The New Raith Rovers Thread

[Jilted John]

There was a massive need for a fan presence on the board at the time of reclaim the rovers. The Glasgow mob were so far removed from the fans of the club that it became a huge issue.

We currently have Kilgour, Smart and Macdonald on the board, all three are life long fans and live locally. I don’t see the elected rep as being as much of a necessity any more.  

[roverthemoon]

1 hour ago, Beastie Russell said:

Is it worrying though, or have the new guys seen the role (not the people who have filled the role)is just a tick box

It’s their decision to have it as a tick box as Sim did or actually let that person play a full and active role in the decision making of the club. Or of course you could just completely ignore the fact that the my are there and just plough with absolutely no fan representation. Great community club behaviour

[renton]

5 minutes ago, Jilted John said:

There was a massive need for a fan presence on the board at the time of reclaim the rovers. The Glasgow mob were so far removed from the fans of the club that it became a huge issue.

We currently have Kilgour, Smart and Macdonald on the board, all three are life long fans and live locally. I don’t see the elected rep as being as much of a necessity any more.  

I dunno, end of the day those guys represent themselves, the fans director is meant to represent the wider community. I'm glad we have guys who are fans on the board. That doesn't negate the purpose of the fans director and the Raith Trust that they represent.

[roverthemoon]

5 minutes ago, Jilted John said:

We currently have Kilgour, Smart and Macdonald on the board, all three are life long fans and live locally. I don’t see the elected rep as being as much of a necessity any more.  

Except that’s not how it works. The supporters director is there to represent ordinary fans not just those wealthy or privileged enough to find themselves on the board. We had a fans rep in the past even though we had diehard Rovers like Turnbull Hutton, Mario Caria etc in the boardroom.

Sim sidelined and undermined the position. If the new owners were genuine about getting back to being a ‘community club’ then I’d have thought putting the democratically elected supporters director in the board would be a logical first step.

[renton]

2 minutes ago, roverthemoon said:

Except that’s not how it works. The supporters director is there to represent ordinary fans not just those wealthy or privileged enough to find themselves on the board. We had a fans rep in the past even though we had diehard Rovers like Turnbull Hutton, Mario Caria etc in the boardroom.

Sim sidelined and undermined the position. If the new owners were genuine about getting back to being a ‘community club’ then I’d have thought putting the democratically elected supporters director in the board would be a logical first step.

It's also partly up to the Trust to be more proactive about what it's there for and where it's going.

Every new election and the one thing you never hear about is an active strategy for raising money that could be used to increase it's influence in the club.

[Jilted John]

3 minutes ago, roverthemoon said:

Except that’s not how it works. The supporters director is there to represent ordinary fans not just those wealthy or privileged enough to find themselves on the board. We had a fans rep in the past even though we had diehard Rovers like Turnbull Hutton, Mario Caria etc in the boardroom.

Sim sidelined and undermined the position. If the new owners were genuine about getting back to being a ‘community club’ then I’d have thought putting the democratically elected supporters director in the board would be a logical first step.

I don’t disagree with any of that however I always found it a bit pointless when the elected board member chose to sit in the directors box at games rather than with the ordinary unprivileged fans they were supposed to be representing. You don’t gauge fan opinion unless you’re in with them.

K107 mentioned that there would be a ‘sub’ board, or something to that effect, that would house the fans rep along with others.

[roverthemoon]

Important to remember that the Supporter’s rep is elected by and accountable to all the fans groups and season ticket holders. It’s not just about the Trust. 

To me you’re either on the Board of the football club or you’re not. If Dot Wilson has been sidelined to some glorified committee which they’ve re-branded as a sub-board then it doesn’t bring confidence that they truly value what fans think.

Edited to say that ultimately it doesn’t matter if that’s the case. May make no odds to how the club is run, but if you don’t really value the voice of fans and think you know best then there’s always going to be the risk of ending up in another Goodwillie equivalent.

Edited May 14, 2023 by roverthemoon

[Surely No]

44 minutes ago, Jilted John said:

 

We currently have Kilgour, Smart and Macdonald on the board, all three are life long fans and live locally. I don’t see the elected rep as being as much of a necessity any more.  

As Meatloaf said " Two out of Three ain't Bad " 

Definitely Fan Director required. They are the link for the Fans Forum and ALL Raith Rovers fans and should not be diluted or removed. 

[CrossgatesCynic]

Every chance I’ve missed it but has there been any update on the modern apprentices being kept on?

I was under the impression the club were set to make an announcement on them specifically by the end of the week there.

[Hank Scorpio]

Fans rep is a weird one. I know that it’s an important role and one that a lot of people fought really hard for but even I, as a fully signed up, passionate, lifelong-supporting season ticket holder, don’t really know what the role entails. Now, that might be through ignorance on my part, but I doubt if you asked 100 people in the South Stand on a Saturday if you’d get more than 10 or 15 who really understood it and could tell you about it and that’s probably why you’re seeing the non-reaction from the majority on the issue. 

[basher brash]

There’s only one way to solve the silent voice in the boardroom regarding the fans rep , Supporters raise funds and buy extra shares if possible , In my opinion to many fans groups having different priorities or isn’t that the case ? and is the fans forum singing off the same hymn sheet ? I’m a trust member and season ticket holder for many a year and haven’t a clue what’s happening , I’m just glad the club have now a plan in place for on and off the park which should be applauded especially with Die hard Rovers fans on the board , These guys have invested hard earned cash and I certainly have faith that they have the best intentions for the football club so I don’t think the fans rep would have any more influence than these guys , I know Colin Smart sat in the south stand for many years so the guy knows the crack, Think the trouble in the last 5-6 years Rovers have depended too much on volunteers and board members had little time to take ideas /plans forward due to a lack of time and funds , Now we have people on board who know there specific role and can implement change and see it through from start to finish 

[roverthemoon]

28 minutes ago, basher brash said:

There’s only one way to solve the silent voice in the boardroom regarding the fans rep , Supporters raise funds and buy extra shares if possible

After Reclaim the Rovers the fan groups invested every year to maintain a 10-15% share in New Raith Rovers which guaranteed them a director and a voice.  When Sim took control - either as ‘saving’ the club or an opportunistic power grab depending on your view - the structure which was set up by RTR to provide a fan rep and ensure no one person could have overall control was effectively ripped up. From then on the position is at the owner’s benevolence. Not sure there’s a viable route at the moment to getting back to ‘buying’ back that place. Others might have more idea of what that would take. 

[roverthemoon]

Just had a listen to the press conference and interviews on K107 Sports show. Really worth a listen as they play the whole press conference and speak to most of the new Board one on one. 

A few things stood out for me. The new guys coming in all speak very well and definitely seem an upgrade on what we’ve had in recent years - both communication wise and ideas wise. There’s always a risk that anyone new is either all big promises or just motherhood and apple pie, but it definitely doesn’t feel like that. It feels like fairly solid, concrete ideas and plans that could make a real difference. From the building work/renovations, to talk of using data on fans better to market the club or creating an ultras section in the Railway Stand. There is a real focus on bringing fans along with them. They all get asked what their message to people would be and it’s all good inclusive stuff like ‘belong’ ‘come with us’ ‘be part of it’ ‘leave no one behind’ Hopefully that will be backed up by actions. 

The only mildly worrying thing is that there’s a hint that Sim will still be more actively involved than initially suggested. Hopefully this was just them being polite and saying the right thing in front of him before he gets sidelined out the door. If the interviews highlighted how professional and focused the new guys seem, they also threw a spotlight on just how big a tube Sim is.  He was just rambling, disjointed anecdotes and more interested in making jokes than saying anything thoughtful or meaningful. It’s easy to see how the club got driven into a ditch under his watch. Anyway definitely worth a listen and great work by K107. 

Edited May 14, 2023 by roverthemoon

[Zen Archer (Raconteur)]

3 hours ago, roverthemoon said:

Except that’s not how it works. The supporters director is there to represent ordinary fans not just those wealthy or privileged enough to find themselves on the board. We had a fans rep in the past even though we had diehard Rovers like Turnbull Hutton, Mario Caria etc in the boardroom.

Sim sidelined and undermined the position. If the new owners were genuine about getting back to being a ‘community club’ then I’d have thought putting the democratically elected supporters director in the board would be a logical first step.

The Fans rep is wealthy, without the on-going contributions from the fan groups they represent, would the club be poorer?

The money raised over the years since RTR must be a quite significant sum, if the club doesn't want a Fans rep on the board they must surely come clean and tell us if they don't want our money as well.

[roverthemoon]

4 minutes ago, Zen Archer (Raconteur) said:

The Fans rep is wealthy, without the on-going contributions from the fan groups they represent, would the club be poorer?

The money raised over the years since RTR must be a quite significant sum, if the club doesn't want a Fans rep on the board they must surely come clean and tell us if they don't want our money as well.

Good point, well made. They do represent a wide cross section of fans and their contributions to the club year after year which isn’t insignificant.

[Raith Against The Machine]

51 minutes ago, roverthemoon said:

Just had a listen to the press conference and interviews on K107 Sports show. Really worth a listen as they play the whole press conference and speak to most of the new Board one on one. 

A few things stood out for me. The new guys coming in all speak very well and definitely seem an upgrade on what we’ve had in recent years - both communication wise and ideas wise. There’s always a risk that anyone new is either all big promises or just motherhood and apple pie, but it definitely doesn’t feel like that. It feels like fairly solid, concrete ideas and plans that could make a real difference. From the building work/renovations, to talk of using data on fans better to market the club or creating an ultras section in the Railway Stand. There is a real focus on bringing fans along with them. They all get asked what their message to people would be and it’s all good inclusive stuff like ‘belong’ ‘come with us’ ‘be part of it’ ‘leave no one behind’ Hopefully that will be backed up by actions. 

The only mildly worrying thing is that there’s a hint that Sim will still be more actively involved than initially suggested. Hopefully this was just them being polite and saying the right thing in front of him before he gets sidelined out the door. If the interviews highlighted how professional and focused the new guys seem, they also threw a spotlight on just how big a tube Sim is.  He was just rambling, disjointed anecdotes and more interested in making jokes than saying anything thoughtful or meaningful. It’s easy to see how the club got driven into a ditch under his watch. Anyway definitely worth a listen and great work by K107. 

I was just about to post something almost identical to this. I'm only about halfway through the K107 show but it's definitely worth a listen. It appears to be pretty much just coverage from the press day earlier in the week for the two hours. A real good bit of extra background on the new consortium and their approach. 

And you're spot on about John Sim. Andy Barrowman is very keen to highlight how integral John Sim has been to the success of this takeover, but deary me he's got some proper off-the-charts "Yer Auld Da" opinions. Mad wee rants about our players always being smaller than the opposition (?) and how he'd rather we didn't have a good dressing room because then they'd be able to take out a load of aggression on the opposition. Wild stuff. 

To be fair to him, it does sound like John Sim is going to basically crack on with the more tedious admin-y stuff around the shareholder details, and leaving the day-to-day stuff to the incoming guys. If he sticks to that, it'll be grand. 

[Broken Algorithms]

24 minutes ago, Zen Archer (Raconteur) said:

The Fans rep is wealthy, without the on-going contributions from the fan groups they represent, would the club be poorer?

The money raised over the years since RTR must be a quite significant sum, if the club doesn't want a Fans rep on the board they must surely come clean and tell us if they don't want our money as well.

It's a point that has been made numerous times but the previous regime were happy to take a six figure sum off the fans at the start of the pandemic yet when the fans needed to be listened to they were completely ignored.

The reality is we've all probably known that the fan's director spot turned into a bit of a token gesture - that isn't for a want of trying given that Sim pretty much chucked the toys out the pram. It would be a hugely positive step if the fans rep did come in.

With the club, there's often felt that it's a case of whether you're in with a certain group whether the 200 club, Jim McMillan, Fife's Finest etc. I think @Hank Scorpio touched on it before, but there'll be a lot of fans who might just go to games but not feel like they know to much about the behind the scenes stuff or know about the role and that isn't the fault of anyone who has held the role.

Ideally, the role wouldn't have been as diluted and they'd be a valued asset on the board, but it's really up to the new group on how it moves forwards. 

The k107 interview sounds interesting - even prior the takeover they've been excellent for giving an insight into what's going on round the club. 

[TxRover]

“Sub” board, or whatever, a voice is only worth how it is listened to. I don’t think the idea of the Fans Rep being on an advisory board or sub-board is an inherently bad thing, it would all depend upon how the input of this “board” is taken. The really big question here is how do the new Board see this role and THIS board. The question should be asked, by a number of fans, until they answer…and then we can debate the efficacy of the role.

[Brashy's Boots]

37 minutes ago, TxRover said:

“Sub” board, or whatever, a voice is only worth how it is listened to. I don’t think the idea of the Fans Rep being on an advisory board or sub-board is an inherently bad thing, it would all depend upon how the input of this “board” is taken. The really big question here is how do the new Board see this role and THIS board. The question should be asked, by a number of fans, until they answer…and then we can debate the efficacy of the role.

The answer has already been given - the sub board will advise and provide input to operational matters. I'm sure plenty of us have seen an "exec" team working on strategy and a "management team" on operational, with the latter advising the former and being consulted where appropriate. 

The words and commitments aren't really important at this stage. It's how the 2 groups work together that matters. We'll have to wait and see.

[pub car king]

I've listened to all the interviews with the new board. It seems they are full steam ahead with reconfiguring the main stand. Everyone and their dog has moaned about for years how it's old antiquated and not really conducive to the modern match day experience and offers limited use the rest of the time. 

Was this just years of newing shkrt sighted by various people or was it just a flat no on doing anything with it and spanking money on other things instead ie: the titanic lounge? 

I think there will be logistical issues with putting the youngteam in the railway stand in terms of getting them in and out of the North end unless its viable to let them in the south end? That said it shows a bit of ambition and listening to fans already. 

Our recruitment/retention will be very interesting in the coming weeks, I'm hopeful there will be no last minute rush to sign any defender we can in August again.