The Falkirk FC Thread

[HopeStreetWalker]

10 hours ago, Rugster said:

Paddy Cregg I believe 

Anybody remember the Dundee United home game when Paddy ran about a blue touch paper looking for a light.

He worked his way round the whole team threatening a square go.  

[Guest]

I’m just wanting to write about an incident regarding the club. 

I’m not sure if many of you seen this but there were rumours circulating around the start of October regarding fans being sent letters to explain their behaviour. Interestingly around the same time the club employed a member of staff who appears to have been tasked with dealing with these apparent incidents.

You may wonder why there is little evidence to support these but the exchanges I’ve heard of indicate that police action may be taken if it goes further. Understandably that would put anyone off from coming forward. 

Not sure how many fans have been on the other end of this but I have spoken to 2 people who have dealt with this new process, one who was cited for something said on a match day with no evidence supplied to support the claim. The other who actually made a complaint which was upheld by the club for abuse made about him by a director. Instead of dealing with the directors actions they had an investigator scour the complainants online profile to make accusations of criminality on their part that could be used against them should they take it further. Again, when asked what was said that was apparently criminal, they failed to provide any evidence. 

I can’t give more detail on these 2 incidents but I’ve had enough of this behaviour by members of the board. Unaccountable and unapologetic when it comes to their own actions but vague threats of going to police against fans. There is change on the horizon but there is a lot of work to do and it’s important that the new board and fans alike have a notion of what is going on behind the scenes. 

I fully understand that regardless of the platform there are lines that can be crossed but this feels more like a covert way to scare fans from criticising the club. 

The end of the letter apparently states that club employees are encouraged to report matters of abuse to the police. I don’t think any employee should suffer serious abuse but fair criticism comes hand and hand with a business and its customers. If the police deal with incidences of which I’ve been told of then we’re all under suspicion and the police will be inundated with reports of wrongdoing. 

I would say this is unbelievable but unfortunately it’s now fully expected.

Roll on the AGM. 

[Harry Kinnear]

It’s good that there is change coming at board level, the current board have achieved one thing really well in my opinion. They have been absolutely fantastic at alienating a large quantity of our fanbase. That will be the legacy of our current board.

[Zbairn]

40 minutes ago, Van_damage said:

I’m just wanting to write about an incident regarding the club. 

I’m not sure if many of you seen this but there were rumours circulating around the start of October regarding fans being sent letters to explain their behaviour. Interestingly around the same time the club employed a member of staff who appears to have been tasked with dealing with these apparent incidents.

You may wonder why there is little evidence to support these but the exchanges I’ve heard of indicate that police action may be taken if it goes further. Understandably that would put anyone off from coming forward. 

Not sure how many fans have been on the other end of this but I have spoken to 2 people who have dealt with this new process, one who was cited for something said on a match day with no evidence supplied to support the claim. The other who actually made a complaint which was upheld by the club for abuse made about him by a director. Instead of dealing with the directors actions they had an investigator scour the complainants online profile to make accusations of criminality on their part that could be used against them should they take it further. Again, when asked what was said that was apparently criminal, they failed to provide any evidence. 

I can’t give more detail on these 2 incidents but I’ve had enough of this behaviour by members of the board. Unaccountable and unapologetic when it comes to their own actions but vague threats of going to police against fans. There is change on the horizon but there is a lot of work to do and it’s important that the new board and fans alike have a notion of what is going on behind the scenes. 

I fully understand that regardless of the platform there are lines that can be crossed but this feels more like a covert way to scare fans from criticising the club. 

The end of the letter apparently states that club employees are encouraged to report matters of abuse to the police. I don’t think any employee should suffer serious abuse but fair criticism comes hand and hand with a business and its customers. If the police deal with incidences of which I’ve been told of then we’re all under suspicion and the police will be inundated with reports of wrongdoing. 

I would say this is unbelievable but unfortunately it’s now fully expected.

Roll on the AGM. 

Interestingly heard the same recently from another fan on Saturday and this only appears to have started since the club appointed a new Deputy of Stadium Security (another unwarranted wage that loses cash from the club). It looks as though the club are trying to outdo the KGB and threaten fans with criminal activity to stifle dissent against those who run the club.

Another PR disaster unfolding here, as if we haven't seen enough. You wouldn't believe we have a PR expert on our BoD with all the recent disasters that have engulfed the club. The quicker we get rid of those who do nothing but bring our club into disrepute the better. 

[Bairnardo]

Does Gary Deans think hes a fucking gangster or something [emoji1787]

[Shadwell Dog]

1 hour ago, Van_damage said:

I’m just wanting to write about an incident regarding the club. 

I’m not sure if many of you seen this but there were rumours circulating around the start of October regarding fans being sent letters to explain their behaviour. Interestingly around the same time the club employed a member of staff who appears to have been tasked with dealing with these apparent incidents.

You may wonder why there is little evidence to support these but the exchanges I’ve heard of indicate that police action may be taken if it goes further. Understandably that would put anyone off from coming forward. 

Not sure how many fans have been on the other end of this but I have spoken to 2 people who have dealt with this new process, one who was cited for something said on a match day with no evidence supplied to support the claim. The other who actually made a complaint which was upheld by the club for abuse made about him by a director. Instead of dealing with the directors actions they had an investigator scour the complainants online profile to make accusations of criminality on their part that could be used against them should they take it further. Again, when asked what was said that was apparently criminal, they failed to provide any evidence. 

I can’t give more detail on these 2 incidents but I’ve had enough of this behaviour by members of the board. Unaccountable and unapologetic when it comes to their own actions but vague threats of going to police against fans. There is change on the horizon but there is a lot of work to do and it’s important that the new board and fans alike have a notion of what is going on behind the scenes. 

I fully understand that regardless of the platform there are lines that can be crossed but this feels more like a covert way to scare fans from criticising the club. 

The end of the letter apparently states that club employees are encouraged to report matters of abuse to the police. I don’t think any employee should suffer serious abuse but fair criticism comes hand and hand with a business and its customers. If the police deal with incidences of which I’ve been told of then we’re all under suspicion and the police will be inundated with reports of wrongdoing. 

I would say this is unbelievable but unfortunately it’s now fully expected.

Roll on the AGM. 

I hope this will be being raised at the AGM then . Deans and co shouldn't be allowed to slither back to wherever they appeared from without  this being highlighted as another mark on what has been a horrendous tenure at the club.

Ludicrous situation when someone is getting a threatening letter from the club simply for calling the directors clowns on social media. 

Edited December 1, 2021 by Shadwell Dog

[Latapy is god]

15 minutes ago, Zbairn said:

Interestingly heard the same recently from another fan on Saturday and this only appears to have started since the club appointed a new Deputy of Stadium Security (another unwarranted wage that loses cash from the club). It looks as though the club are trying to outdo the KGB and threaten fans with criminal activity to stifle dissent against those who run the club.

Another PR disaster unfolding here, as if we haven't seen enough. You wouldn't believe we have a PR expert on our BoD with all the recent disasters that have engulfed the club. The quicker we get rid of those who do nothing but bring our club into disrepute the better. 

It wouldn't be the first time either.  Remember the racism statement a few years ago with zero evidence.

[Zbairn]

3 minutes ago, Latapy is god said:

It wouldn't be the first time either.  Remember the racism statement a few years ago with zero evidence.

That was just sheer stupidity on the Boards part, to be seen to be doing something after accusations by a player without doing due diligence to see if it actually happened. 

This is a lot more sinister, in that they are targeting a section of fans who are openly criticising their governance. Mental really ! 

[joozy]

1 hour ago, Van_damage said:

I’m just wanting to write about an incident regarding the club. 

I’m not sure if many of you seen this but there were rumours circulating around the start of October regarding fans being sent letters to explain their behaviour. Interestingly around the same time the club employed a member of staff who appears to have been tasked with dealing with these apparent incidents.

You may wonder why there is little evidence to support these but the exchanges I’ve heard of indicate that police action may be taken if it goes further. Understandably that would put anyone off from coming forward. 

Not sure how many fans have been on the other end of this but I have spoken to 2 people who have dealt with this new process, one who was cited for something said on a match day with no evidence supplied to support the claim. The other who actually made a complaint which was upheld by the club for abuse made about him by a director. Instead of dealing with the directors actions they had an investigator scour the complainants online profile to make accusations of criminality on their part that could be used against them should they take it further. Again, when asked what was said that was apparently criminal, they failed to provide any evidence. 

I can’t give more detail on these 2 incidents but I’ve had enough of this behaviour by members of the board. Unaccountable and unapologetic when it comes to their own actions but vague threats of going to police against fans. There is change on the horizon but there is a lot of work to do and it’s important that the new board and fans alike have a notion of what is going on behind the scenes. 

I fully understand that regardless of the platform there are lines that can be crossed but this feels more like a covert way to scare fans from criticising the club. 

The end of the letter apparently states that club employees are encouraged to report matters of abuse to the police. I don’t think any employee should suffer serious abuse but fair criticism comes hand and hand with a business and its customers. If the police deal with incidences of which I’ve been told of then we’re all under suspicion and the police will be inundated with reports of wrongdoing. 

I would say this is unbelievable but unfortunately it’s now fully expected.

Roll on the AGM. 

Have any fans sent abusive texts to family members of the club's directors?  Cause if they have they should face a permanent ban from the club and I don't think any reasonable person could disagree with that.

Must admit, I'm not aware of this happening.  On the other hand, I have seen the abusive message sent from a board member to the family member of a fan he felt was being too critical.   Obviously that's perfectly fine.

[Harry Kinnear]

Jeezo our club is an absolute fucking mess, remember they tried to say we were a community club, what a crock of shite.

[Numbers_One_To_Eleven]

11 hours ago, Gaz said:

My Dad started taking me when I was 3 so obviously can't remember much about the managers we had in the late 80s (born in '83) but for what it's worth:

Jefferies: Some absolutely brilliant football. Great times following them. PASS
Lambie: After the highs of Jefferies this was absolutely dreadful. FAIL
Bannon: I didn't remember him doing too badly. Wasn't he sacked because of some admin oversight that saw John Clarke play for too many clubs within a short space of time? FAIL
Totten: An absolute gentleman and gave us some great times. Unfortunate for him his last couple of years were marred by financial difficulties which gave us some poor times. PASS
McCall: The team he assembled was up there with the best I'd ever seen. Was devastated when he left. PASS
Hughes / Coyle: We still had McCall's team so kept playing some great football. PASS
Hughes: I was critical of Hughes a lot at his time here. His first season was a disaster but I don't blame him for that, sharing at Ochilview was grim and we didn't know until like July what league we were going to be playing in. At the time I felt that Latapy papered over some massive cracks and Hughes's stubbornness cost us a lot of points, but in hindsight my opinion of him has changed greatly. Brought us the most successful team of my lifetime. PASS
May: I still get angry over this. Hughes leaves, we have European football, are an established SPL team, recent cup final, recent 7th place finishes. Instead of advertising the job we give it to a youth coach who is hopelessly out his depth and blames results on not praying hard enough. Should have gone after about four games. FAIL
Pressley: Promised us we wouldn't get relegated, proceeded to get us relegated. FAIL
Holt: I can barely remember any of Holt's tenure. But he's a dick, so he gets a FAIL
Houston: Was the correct decision to punt him at the end but gave us some brilliant moments, took us to another cup final, had us playing some brilliant football and challenging for the Championship with tough, tough opposition. A shame how it ended but he gets a PASS
Hartley: Absolutely bizarre. Came in after a successful career, barely put a foot wrong his entire first season, appears to have went absolutely mad for about a month and gave us an absolutely dreadful team, then left, where he's resumed his successful career. I don't think we'll ever know the full story. FAIL
McKinnon: Football no better than under Hartley. Got us relegated. FAIL
Miller / McCracken: Got the job after beating a junior side. Took us to the top of the league because every other side was absolutely ganting. As soon as other sides became less ganting we got found out. FAIL
Holt: Still a dick. FAIL
Sheerin: A youth coach with no experience of managing a full time side. FAIL

Agreed with all of this apart from Hartley’s first season and the “hardly put a foot wrong” comment. Yes there was the 6-1 Dundee Utd game but the wins against perhaps the worst side ever at that level (Brechin) and 3 wins in dead rubber matches really did bolster an otherwise indifferent first season (albeit on the back of Houston’s bad start).

Incidentally, Bannon’s league record was 9 wins, 3 draws and 8 defeats in his 20 games in the second tier so pretty average overall but not disastrous form.

Edited December 1, 2021 by Numbers_One_To_Eleven

[60`s bairn]

2 hours ago, HopeStreetWalker said:

Anybody remember the Dundee United home game when Paddy ran about a blue touch paper looking for a light.

He worked his way round the whole team threatening a square go.  

Did the same at Tannadice..

[Newbornbairn]

It's a family club.

 

If your family is the Logans.

[Andy Dufresne]

We really are a cluster f**k of a club,just when you think we cannot sink any lower a new way appears.

[Reggie Perrin]

4 hours ago, Johnny Tee said:

And here’s Simon scoring a spectacular goal against Celtic in 1991. Brockville was rocking that afternoon

Would make a nice avatar.

[Bainsfordbairn]

41 minutes ago, Harry Kinnear said:

remember they tried to say we were a community club, what a crock of shite.

No it's not. 

I don't know the current figures, but pre-covid there were over a thousand kids playing community football every week with Falkirk strips on.

The "Falkirk Family" stuff was a standard marketing slogan, made up I think for a season ticket campaign, but while many didn't like it the players were still visiting local primary schools before every game and going out to Strathcarron Hospice four or five times a year. The club tried hard to do their bit for the community and still do. Foodbank collections and the best Grassroots Award that the Foundation won from the SFA on Sunday evening are further evidence of that. 

Please don't let the alleged misbehaviour of a few directors tarnish the work that dozens of folk are doing to help the community. Folk whose work clothes have a steeple on their chest. 

[Zbairn]

6 minutes ago, Bainsfordbairn said:

No it's not. 

I don't know the current figures, but pre-covid there were over a thousand kids playing community football every week with Falkirk strips on.

The "Falkirk Family" stuff was a standard marketing slogan, made up I think for a season ticket campaign, but while many didn't like it the players were still visiting local primary schools before every game and going out to Strathcarron Hospice four or five times a year. The club tried hard to do their bit for the community and still do. Foodbank collections and the best Grassroots Award that the Foundation won from the SFA on Sunday evening are further evidence of that. 

Please don't let the alleged misbehaviour of a few directors tarnish the work that dozens of folk are doing to help the community. Folk whose work clothes have a steeple on their chest. 

Unfortunately that’s what has happened. The few in power have tarnished it for the rest. 

As soon as fans are vilified and threatened by the clubs custodians, then it ceases to become a “community” club.

Loads of great things are done by volunteers and helpers, but let’s also not forget many of them have been trashed by those who run the club and think they are better. 

[Bainsfordbairn]

13 minutes ago, Zbairn said:

Unfortunately that’s what has happened. The few in power have tarnished it for the rest. 

As soon as fans are vilified and threatened by the clubs custodians, then it ceases to become a “community” club.

Loads of great things are done by volunteers and helpers, but let’s also not forget many of them have been trashed by those who run the club and think they are better. 

Sorry Z, but I don't agree. One or two alleged bad eggs at the very top cannot undo the good work done by god know how many volunteer coaches that it takes to give up their time and run teams for massive numbers of kids. FFC are still a community club. 

If those at the top are as bad as some folk claim them to be then they'll get their just rewards in the end. 

[Dawson Park Boy]

Like everything else, this seems a situation where some more FACTS would be helpful.

If a fan has been rubbishing a Director In a non - threatening manner then that seems reasonable criticism.

If, however, a directors family has been targeted or threatened, then we’re in completely different territory.

[AL-FFC]

7 hours ago, Dawson Park Boy said:

Like everything else, this seems a situation where some more FACTS would be helpful.

If a fan has been rubbishing a Director In a non - threatening manner then that seems reasonable criticism.

If, however, a directors family has been targeted or threatened, then we’re in completely different territory.

On the flip side of that if you remember back we had a fan who's son was sent text messages calling his dad derogatory names and threats.  remember we also had a member of the board resign his position due to threats of violence by a board member against him (that one was made public in the media). Also pretty sure said person is still skulking about the club in the background.

Does it really merit more facts or is it just something for gossip till we pop up with the next f**k up.

Edited December 2, 2021 by AL-FFC