I see that the not so mighty Irvine Medda won the wee "what ever its called" league cup on Sunday. Add this to the coveted Marymass trophy(its only them and Irvine Vics that enter this!) and that's their lot for the last two years!

What a return for the massive expenditure that they have splashed around; surely the management team must be for the heave ho soon?

Would really love to see the last few years accounts to find how much he has cash he has blew. Could a medda man let us know how many players have come and gone in the last 4 years?

go to infowire and ask jamie m8

Cheers mate will do

Hey, they cannae be that well off, they don't even huv a web site! Whits that all about???

website

be warned though, its pure pish

Jamie kindly printed all the comings an goings on infowire. Even a was shocked by the amount of ins an outs

My apologies Stuboy, what I meant to say was a discussion board, perhaps thats why some of their fans come onto other sides sites to stir it up.

Just in case anyone is in any doubt let me make one thing clear .... Sconny claims to be a Kilbirnie fan but is obsessed with all things Meadow. Morning, noon and night all he talks about is Meadow. Every week for the last 2 seasons he has bored us with Strain is only 2 games away from the sack. One day Strain will leave the club and all we will hear is I told you so. It's like reading The Sun, Star and Record all put together. A million exclusives, all wrong, then hell get one right. Next we'll have his wee pal and fellow obsessive Murdoch on kissing his erse.

Fcuk me, he appears even sooner than I imagined.

Just like your exclusive that medda wer gonna sign liam a while back mm eh? An we all know what happened to that 1 . An a wouldnae kiss sconnys erse. A know where its been

For those of you in the East.

The Medda probably spend more money than Bathgate.
They've got no obvious sugar daddy like Hill, no social club and relatively poor crowds.

Mighty Meadow, how do the Medda fund themselves?

And here was me thinking that you were coming onto tell us about all the trophies that you had won with Strain in the last couple of years "Mighty" meadow?

As for coming on ever other day and saying he should get the sack, this simply is not true; I stated this last season that he deserved the sack, given that he had spent more money than most senior first division sides and had only the Marymass cup to show for it!

Surprisingly, the committee did not have the gumption to carry this through, the consequences of which you are now paying for this season.

2 local businessmen are the money while Ashleigh Construction have a role too.

I see you didn't even try to deny your obsession with the Medda. You must be the only person who can reply to a discussion about Birmingham being interested in Kirk Broadfoot with a statement about Irvine Meadow.

Main sponsor is 3D Golf. Don't know how much Ashleigh are involved in sponsoring the club this season. Still got signs around the park but their names have been replaced on the shirts by some agricultural mob. A lot of the cash comes from work done by the very hard working committee.

But do you not need a good fan base AND a hard working committe????

can i ask. who do you support?

Ta for clarifying that - I didn't know Ashleigh Construction were no longer shirt sponsors. The two blokes are 3D Golf are they not? They've been financially involved for a while iirc, since Andy Essler joined up with you anyway as the name rings a bell.

He claims to support the Ladieside but I've got a sneaky suspicion it's actually Medda . Anytime Medda are mentioned on any forum Sconny is sniffin' around.

it wouldnt surprise me if it was ladeside. they seem to hate everything that breathes

Do you not know ? We hate everybody

Very vague details from someone who knows so much about the club.

Could it be that the rumours are true about where most of the cash comes from?

What rumours would that be then? I know a few Medda committee men read these forums and would be interested in these rumours / allegations.

Obviously you know the rumours mm from other sites . An your money obviosly comes from a legitimate source. We just like to wond you up .Especially when you rise to the bait so often

Other sites David? I don't post on any other sites. Anyone from the Kilbirnie Forum or Juniors Yahoo Group will know that

You forgot about the buffs site as well

No wond up or even wind up from me.

It's amazed me how The Medda have funded the last few seasons.

Every man and their dug (that will cover the Medda away support) in Ayrshire have heard rumours that the cash comes from ''other sources''.

If your correct and the majority comes from a construction company then how long do you see it lasting in the current economic climate Mighty Meadow?

Farrell and gold away to cumnock. Is that another loss on a player in farrell?

I recall a conversation with a Irvine Meadow fan in the summer and the subject of money came up. He said that the critisism levelled at them wasn't all justified and that credit where credit is due should go to their committee who also raise substantial amounts of revenue through various money making ventures and this contribute every bit as much as other money being invested by outside companies etc. If that is the case fair do to them, all committee's have that same abilty to go out and raise money in this way. Off course others may know different on the sources of the money and that the claim/explanation to myself may be way off the mark.

Here's a way that the committee could raise enough money to compete with Chelsea,

Write a book explaining what the ''various money making ventures'' are.

I'm sure it would be a worldwide bestseller which would interest clubs, charities, businesses .......

Ladeside are all roasters everyone of them.

Sorry can I actually just make that the whole of Kilbirnie

Thats a bit of a sweeping generalisation.

Well I'm a Killie fan what do you expect??

Can you point out exactly where I said that the majority of Medda's money comes from a construction company? I can't remember saying that. Either I'm suffering from dementia ... or you are.

What did Kilbirnie ever do to you?

Sorry that's correct you don't know where the money comes even though you seem to be a keen fan.

It may be Ashleigh Construction, an agricultural mob, 3D golf, 2 guys, a hard working committee,......... or a combination of all plus other sources.

Now I am confused "Plus Other Sources" please elaborate on your post. I'm most intrigued as us East Coast Punters have not heard of any "plus other sources" suggestions??

It's just a case of the old green eyed monster m8. A club starts spending a few bob and fans of other clubs start taking the hump. Towser's mate is just another in along list of people who hint at something but are shit scared to actually put it in black white (you never know who might be reading these forums I suppose). He is now mis-reading posts, twisting the facts and in general just being a fanny. I wonder what team he supports .

Well, people are just drawing a conclusion because no obvious solution presents itself.

The club has no social club and modest gates so the steady income to support their wage bill has to be more than the odd tombola here and the odd raffle there. 3D Golf or Ashleigh Construction, fair play, the team is well backed.

From a source close to the club I hear Meadow don't pay bonuses - the players get an agreed flat rate, 52 weeks a year, if they attend training and make themselves available for selection on a saturday.

The money that players are on is known because players talk, or if they don't talk then perhaps their family do. Also, when players are in negotiations over a move, they may reveal why they cannot accept an offer as they may well have had better from elsewhere. Pollok I know have lost out on two players to the Meadow in the past season or so for money reasons and the sum of the two players prospective wages was very much high three figures, though they were differing amounts.

I know how tough it is for Pollok to fund a wage bill nowhere near the alleged size of Meadow's and we have a social club, a very active fundraising team and gates of around 500, as well as the fact we've brought in thousands of pounds in prize money and gate receipts in the last few years from cup runs.

I'm not disputing the fact that Meadow have got a very big wage bill and pay top dollar for players. I know for a fact that 3d Golf put a lot of money into the club and I imagine the agricultural firm that sponsor the shirts also put more than a few bob in as well. The only thing that I would dispute is that there is something untoward going on at the club. Most clubs these days are run as a business so any discrepencies would be very hard to hide. I wonder when those spineless people hiding behind their pc screens will grow the balls to put a face to these rumours that they are keen to put about.

Christ, I wis just about tae book a golfin holiday wi 3D golf as well, thanks for the heads up on this Mighty Meadow, I'll book wi another company now!

I've not heard of any rumours of anything untoward at Meadow Park. The only rumour I heard was one regarding diversion of funds through a divorce case. Doesn't bother me either to be honest, Meadow's concern and their's alone.

For the alleged levels of cash spent, it certainly doesn't seem sustainable in the long term. However the work and improvements done to Meadow Park shows there has been sensible investment as well. Good luck to them but when you spend that level of cash (allegedly) then you've got to accept the jealousy and dislike from other club's supporters - it's only natural and nothing will change that.

You've only got to listen to some fans still glorying in the fall from grace of the Buffs to know that.

I've have posted comments similar to the above on other forums before m8. The big difference between Medda and the Buffs is that we are using a lot of the sponsorship money on the ground as well as on players. When McCluckie was throwing money into the Buffs it all went on players. Fair enough it worked at the time and they set a record that will probably never be equalled. However as soon as McCluckie left them to 'stand on their own two feet' the problems started. It must have been embarrassing for Buffs fans to see their committee standing at the gates with their 'pound for a brick bucket'. If or when the sponsors walk away from Meadow Park at least their will be something to show for the money.

And that is something for the Meadow fans to be proud of. IMO the resentment shown to Meadow comes from the attitude of the manager (both on and off the pitch). Throwing money at as many players as possible is not always going to work and this has been shown by the number of players that have left in the last few months (Higgins & McPhee to Arthurlie, Essler, Windgate & Dillon to Pollok, Farrell & Gold to Cumnock)

Interesting topic, it's good to hear that the infrastructure is being put in place also not just the team. But it concerns me that this is an acciedent waiting to happen by relying on big sponsors to bankroll a short term dream. As an outsider looking in there are numerous cases of teams riding the crest of the wave and then falling down. Teams such as Arthurlie, Pollok and Linlithgow (sorry I'm sure I have missed a few) need applauded for having both a sound infrastructure and finances to achieve success through old fashioned hard work.

I totally agree Auld Heid but would any team knock back a sponsor who is willing to splash the cash? It wasn't long ago that Meadow were going nowhere. On the park we were getting humped at home 5-0 by Lugar (no offence meant there but Meadow shouldn't ever be getting beaten 5-0 at home to any team), the ground was getting vandalised on a regular basis, the roof on the stand was in tatters and the railway sleepers around the ground really were an accident to happen. If Meadow were winning everything at the moment but the ground was still in a state of disrepair then I would be worried as well. As it happens I think the club is getting the balance just about right.

I'm guessing the hope is, with the money it will bring a lot of success and therefore the crowds will greatly increase along with increased interest in the town and that would result in the club being more self sufficient.

Thing is if companies or individuals are offering you money to spend mostly on the team (due to them being fans) then what club is going to say no? As long as Meadow plan what they can with the cash for ground enhancement and future benefits, the only blame can lie with the budget given for playing staff or the way it is spent by the manager/whoever.

Players aren't going to knock back 3 figure sums per week and you can't blame them, but when they leave they still accept less cash from their future club (at least in some cases that I know of). Vicious circle for them in a way and they can't win.

It's the same problem that every club has no matter what level when they have a big squad. Most players want to play every week, only a few are happy to pick up their wages for standing on the sidelines. Of the 7 players you mention my opinion is :

WINGATE : Started off brilliantly for Meadow but his performances last season were pretty poor and cost us a few goals.

DILLON : Never got the chance he deserved at Meadow. Never let us down when he was picked.

ESSLER : Cracking football player but wasn't consistent enough. Did ask away towards the end of last season because he wasn't getting a regular game. Was persuaded to stay and started the next few games but still didn't do enough. As I say, he's a cracking player though and probably was the best for everyone that he moved on.

HIGGINS : Hardly kicked a ball for Meadow so can't comment on his abilities. Hard to understand why he was bought in the first place though.

McPHEE : A fan's favourite at Meadow Park. Always gave 100% and was a real asset to the team. Told the club last season that he would be unavaliable for a while due to work commitments (?) and wasn't seen in a Meadow jersey again. Think I read somewhere that he was offloaded to free up some cash.

GOLD : Another fan's favourite but I know he wasn't happy at not getting a regular game.

FARRELL : Played in much the same position as Mark Crilly who is one of Meadow's top players so was always going to struggle for a regular place in the team. Probably best at this stage of his career to be playing for a club where he will get a start most weeks.

That's all my opinion of course but more players will come and go, some I'll agree with some I won't but at the end of the day it's Chris Strain's decision.

BTW, how are McPhee and Higgins getting on at Arthurlie. Are they both getting a regular start?

McPhee is retraining (police or fire can't remember which) and will miss a good few months ahead. From what I've seen of him against us in recent times, he hasn't been the player he I so admired with Cumbernauld before his return to Senior football.