The East Kilbride FC Thread

[teekasule]

2 hours ago, Oystercatcher said:

Personally i think ek have blown it.

The chances missed on Saturday could have seen us win the whole tie in the first half.

Stranraer took their 2 chances.

Ek defence at times...no words 

Fagan had a 'mare. 

[lowenan]

Stranraer only have one win in their last ten. But they are a much better home side, than away from home. Still think EK can do this if they play at their best. 

[craigkillie]

There have been 4 first leg draws in these play-offs - the SPFL side has gone on to win twice (Cowdenbeath v EK and Cove) and the Tier 5 team has gone on to win twice (Edinburgh City v The Shire & Spartans v Albion Rovers).

[Inanimate Carbon Rod]

Bizarre to see them drop a keeper who’s been on good form for one struggling with injuries.

[Brian Carrigan]

On 11/05/2024 at 17:51, AM-1 said:

Truesdale and Brown back in the squad? Thought they were away or loaned out. Apparently EKs treatment of Brown has been appalling and I'm not surprised. 

Yeah what happened with Liam Brown? Many Clyde fans wanted McCall to be rapping on the Peri-Peri Palace door for him but then he just... stayed. Noticed he'd started popping up in squads again in the last few games of the season and it stunk of moves being blocked.

[Mattmc]

Will East Kilbride bring much of a support down? 

[Oystercatcher]

I reckon maybe 100/120

[ekok]

Maybe  some more, for a team with average home crowds of below  300 not too shabby.  This project was always going to be a slow but steady build.  Confident that L2 would be double at least and then who knows?  Population now about 100,000 so lots of potential 

[Brian Carrigan]

16 hours ago, ekok said:

Population now about 100,000 so lots of potential 

Trying to prise an uninterested population away from the arsecheeks didn't work in the slightest for Clyde in Cumbernauld - but then again we were absolutely terrible at community engagement and times have changed drastically since the early 90's.

The cynic in me recognises that the key in 2024 is morphing the club into something that the proverbial 'wee guy' wants to engage with consistently. You have to offer more of a closeness than Celtic or Rangers do, make them feel involved and have a huge social media presence to get them hooked. Even then, it's an extremely tough job.

[Hauzen]

MK says, here comes the stadium:

 

East Kilbride winning promotion would spark new stadium and top Darvel's win over Aberdeen, says Mick Kennedy

East Kilbride boss Mick Kennedy has revealed winning promotion to League Two would finally spark the construction of a long-awaited £4.5m new stadium in the town.

Plans for a new stadium go back to 2016 when an East Kilbride News-backed campaign involving Rangers legend and EK's famous son, Ally McCoist, urged councillors to give the go-ahead to a 4,000-seater stadium in Langlands.

The blueprint for the facility was given the green light but Kilby have been holding off on the club reaching League Two to put the first spade in the ground. Eight years later, that could finally come to fruition if East Kilbride defeat Stranraer in the second leg of the pyramid play-off final on Saturday.

Kilby are one game away from glory after the sides drew 2-2 at K-Park in last week's first leg and if they pull it off, the club will be celebrating the start of a new era in a new stadium.

Appearing on the Scottish Football Show podcast, Kennedy said: "The owners' plan is to build a £4.5million stadium as soon as we reach League Two and K-Park will become the club's training base, so there are massive plans there in terms of infrastructure and investment.

"It is just up to myself, Simon [Ferry, his assistant] and the players to do it on the pitch.

"In terms of what the club could do on the pitch, the club could go into League Two and be a well-established part-time club at that level. But I think you need to earn the right to be there and, unfortunately, the club have fell short on a number of occasions over the last 10 years."

Kennedy, who masterminded Darvel's famous win over Aberdeen in the Scottish Cup last season, joined Kilby at the start of the season and led them to the Lowland League title in April.

And he says taking the club to the SPFL for the first time would surpass his cup shock over the Dons.

He added: "People have asked me if it would be bigger occasion than beating Aberdeen and I think for what it would mean to the people of East Kilbride, the owners and me on a personal level, I certainly think it would be. It would be so significant."

[Ginaro]

I'm fairly sure that the planning permission will have expired given it was approved 7 years ago, and there are a number of conditions they had to submit plans for to the council, so there won't be spades in the ground anytime soon if they win on Saturday.

It's such a bad location though for a community stadium, is there really nowhere else in the town closer to civilisation that it could be situated? Like it's within 20 minute walking distance of only about half a dozen residential streets.

[Hauzen]

13 minutes ago, Ginaro said:

It's such a bad location though for a community stadium, is there really nowhere else in the town closer to civilisation that it could be situated? Like it's within 20 minute walking distance of only about half a dozen residential streets.

Given the rate of development across EK in areas like Lindsayfield and Jackton, it could well be within walking distance of about 500 residential streets in a few years from now!

Agree though that the Langlands site is terrible. 

[The Moonster]

13 hours ago, Hauzen said:

MK says, here comes the stadium:

 

East Kilbride winning promotion would spark new stadium and top Darvel's win over Aberdeen, says Mick Kennedy

East Kilbride boss Mick Kennedy has revealed winning promotion to League Two would finally spark the construction of a long-awaited £4.5m new stadium in the town.

Plans for a new stadium go back to 2016 when an East Kilbride News-backed campaign involving Rangers legend and EK's famous son, Ally McCoist, urged councillors to give the go-ahead to a 4,000-seater stadium in Langlands.

The blueprint for the facility was given the green light but Kilby have been holding off on the club reaching League Two to put the first spade in the ground. Eight years later, that could finally come to fruition if East Kilbride defeat Stranraer in the second leg of the pyramid play-off final on Saturday.

Kilby are one game away from glory after the sides drew 2-2 at K-Park in last week's first leg and if they pull it off, the club will be celebrating the start of a new era in a new stadium.

Appearing on the Scottish Football Show podcast, Kennedy said: "The owners' plan is to build a £4.5million stadium as soon as we reach League Two and K-Park will become the club's training base, so there are massive plans there in terms of infrastructure and investment.

"It is just up to myself, Simon [Ferry, his assistant] and the players to do it on the pitch.

"In terms of what the club could do on the pitch, the club could go into League Two and be a well-established part-time club at that level. But I think you need to earn the right to be there and, unfortunately, the club have fell short on a number of occasions over the last 10 years."

Kennedy, who masterminded Darvel's famous win over Aberdeen in the Scottish Cup last season, joined Kilby at the start of the season and led them to the Lowland League title in April.

And he says taking the club to the SPFL for the first time would surpass his cup shock over the Dons.

He added: "People have asked me if it would be bigger occasion than beating Aberdeen and I think for what it would mean to the people of East Kilbride, the owners and me on a personal level, I certainly think it would be. It would be so significant."

I really fucking hate this c**t  always looking to set up his story as some sort of fairytale. 

Why do EK need to be in League 2 to build a stadium that they always plan on building anyway? 

 

[FairWeatherFan]

16 hours ago, Brian Carrigan said:

Trying to prise an uninterested population away from the arsecheeks didn't work in the slightest for Clyde in Cumbernauld - but then again we were absolutely terrible at community engagement and times have changed drastically since the early 90's.

It's all about perspective. Give EK the same standing as Clyde in the '90s (3rd Tier - around a 1,000 on average). That represents a real success compared to where they've started from.

[An Absolute Imposter]

Here is a wee thought for this Friday morning.

If EK reach the SPFL, will they be championing the opening up of relegation/promotion to SPFL from Tier 5, or will they take The Spartans route of looking out for number one. I wonder which .

[Brian Carrigan]

12 minutes ago, FairWeatherFan said:

It's all about perspective. Give EK the same standing as Clyde in the '90s (3rd Tier - around a 1,000 on average). That represents a real success compared to where they've started from.

I see your point but disagree.

Clyde were starting with a larger fan base, whilst trying to tap into the well of a big, new town that was lacking a (professional) club. Clyde were unable to hang on to a large portion of the original fanbase and unable to appeal to the people of Cumbernauld.

EK don't have that original fanbase to lose, and are starting from the point where they have a wee non-ground and a couple of hundred fans. They also don't have the standing in football that Clyde had when they were first trying to appeal to a new town.

My main point was it's extremely difficult to appeal to people who are already set in their ways. EK getting anywhere close to 1,000 in for a league game is absolute pie in the sky stuff at this point.

Edited May 17 by Brian Carrigan

[PossilYM]

Great idea.

Clyde groundshare with EK Dodgy.

It's the same fanbase.

[PossilYM]

On 16/05/2024 at 15:30, Brian Carrigan said:

Trying to prise an uninterested population away from the arsecheeks didn't work in the slightest for Clyde in Cumbernauld - but then again we were absolutely terrible at community engagement and times have changed drastically since the early 90's.

The cynic in me recognises that the key in 2024 is morphing the club into something that the proverbial 'wee guy' wants to engage with consistently. You have to offer more of a closeness than Celtic or Rangers do, make them feel involved and have a huge social media presence to get them hooked. Even then, it's an extremely tough job.

Immediately after getting promoted you lose anybody going to watch non league for cheapness with a hit of double the price.

Saw Clyde several times this season and it ain't worth twice the price of non league.

Edited May 17 by PossilYM

[An Absolute Imposter]

1 hour ago, Brian Carrigan said:

I see your point but disagree.

Clyde were starting with a larger fan base, whilst trying to tap into the well of a big, new town that was lacking a (professional) club. Clyde were unable to hang on to a large portion of the original fanbase and unable to appeal to the people of Cumbernauld.

EK don't have that original fanbase to lose, and are starting from the point where they have a wee non-ground and a couple of hundred fans. They also don't have the standing in football that Clyde had when they were first trying to appeal to a new town.

My main point was it's extremely difficult to appeal to people who are already set in their ways. EK getting anywhere close to 1,000 in for a league game is absolute pie in the sky stuff at this point.

Lived in Cumbie and worked in EK, both full of Glasgow overspill wo guess which clubs that are followed in these 2 towns. Christ I now live in Galloway, near Kircudbright, there is only 1 team I  that town. 

Was at a Cup Final last Staurday at 1600, Newton Stewart v Creetown, no prizes for guessing which tops were most prevalent at the game.

That's the problem for all clubs in Scotia.

[Cowdenleith]

I am not trying to cause in any divide with this post, more of an observation.  Up front, I admit I have very little first hand experience of the weirdness of football in Glasgow and the surrounding areas.

However, to an outsider, it looks like East Kilbride FC have quite a, well, Celtic leaning. Is that a fair observation?  The manager is obviously a Celtic fan, is it correct that the owners are as well?  A lot of the comments about EK that you see on Twitter seem to come from people with Celtic stuff in their bios.

I suppose my point is that EK have a great opportunity in a town with a large and growing population, but are they at risk of alienating about 50% of their potential audience?