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The old da in me hated the fact he would upload photos of himself to his instagram stories regardless of results but that was my main gripe with him to be honest. He was fine, nothing more nothing less. Ideally we could do better but given our situation if funds were to become available then I would take him.

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10 minutes ago, Big chungus said:

That’s me voted for Ross Mc-Kee-ver for player of the month. Was between him, Lang and Alfie for me but Ross has really impressed me so far especially since many supporters wrote him off before he even kicked a ball!

Likewise 💪🏼

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39 minutes ago, fuzzydunlop said:

I had heard the rumours of a fall out.  However I'd be (even more) raging with McGlynn if he dropped Rowe in favour of Williamson in the Semi, arguably our biggest game in years due a personal falling out.   I get managers need respect but its not as if we had great options(as it was proved on the day).   

I don't think Rowe was outstanding and like a lot of players, their formed dipped in the final quarter but at same time I don't remember him making any major f*ck-ups to give goals away like others did...though my memory isn't great!

Was no fall out between mcglynn and Rowe, he done his hamstring 2 days before the semi.

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11 minutes ago, gav-ffc said:

Was no fall out between mcglynn and Rowe, he done his hamstring 2 days before the semi.

aye sorry I should've clarified I'd only heard about a rumoured Morrison-Rowe fall out...think the other poster mentioned McGlynn but to clarify I hadnt heard that. 

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2 hours ago, LatapyBairn. said:

Yes. Correct.

Do you know this or just assuming? Hope you’re right either way but from the statement…

‘Off the pitch, the year was challenging but ultimately very positive. We budgeted to reduce the operating loss to ‘only’ £400k, in the expectation that a strong appetite for fan ownership would cover this via an inflow in investment. This didn’t really materialise but we are hugely grateful to every fan who did buy shares, either directly or via the Falkirk Supporters Society. Ultimately a good run in the Scottish Cup filled the gap and we should see income more than double versus last year and return a small profit rather than the budgeted loss. This has been the result of huge effort by a great many people, including staff (both football and non-football), volunteers, commercial partners and supporters, and we’d like to thank each of every one of them.

Looking ahead to next season, while we expect to start in a stronger position than we did last year, it certainly won’t be easy with another three full-time teams in the league. As outlined post-AGM and via the club podcast we had hoped to operate to breakeven next season, but this won’t be possible as it would have necessitated large cuts to the football budget. However, a better starting cash position – largely the result of the cup run – plus some support for the plan to directly invest FSS subscriptions and Forever Falkirk donations into the football budget, should allow us to keep it around the same level. There’s still time for fans to contribute to the football budget by joining FSS or donating to the FFF.’

To become sustainably successful we estimate that the club needs at least an extra £400,000 every year, over and above our ‘normal’ trading performance, while in League One or the Championship. The simplest way to raise this money is via crowd-funding whereby we fans, as owners of our club, make monthly donations to supplement normal income sources such as commercial and matchday revenue. As with all crowd-funding initiatives, the more people who participate the less each individual has to contribute to achieve the funding goal.

At an average donation of £3 per week this requires around 2500 contributors, or roughly 3.5 times the number of fans currently participating. At present, net donations via FSS and the Forever Falkirk Fund are a little over £80,000, meaning we’ll still have an operating loss of around £320,000. Our ability to cover this loss (and thereby remain full-time this season) is only made possible by last season’s cup run and the FSS investment. Neither of such incomes can be guaranteed every season, so we are still operating with an unsustainable business model.

Nevertheless, we remain committed to trying to make fan ownership work for our club and to moving towards the operating model outlined above. We can’t however make fan ownership work in the way we envision, without the support of sufficient fans and while there’s been great progress in just 18 months, there’s still a long way to go. That said, we are immensely grateful to the over 700 fans who have embraced the new ownership model so far, and to every fan who continues to attend matches and supports the club in many other ways.

Financially last season was positive, with total income more than doubling versus the previous year, including a 73% uplift in commercial revenues. However, we can’t rest on our laurels and need to continue to grow our top line, not least to cover increasing costs. We’re therefore targeting a further 24% growth in commercial income and are pleased to say that the year has started strongly. The new home and away kits from O’Neills have been very well received by supporters and are selling well. A huge thank you to all fans who have bought merchandise recently from the club shop or via our online retail partners Greaves.

Thats From the end of season statement to the one just recently made. Sounds like the £400k deficit has been covered by the FSS money plus the small profit from last season however we still have soft loans to pay back and can only assume that the budget forecast is predicated on meeting the stretched commercial targets. Although it has started strongly, it does seem a big ask considering there are no concerts this year and Dunfermline are out the league. 

Both statements don’t quite cover what the situation is as £150k or so of the FSS money was to go to the pitch and some to the floodlights too. That would be over and above the normally operation expenditure.

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2 hours ago, Reggie Perrin said:

Wild shout to say Blaine Rowe wasn’t good enough.

Outstanding until his form dropped off like everyone else towards the end of the season.

Would take him back in an instant.

Absolutely bizarre shout.  Thought Rowe was a breath of fresh air at right back. He actually made loads of great runs that Morrison fucked up the pass for or some other clogger ignored. 

I'd love to have him back.

Edited by FalkirkBairn2021
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50 minutes ago, Van_damage said:

Do you know this or just assuming? Hope you’re right either way but from the statement…

‘Off the pitch, the year was challenging but ultimately very positive. We budgeted to reduce the operating loss to ‘only’ £400k, in the expectation that a strong appetite for fan ownership would cover this via an inflow in investment. This didn’t really materialise but we are hugely grateful to every fan who did buy shares, either directly or via the Falkirk Supporters Society. Ultimately a good run in the Scottish Cup filled the gap and we should see income more than double versus last year and return a small profit rather than the budgeted loss. This has been the result of huge effort by a great many people, including staff (both football and non-football), volunteers, commercial partners and supporters, and we’d like to thank each of every one of them.

Looking ahead to next season, while we expect to start in a stronger position than we did last year, it certainly won’t be easy with another three full-time teams in the league. As outlined post-AGM and via the club podcast we had hoped to operate to breakeven next season, but this won’t be possible as it would have necessitated large cuts to the football budget. However, a better starting cash position – largely the result of the cup run – plus some support for the plan to directly invest FSS subscriptions and Forever Falkirk donations into the football budget, should allow us to keep it around the same level. There’s still time for fans to contribute to the football budget by joining FSS or donating to the FFF.’

To become sustainably successful we estimate that the club needs at least an extra £400,000 every year, over and above our ‘normal’ trading performance, while in League One or the Championship. The simplest way to raise this money is via crowd-funding whereby we fans, as owners of our club, make monthly donations to supplement normal income sources such as commercial and matchday revenue. As with all crowd-funding initiatives, the more people who participate the less each individual has to contribute to achieve the funding goal.

At an average donation of £3 per week this requires around 2500 contributors, or roughly 3.5 times the number of fans currently participating. At present, net donations via FSS and the Forever Falkirk Fund are a little over £80,000, meaning we’ll still have an operating loss of around £320,000. Our ability to cover this loss (and thereby remain full-time this season) is only made possible by last season’s cup run and the FSS investment. Neither of such incomes can be guaranteed every season, so we are still operating with an unsustainable business model.

Nevertheless, we remain committed to trying to make fan ownership work for our club and to moving towards the operating model outlined above. We can’t however make fan ownership work in the way we envision, without the support of sufficient fans and while there’s been great progress in just 18 months, there’s still a long way to go. That said, we are immensely grateful to the over 700 fans who have embraced the new ownership model so far, and to every fan who continues to attend matches and supports the club in many other ways.

Financially last season was positive, with total income more than doubling versus the previous year, including a 73% uplift in commercial revenues. However, we can’t rest on our laurels and need to continue to grow our top line, not least to cover increasing costs. We’re therefore targeting a further 24% growth in commercial income and are pleased to say that the year has started strongly. The new home and away kits from O’Neills have been very well received by supporters and are selling well. A huge thank you to all fans who have bought merchandise recently from the club shop or via our online retail partners Greaves.

Thats From the end of season statement to the one just recently made. Sounds like the £400k deficit has been covered by the FSS money plus the small profit from last season however we still have soft loans to pay back and can only assume that the budget forecast is predicated on meeting the stretched commercial targets. Although it has started strongly, it does seem a big ask considering there are no concerts this year and Dunfermline are out the league. 

Both statements don’t quite cover what the situation is as £150k or so of the FSS money was to go to the pitch and some to the floodlights too. That would be over and above the normally operation expenditure.

Absolutely nothing in that statement says the club have set a budget this season predicting to run at a loss! No idea why some seem desperate to make that leap! Pretty certain you’ll find when the accounts are published we ran a decent profit in the last financial year due to both the cup run, 3 new patrons, the 10 year season ticket thing and exceeding all our commercial targets ect ect which would have left us with a cash balance starting this season before a ticket, strip or advertising board was even sold. Something the new BOD did not have the luxury of the season beginning before. That statement is quite obviously emphasising the longer term need to grow our income through all the means mentioned as we may not every season be in a position where we have that small cash reserve sitting there as could easily have been the case this year if it wasn’t for the cup run and success of the commercial departments ect. The club are absolutely correct to look forward beyond the next 12 months and emphasise the need for continued growth across all income streams which is clearly what they are doing here and laying out potential effects to the business model if we are unable achieve a more steady stream of continued income longer term that isn’t as erratic as cup runs or player sales.  

Edited by LatapyBairn.
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26 minutes ago, LatapyBairn. said:

Absolutely nothing in that statement says the club have set a budget this season predicting to run at a loss! No idea why some seem desperate to make that leap! Pretty certain you’ll find when the accounts are published we ran a decent profit in the last financial year due to both the cup run, 3 new patrons, the 10 year season ticket sales and exceeding all our commercial targets ect ect which would have left us with a cash balance beginning this season. Something the new BOD did not have the luxury of the season beginning before. That statement is quite obviously emphasising the longer term need to grow our income through all the means mentioned, we may not every season be in a position where we have a small cash reserve as could easily have happed this year if it wasn’t for the cup run and success of the commercial department. The club are right to look forward beyond the next 12 months and emphasise the need for continued growth which is clearly what they are doing. 

Just thought you had more information that make you so assured all is fine. 

I’m not disagreeing the need to emphasise continued growth. Just trying to interpret what has been said and based on recent conversations about whether we will have money to spend on a right back. 

It’s maybe just the way I have interpreted it but to me it does sound like we still need to meet stretched commercial targets in order to not run at an overall loss. 

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46 minutes ago, Van_damage said:

Just thought you had more information that make you so assured all is fine. 

I’m not disagreeing the need to emphasise continued growth. Just trying to interpret what has been said and based on recent conversations about whether we will have money to spend on a right back. 

It’s maybe just the way I have interpreted it but to me it does sound like we still need to meet stretched commercial targets in order to not run at an overall loss. 

We have most probably the largest playing budget in the division, how the manager decides to spend it is up to him. I have no idea if he’s spent it all or still has money for a right back, left back or any other position but it’s quite clear to me exactly what that statement you quoted is saying and nowhere does it say we have budgeted to run at an actual in the red unfunded loss (as was the case in the previous year) regardless of whether or not I have any further information. The club accounts will be published soon enough for shareholders to read although for the life of me I’ve no idea why the panic (certainly in the short to medium term)over finances given the statement you quote and the information already available in the public domain. Next season as we know there may well be the need for a degree concern however there are a million if’s, buts and maybes before it’s possible for anybody to budget for that until we see both our exact end of year position for the current season and also which league we will be in. 

Edited by LatapyBairn.
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18 minutes ago, LatapyBairn. said:

We have most probably the largest playing budget in the division, how the manager decides to spend it is up to him. I have no idea if he’s spent it all or still has money for a right back, left back or any other position but it’s quite clear to me exactly what that statement you quoted is saying and nowhere does it say we have budgeted to run at an actual in the red loss (as was the case in the previous year) regardless of whether or not I have any further information. The club accounts will be published soon enough for shareholders to read although for the life of me I’ve no idea why the panic (certainly in the short to medium term)over finances given the statement you quote and the information already available in the public domain. 

No panic but just trying to assess where we are based on the statements I quoted.

Just to check, last year, if not for the cup run, we needed soft loans to finish the season? 

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1 minute ago, Van_damage said:

No panic but just trying to assess where we are based on the statements I quoted.

Just to check, last year, if not for the cup run, we needed soft loans to finish the season? 

If not for the cup run I’m told yes, we would have been relying partially on those soft loans from shareholders. 

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10 minutes ago, LatapyBairn. said:

If not for the cup run I’m told yes, we would have been relying partially on those soft loans from shareholders. 

So the previous year, we did budget for an actual in the red loss as we didn’t quite make the income they hoped with FSS sign ups etc? 

Edited by Van_damage
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