The Falkirk FC Thread

[Harry Kinnear]

16 minutes ago, Brockvillenomore said:

In saw a post on FB about this yesterday and made some calls to the lads who, in the early days, organised all sorts of fund raising. In 1997/98 we all rallied around and saved our club. I'd actually forgotten what we all did it was so blooming long ago.

It's difficult to calculate how much we raised as much went straight into the club in buckets, ST holders paying at the gate etc etc  But a conservative effort is we raised £250k equivalent today. Plus the £250k for finishing second that wouldn't have been possible if it hadn't been for us!  What became the MSG bought the club for a several hundred thousand pounds. Say £300k. https://www.heraldscotland.com/news/12263475.share-buy-out-saves-falkirk-fc/

None of that would have been possible without the fans. For all the money we pumped in we did not get one share, no voice and treated like sh1t, especially the last ten years or so when they retreated into their bunker and objected to being held accountable, surrounding themselves in an echo chamber that would tell them how great they were.

Fast forward to today. Here we are again, £100k ST 'gift' to the club last year, say £165k this year is a total over 18 months of £265k. I've not included what the likes of BFL have gifted, say £40k no idea. Roughly £300K in two f'ing years and the ST p*sh comes out and no mention of the money they're sleeving. We are due a refund, or shares. But what do we get? Zip, nada, zilch. No mention in the paperwork and a ropey exclusion clause.......when people show you who they are,  believe them.

As I said a couple of weeks ago, this is illegal and Trading Standards have written to all the clubs in Scotland and told them so.

The joke of a fans forum is the final straw for me; these guys are running scared and like the MSG don't like to be held accountable; if / when fans are allowed back in the stadium we need to make to clear this isn't acceptable.

We did save the club back then. I used to get paid and head straight to the Bank of Scotland in Newmarket St and pay money into the Back the Bairns account. Also attended loads of events, one of which at the Leapark Hotel was attended by Totts and Crunchie, real club legends. We all pulled together and saved our club. For what, as you say to be treated like shite 20 odd years later.

Edited June 16, 2021 by Harry Kinnear

[Zbairn]

31 minutes ago, AL-FFC said:

I just see this Q and A as a chance for the BoD to give the warm and fuzzy and everything is rosy for FFC in so much so its almost like Saddams spokesman comical Ali with the there are no Americans in Baghdad 

Interesting to see that the Board members and apologists on here are now notable by their absence. Their silence on this topic is deafening. Banta, Pedro et al....where are you and how are you going to defend this one?

[RC55 FFC]

Look forward to the football being a timely intervention. Hopefully a positive one. 

[Harry Kinnear]

21 minutes ago, Marshmallo said:

Bairn for Life handing over cash for no return in the way of shares was well intentioned I'm sure, but it has definitely contributed to the club's attitude of everything with the fans being take take take. Why would you cede any power to supporters groups when you've got another in BFL that will give you money and not look for anything in return?

That's why I never joined it, always said the cash should have been in exchange for shares.

[Dawson Park Boy]

21 minutes ago, Marshmallo said:

Bairn for Life handing over cash for no return in the way of shares was well intentioned I'm sure, but it has definitely contributed to the club's attitude of everything with the fans being take take take. Why would you cede any power to supporters groups when you've got another in BFL that will give you money and not look for anything in return?

That’s not quite true.
Nothing has been handed over since the letter was received from GD pledging shares in return for donations.

It’s now up to them.

[Harry Kinnear]

1 minute ago, Dawson Park Boy said:

That’s not quite true.
Nothing has been handed over since the letter was received from GD pledging shares in return for donations.

It’s now up to them.

Initially though prior to GD pledging shares money was handed over for the January transfer windows with nothing in return, is this not true.

[Bigbrbairn]

Problem is the players signed are probably the best that still want to play at this low level. Tempting players who are more talented would be very difficult as they will have options well above L1. We are where we are sadly

If the Rawlins need us to be successful, then why would they take the massive risk of signing L1 standard players on two and three year deals? I agree, McCann is now being held up as the exception to the rule, but he too has been in L1 for a while.
If they were so driven by Falkirk success, they have had enough time to bring about positive and visible change. They haven’t done it. All they have done is ensure they have a Board in place that is 100% loyal to their 26%.

[Zbairn]

5 minutes ago, Bigbrbairn said:

Problem is the players signed are probably the best that still want to play at this low level. Tempting players who are more talented would be very difficult as they will have options well above L1. We are where we are sadly

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again...in football money talks. Just a pity we have none or very little.

The Rawlins have not invested any more and GD (+ Rawlins) have rejected £600k.

With that level of cash we could easily tempt players to the club.

[AL-FFC]

29 minutes ago, Zbairn said:

Interesting to see that the Board members and apologists on here are now notable by their absence. Their silence on this topic is deafening. Banta, Pedro et al....where are you and how are you going to defend this one?

Just looks as if the BoD are doing divide and conquer and its working, Rawlins has his info on the fans from the likes of Deans with no chance to judge for himself, being honest what chance do you stand when your own board has labeled your fans rascist, threatened with court action over copy right to name but a few and given how long it took for them to do a fit and proper on the coffee baron when everyone more or less had his number in 24 hrs of being preferred bidder, i think that says more about the boards judgement than ours.

Admittedly Rawlins hasnt had long or time to see for himself what a basket case we are but surely it would be worthwhile to see what happens in the next few months and get some stability at the club before the patrons bid comes into it again.

[Shadwell Dog]

8 minutes ago, Zbairn said:

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again...in football money talks. Just a pity we have none or very little.

The Rawlins have not invested any more and GD (+ Rawlins) have rejected £600k.

With that level of cash we could easily tempt players to the club.

Exactly.  If you pay premier League wages then you'll get premier League/ top of the championship players. They will follow the money in this climate.  We now have a circa million pound hole on our playing budget with no further investment from the Rawlins and 600k plus knocked back. I await Mr Deans plans to cover this hole. Noone would be silly enough to knockback that amount of money without having other plans on raising it.

[PedroMoutinho]

36 minutes ago, Zbairn said:

Interesting to see that the Board members and apologists on here are now notable by their absence. Their silence on this topic is deafening. Banta, Pedro et al....where are you and how are you going to defend this one?

I’m not a board apologist- I have no connection at all to either side.

I have already said that I don’t think Lewis is a suitable chair for this q and a event. A better option would be someone totally independent with no connection to the club.

[Shadwell Dog]

2 minutes ago, PedroMoutinho said:

I’m not a board apologist- I have no connection at all to either side.

I have already said that I don’t think Lewis is a suitable chair for this q and a event. A better option would be someone totally independent with no connection to the club.

I doubt it will matter who the chair is. An independent chair will have no knowledge of the major issues at all so will be totally unable to work out whether the bods answer is credible or just the usual pish. We need people with knowledge of the situation asking the questions and grilling the board. If they don't answer properly then they should be pulled up on it straight away. People with knowledge that means they can't just try and bluff their way out of things.

[ebobsboy]

They won't answer properly though, it's a scripted pile of shite. That they think folk will be happy with. I'm fucking scunnered already and that's without a ball being kicked. I actually feel a bit sorry for Sheerin, he's on a hiding to nothing the poor c**t. 

[TxRover]

1 hour ago, MetalWolf said:

So I can't really comment about how zoom calls work.  I rarely use that platform, but with MS Teams we have questions asked by typing live and they answer the most upvoted questions.  Surely this would be a better way to handle it?  I guess it doesn't allow them to filter some abuse they may or may not receive.

Never used Teams for a meeting, but on Zoom the moderator controls who can speak and such (as noted by someone, participants can “raise their hands”) but can only resort to kicking a participant who is using the video feed in an unacceptable manner. Much of the useful control is also only if the commercial, paid version of Zoom is in use…but I would assume that the SFA/SFPL probably has a license for all 42 teams.

This matter is deeply depressing for a fan of another team that has faced the abyss themselves, and I can only hope it works out for the  fans of FFC. Until then, perhaps the most satisfying thing to do is speculate on the questions that will be asked and exactly how they will be answered. I’d say question number one will be “Given the disappointment of last season, what has the club done to prepare for this season?” For an answer there will be some blather about a thorough search for a first team manager, the sporting director working with the new manager, exciting new signings, the creation of a development squad and a couple of gratuitous Hail Mary’s to the Rawlins.

P.S. As a bonus note, a First Gazette Notice of striking off was published for Fairway Sports Capital Limited on 15-6-2021, and the books are overdue. MC’s Twitter still shows him as Chairman, but the whole feed is “protected” now. At least Rawlins has kept the books up to date, and hasn’t even tweeted once since 2012.

[Guest]

It is a charade and a waste of supporters time. 

[Guest]

2 minutes ago, ebobsboy said:

They won't answer properly though, it's a scripted pile of shite. That they think folk will be happy with. I'm fucking scunnered already and that's without a ball being kicked. I actually feel a bit sorry for Sheerin, he's on a hiding to nothing the poor c**t. 

I do too. 

[bairn88]

If we don’t get real, real quality in up front I think we’re well short. McManus level of player. 

[Dawson Park Boy]

1 hour ago, Harry Kinnear said:

Initially though prior to GD pledging shares money was handed over for the January transfer windows with nothing in return, is this not true.

Yes, that’s true but there are ongoing negotiations regarding the retrospective situation.

Probably a lost cause but nothing further will be transferred until the situation is clarified.

[ebobsboy]

12 minutes ago, bairn88 said:

If we don’t get real, real quality in up front I think we’re well short. McManus level of player.

Agreed. I'd suggest we need two of that level. 

 

[Stainrod]

35 minutes ago, Brockvillenomore said:

In saw a post on FB about this yesterday and made some calls to the lads who, in the early days, organised all sorts of fund raising. In 1997/98 we all rallied around and saved our club. I'd actually forgotten what we all did it was so blooming long ago.

It's difficult to calculate how much we raised as much went straight into the club in buckets, ST holders paying at the gate etc etc  But a conservative effort is we raised £250k equivalent today. Plus the £250k for finishing second that wouldn't have been possible if it hadn't been for us!  What became the MSG bought the club for a several hundred thousand pounds. Say £300k. https://www.heraldscotland.com/news/12263475.share-buy-out-saves-falkirk-fc/

None of that would have been possible without the fans. For all the money we pumped in we did not get one share, no voice and treated like sh1t, especially the last ten years or so when they retreated into their bunker and objected to being held accountable, surrounding themselves in an echo chamber that would tell them how great they were.

Fast forward to today. Here we are again, £100k ST 'gift' to the club last year, say £165k this year is a total over 18 months of £265k. I've not included what the likes of BFL have gifted, say £40k no idea. Roughly £300K in two f'ing years and the ST p*sh comes out and no mention of the money they're sleeving. We are due a refund, or shares. But what do we get? Zip, nada, zilch. No mention in the paperwork and a ropey exclusion clause.......when people show you who they are,  believe them.

As I said a couple of weeks ago, this is illegal and Trading Standards have written to all the clubs in Scotland and told them so.

The joke of a fans forum is the final straw for me; these guys are running scared and like the MSG don't like to be held accountable; if / when fans are allowed back in the stadium we need to make to clear this isn't acceptable.

I’m still in the camp that they current board ( really rawlins ) need to be given a chance to demonstrate their value . To be fair they like most of us they would have expected to go up last year . Now that we have not they need to pause and rethink their strategy . Expecting them to set out exactly what their plans are is a bit naive and not likely to happen as I’m sure that their plan gets a bit to close to for comfort  to the SFA rules around ownership and players agents rules.  So we are going to get politician type answers at any fans meeting irrespective of the questions asked. Anyway it’s unlikely the type of players they want to trade in are suited for league 1 so it’s jobbers for now  and fingers crossed we can progress. Personally I think Sheerin is a good appointment and the players signed seem an upgrade on last years crap. If I were rawlins I would also knock back the 600 k investment if it meant I was giving up or sharing control . Remember they said they’d looked at a few clubs before they decided on falkirk ( so it’s pretty evident they have a plan ) Now that they have set that plan in motion they are not going to scupper it because a few fans want to steer their ship they got at a great price . 
They are sharp cookies and although they may only be using us as a vehicle we potentially stand to benefit as they NEED us to be in the premiership to make anything.  Personally I’d rather back that horse for now than fans with no plan chucking in 6ook ( which they would certainly lose ) 

If Rawlins is as smart as I think he is he will ride out the fans forum ( he’s been there before ) and get a winning team on the park  to do his talking . 
Let’s give them 2 months to convince us we are back on track .