to build organically is something we can't really afford if we don't want the budget for McGlynn slashed next season (regardless of division by the way). So trying to convert more season ticket holders into FSS/Falkirk Forever whatever it is is needed to get fan ownership on a sustainable even keel. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Brockvillenomore Posted February 27, 2023 Share Posted February 27, 2023 5 minutes ago, Proudtobeabairn said: At the very least there HAS to be an option on the ST renewal forms to sign up for FSS at the same time. The marketing for FSS generally needs to improve - no criticism of the guys running it all volunteers but we need to be much more creative to reach more people. It annoys me when some say "fans have to back it or it'll fail" or numbers aren't where they need to be when we're not reaching the a big chunk of our fanbase. Numbers will never increase via some chat on P&B. FSS needs to reach more people and be easy to join. E.g Where are the (non taxable) FSS benefits? Make it as easy as possible for people to sign up at ST renewal time. Are we distributing and collecting FSS sign up forms at hospitality each week? I can link to sign up to the 1876 Club (at £10 a month) directly on the website but I can't directly sign up to FSS (not even any mention of FSS which is the recognised branding only 'supporters society' among a lot of other groups). FSS sign up should be easy and front and centre online. If the money is to go to fund players then it's in the clubs interest and shouldn't be left to the FSS guys alone. Have we even had John McGlynn or the players do anything to push FSS (videos etc)? The COYB site could do much more too, a pinned link to sign up at the very least... Numbers will ramp up but not by sitting back and hoping for the best. I agree. Perhaps part of the solution is for the FSS to explore how they can retain their independent status while looking for ways to work closer with the club, like support with admin, marketing, IT, videos via Falkirk TV, etc. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Brockvillenomore Posted February 27, 2023 Share Posted February 27, 2023 1 minute ago, Richie Sacramento said: I think the consensus is more that its not failed, but the time frame required to build organically is something we can't really afford if we don't want the budget for McGlynn slashed next season (regardless of division by the way). So trying to convert more season ticket holders into FSS/Falkirk Forever whatever it is is needed to get fan ownership on a sustainable even keel. I imagine that the way McGlynn has transformed us, particularly over the last window, has caught us all by surprise. He’s building the squad so well we COULD go up as champions and challenge in the Championship next season. No presumptions here btw, but we are definitely ahead of where any of us thought we’d be. Or even in our wildest dreams. My view is we must support the management team, we’re on the cusp of something special here. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kevin James Left Knee Posted February 27, 2023 Share Posted February 27, 2023 (edited) 16 minutes ago, Proudtobeabairn said: At the very least there HAS to be an option on the ST renewal forms to sign up for FSS at the same time. The marketing for FSS generally needs to improve - no criticism of the guys running it all volunteers but we need to be much more creative to reach more people. It annoys me when some say "fans have to back it or it'll fail" or numbers aren't where they need to be when we're not reaching the a big chunk of our fanbase. Numbers will never increase via some chat on P&B. FSS needs to reach more people and be easy to join. E.g Where are the (non taxable) FSS benefits? Make it as easy as possible for people to sign up at ST renewal time. Are we distributing and collecting FSS sign up forms at hospitality each week? I can link to sign up to the 1876 Club (at £10 a month) directly on the website but I can't directly sign up to FSS (not even any mention of FSS which is the recognised branding only 'supporters society' among a lot of other groups). FSS sign up should be easy and front and centre online. If the money is to go to fund players then it's in the clubs interest and shouldn't be left to the FSS guys alone. Have we even had John McGlynn or the players do anything to push FSS (videos etc)? The COYB site could do much more too, a pinned link to sign up at the very least... Numbers will ramp up but not by sitting back and hoping for the best. We last leafleted 4 games in a row just over a month ago - a thousand leaflets at each game - we will no doubt do that again but after the 4th leafleting people were a bit fed up getting more paper. We decided to wait for a while before doing it again. There is a monthly electronic newsletter and we have people next to stand up banners at every home game trying to get sign ups. We are active on social media and we have a good tie in relationship with Falkirk Daft that has a monthly draw for the prizes we offer to members. We are looking at other benefits but we have to be very careful about attracting VAT on any benefits - we recently did some research on this and it can be a minefield if we get it wrong. We have put leaflets out at all hospitality events when we can. There is a page in every programme written by FSS. The club website has a direct link to the FSS sign up page on the ticket pages. You can sign up directly on teh FSS site (which is reasonably maintained) or download a standing order if paypal is not your thing. Here it is: https://falkirksupporters.org/subscribe/ There were 3 "sign up" videos by McGlynn, Jamie, and Paul Watson produced and shared on social media at the beginning of the season. There you go - we've done eveything you suggest in your post and continue to do them. Edited February 27, 2023 by Kevin James Left Knee 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted February 27, 2023 Share Posted February 27, 2023 2 minutes ago, Brockvillenomore said: Nobody has ever said the FSS is a failure. Where does this come from? Have I missed something? That is the narrative that is forming, particularly when pairing us off against other schemes that have been running for years. Using Well Society members as a comparative number as opposed to our monthly contributions spins a narrative of failure rather one on an upwards trajectory. They chose the 18% of membership as opposed to 60% of contributions. That will have been done in an effort to boost numbers but to me if people believe something is failing then why would they jump on (what they believe) to be a sinking ship? The FSS can do more and we are constantly looking at ways to achieve this but again we are volunteers, with no paid staff or resources available. Any advice is helpful but its not entirely fair to say they should do X, Y or Z if unwilling to give some of your own time to achieve these things as we all have other things going on on top of the work we already perform for FSS. That said, if anyone here wants to help then please contact the FSS at admin@falkirksupporters.org. I’m trying to do my bit but won’t be on for much longer so the rest of the committee will appreciate any help you can offer. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kevin James Left Knee Posted February 27, 2023 Share Posted February 27, 2023 (edited) Last post - a small spurt of new FSS members since the AGM. Now 651 members. Over £7,900 a month. Edited February 27, 2023 by Kevin James Left Knee 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richie Sacramento Posted February 27, 2023 Share Posted February 27, 2023 14 minutes ago, Brockvillenomore said: I imagine that the way McGlynn has transformed us, particularly over the last window, has caught us all by surprise. He’s building the squad so well we COULD go up as champions and challenge in the Championship next season. No presumptions here btw, but we are definitely ahead of where any of us thought we’d be. Or even in our wildest dreams. My view is we must support the management team, we’re on the cusp of something special here. So your almost there.... The budget McGlynn got this year was reliant the board budgeting for a £400k loss, which they hoped to make up through FSS/Patrons/additional revenue. That gap has been filled for this year, thankfully. The board are however saying we cant keep doing this, therefore unless we can find a way of sustainably filling that 400k on an ongoing basis, we will need to cut budgets, and the only budget we can cut is the football budget as there is no money to be saved anywhere else. Therefore McGlynns budget for even a Championship tilt, would be less than this year for League One. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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