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46 minutes ago, Andreas Kelevra said:

Now that the transfer window is shut, Holt is gone, MSG gone, the chairman gone - The big question now is…..what  reasons will the non members of the Falkirk Supporters Society find for not joining? 

 

Also, I see that the last of the clingers on Andy Thomson has resigned from the events company.

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3 minutes ago, Latapy is god said:

Also, I see that the last of the clingers on Andy Thomson has resigned from the events company.

That’s good. I wonder if he also resigned as “Disability Access Officer”? That role would still allow him some “swan around the place” leeway. There was also his repeated muscling in commentary on FTV (as well as some rather tenuous accountancy involvement).

If all of that has been eliminated as a package, then that’s a nice clean break in proceedings.

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53 minutes ago, roman_bairn said:


Rising interest rates and energy bills? Maybe feeding the family?
It’s not for anyone to preach on here what decisions other people make!…

Excuses…. 

Motherwell have 3200 members in their society and we have 300. I think Morton have double our membership.

Inverclyde and Lanarkshire are hardly well off areas.

 

 

 

 

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58 minutes ago, Andreas Kelevra said:

Excuses…. 

Motherwell have 3200 members in their society and we have 300. I think Morton have double our membership.

Inverclyde and Lanarkshire are hardly well off areas.

 

 

 

 

So then what else is affecting sign ups? Hearts was born out of existential threat, maybe Motherwell too……….don’t know about Morten.

So is it messaging, is it awareness? I would have thought the demise of Deans and his sidekicks would have made a big difference, but apparently not.

If RR get something underway, don’t be surprised to see it become significantly bigger than FSS very quickly. Supporters do react to end of level baddies.

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So then what else is affecting sign ups? Hearts was born out of existential threat, maybe Motherwell too……….don’t know about Morten.
So is it messaging, is it awareness? I would have thought the demise of Deans and his sidekicks would have made a big difference, but apparently not.
If RR get something underway, don’t be surprised to see it become significantly bigger than FSS very quickly. Supporters do react to end of level baddies.
Perhaps the on field performance is also having a bit of a dampening effect. A few decent wins combined with good promotion could see a big jump. We are in the doldrums at present and I know that's when we need to band together but life is not like that
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3 hours ago, Bigbri Bairn said:
4 hours ago, Duncan Freemason said:
So then what else is affecting sign ups? Hearts was born out of existential threat, maybe Motherwell too……….don’t know about Morten.
So is it messaging, is it awareness? I would have thought the demise of Deans and his sidekicks would have made a big difference, but apparently not.
If RR get something underway, don’t be surprised to see it become significantly bigger than FSS very quickly. Supporters do react to end of level baddies.

Perhaps the on field performance is also having a bit of a dampening effect. A few decent wins combined with good promotion could see a big jump. We are in the doldrums at present and I know that's when we need to band together but life is not like that

I agree with this but I also feel that years of bad decisions by the board has really left a lot of fans feeling detached from the club. 
 

I will be at my first home game since we got relegated on Saturday but I will be alone. The other 6 people that I used to go with, 3 of whom were ST holders have either lost interest or have found other things to do on a Saturday.  The new board have a lot of work to do to get lapsed fans back and a better product on the park could help with this.

I also however agree that a lot of families are feeling the pinch financially at the moment and the pending gloom of energy rises, mortgage rates going up etc means they are tightening their belts and maybe just don’t have the cash.

Edited by Harry Kinnear
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Guest Brockvillenomore
13 hours ago, Hannibal Lecturer said:

You really are a no righter!  Away and watch the shire ya banger.

💯 …..this is one of these strange and mysterious posters that have emerged after the recent BoD changes. Previously dormant or “brand new”. We can only guess who they are but their motives and agendas are clear. 

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Guest Brockvillenomore
9 hours ago, Bainsfordbairn said:

There used to be a poster on this thread called Bantabairn who frequently suggested that everything the old board did was wonderful. He was wrong. 

Just as a few conspiracy theorists who used to attack everything the club did were also wrong.  Those people annoyed me in particular because while they may have been aiming at the board, their bullets were landing on employees who were friends of mine. 

Despite being polar opposites in their opinions, both sides had one thing in common. Their minds were closed. The second something happened, they were already looking for an angle to either attack or defend it, depending on which side of the fence they were already sitting.  The attackers outnumbered the defenders but there were a few obvious ones in both camps. 

I kind of get the impression you're like that, though obviously time and future posts you make could prove me wrong. Do you know Bantabairn by any chance? 

Good post mate  👍

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Guest Brockvillenomore
18 hours ago, StuartA said:

 

That's what we want to happen. The agreement is that BFL members get concurrent membership of FSS and FSS holds shares purchased by B4L’s contribution. FSS also helps promote BFL as we've done with the website (below)  This was all agreed with the club, FSS and BFL last hear, and ratified by BFL members at their AGM in November. 

We need BFL to give us the list of members - less anyone who opts out (GDPR) - so we can include them on our database. That hasn't happened yet, but needs to before 11 February which is the deadline for this round of elections. Similarly, we expect to receive the shares from BFL’s January payment so we can put them together with the purchase FSS made last month. 

More below - hope this happens soon as it's a smashing example of Falkirk fans working together for the greater good. 

https://falkirksupporters.org/bairnforlife/

 

Hope so @StuartA and thanks also to @Dawson Park Boy. I see positive input and communication from FSS but worryingly zero from BFL. Arguably the exact opposite tbh.  It sounds like contact details of the BFL members haven’t been shared with FSS? Is this right? This is worrying as there’s elections for various roles (including the main board positions) due within a matter of weeks and it looks like my automatic membership of FSS isn’t in my place? What can I do about this? 

Edited by Brockvillenomore
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2 hours ago, Harry Kinnear said:

I agree with this but I also feel that years of bad decisions by the board has really left a lot of fans feeling detached from the club. 
 

I will be at my first home game since we got relegated on Saturday but I will be alone. The other 6 people that I used to go with, 3 of whom were ST holders have either lost interest or have found other things to do on a Saturday.  The new board have a lot of work to do to get lapsed fans back and a better product on the park could help with this.

I also however agree that a lot of families are feeling the pinch financially at the moment and the pending gloom of energy rises, mortgage rates going up etc means they are tightening their belts and maybe just don’t have the cash.

Good post and first paragraph more or less nails it. Loss of identity…..

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I agree with this but I also feel that years of bad decisions by the board has really left a lot of fans feeling detached from the club. 
 
I will be at my first home game since we got relegated on Saturday but I will be alone. The other 6 people that I used to go with, 3 of whom were ST holders have either lost interest or have found other things to do on a Saturday.  The new board have a lot of work to do to get lapsed fans back and a better product on the park could help with this.
I also however agree that a lot of families are feeling the pinch financially at the moment and the pending gloom of energy rises, mortgage rates going up etc means they are tightening their belts and maybe just don’t have the cash.

The point about being successful is I think the real underlying issue.
My take on this is there have been some good positive changes over the past couple of months but the whole place lacks any ‘feel good factor’ and the point of being a competitive entity on the park has and is still doing is no favours as we still languish and struggle to show any real tangible pointers of real change in league status. The word I would use is momentum…and on the park we have suffered one too many false dawns.

Football is all about success and the FSS membership will surge as the team shows real intention. Most people like to be part or feel like part of a success story.
One of the best examples in my mind is Aberdeen FC. I know and have known many people who were hooked on their success in the early to mid eighties when they were really successful and to this day they are still supported by those people even though the live in here in the Central region and that was approx 40 years ago. Success means everything, get a bit of genuine glory on the pitch and watch the whole thing fall into place.
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6 hours ago, BudBairn said:

I am not sure the FSS is that well advertised. Potentially something that needs to be looked at.

Has there been local advertising in the falkirk herald or on local radio?

This. I rarely use Facebook so no idea if FSS is being pushed much on there, but I am on twitter and dont recall much coverage via that platform. Perhaps the club and/or FSS could start putting out twice weekly tweets, even if it's just the same message each time.

I don't envy the job the patrons/BoD/volunteers have on their hands in trying to resurrect our club, and although I may be critical at times, I fully believe they have the clubs best interests at heart, and will be working tirelessly behind the scenes.

To help them and the club, they need as many people as possible to sign up to FSS/BFL to get as much cash flowing into the club as possible, as they are going to need it.

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6 hours ago, BudBairn said:

I am not sure the FSS is that well advertised. Potentially something that needs to be looked at.

Has there been local advertising in the falkirk herald or on local radio?

From a marketing point of view it could be better but it’s run by volunteers so fair play to them as these people are giving up their own time for the love of the club.

Given that the rules on Covid have been relaxed, they could perhaps set up stalls in the car park prior to a home game to talk to and encourage fans. Maybe do something in line with the Crunchie Initiative and get Kevin there to meet and greet ?

Photos and some freebies for the kids, attract the parents in, sell the concept, which is excellent and get people to sign up.

Not sure if it’s viable, just thinking out loud.

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4 hours ago, Harry Kinnear said:

I agree with this but I also feel that years of bad decisions by the board has really left a lot of fans feeling detached from the club. 
 

I will be at my first home game since we got relegated on Saturday but I will be alone. The other 6 people that I used to go with, 3 of whom were ST holders have either lost interest or have found other things to do on a Saturday.  The new board have a lot of work to do to get lapsed fans back and a better product on the park could help with this.

I also however agree that a lot of families are feeling the pinch financially at the moment and the pending gloom of energy rises, mortgage rates going up etc means they are tightening their belts and maybe just don’t have the cash.

Think this is a really good point. I used to go with 3 others.. none of them are interested any more.  A couple may come back if we are promoted but I doubt that. 

It's a long hard road back, and it could take another decade or more to see the top division again. Which is when the real increase in support comes in.

The right people are in charge finally..be that BoD, FSS or Patrons. Excellent groups of people. 

Edited by FalkirkBairn2021
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Think the thing that will have a far, far greater impact than any advertising campaign etc would be a swell of wins.

A feeling of building to something tangible on the park that we haven’t had in 2,3,4 years. A little run into the playoffs eg would imo see membership increase hugely.

I don’t agree with that btw - fans money is probably more important in this scheme when times are bad rather than good - but imo it’s how a lot of our supporters think 

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9 hours ago, Andreas Kelevra said:

Excuses…. 

Motherwell have 3200 members in their society and we have 300. I think Morton have double our membership.

Inverclyde and Lanarkshire are hardly well off areas.

 

 

 

 

 

I know Motherwell have had a big increase in membership and ST sales off the back of getting to 3 cup finals, a number of good league finishes, multiple appearances in Europe and good publicity generally (debt going right down, free ST renewals during Covid etc), but they're still only getting 4,500 home fans a game which is what we were getting in the Championship and would surpass in the Premiership. 

Motherwell's member numbers are absolutely what we should be aiming at long term, as a minimum. Their pledges start at £5 a month though.

We shouldn't be taking the numbers for granted though. St Mirren, another club with a similar fan base to our own appear to have just 450 members. I'm not sure what their pledge costs start at.

I really don't know the reason for the slower uptake on the FSS as I expected it to be well towards 1000 by now, it really could be as simple as how poorly we are performing on the park? When we were in the Championship there was always a strong optimism amongst our support that we could get promoted to get back to where we should be and all would be well. Now I think everyone's a bit depressed at what the club is going through at the moment and who can blame them?

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24 minutes ago, NavyBlueArmy1876 said:

 

I know Motherwell have had a big increase in membership and ST sales off the back of getting to 3 cup finals, a number of good league finishes, multiple appearances in Europe and good publicity generally (debt going right down, free ST renewals during Covid etc), but they're still only getting 4,500 home fans a game which is what we were getting in the Championship and would surpass in the Premiership. 

Motherwell's member numbers are absolutely what we should be aiming at long term, as a minimum. Their pledges start at £5 a month though.

We shouldn't be taking the numbers for granted though. St Mirren, another club with a similar fan base to our own appear to have just 450 members. I'm not sure what their pledge costs start at.

I really don't know the reason for the slower uptake on the FSS as I expected it to be well towards 1000 by now, it really could be as simple as how poorly we are performing on the park? When we were in the Championship there was always a strong optimism amongst our support that we could get promoted to get back to where we should be and all would be well. Now I think everyone's a bit depressed at what the club is going through at the moment and who can blame them?

External factors such as rising fuel costs, rising food costs, increased mortgage rate will all have an impact. People have less disposable income now.

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There is a traveler lost in the countryside and he stops to ask a local they way to the nearest large city. The local stops and thinks for a while and then answers:

“Well, if I was you, I wouldn’t be starting from here”.

The joke has been cited in print since at least 1924, when an Englishman asked an Irishman for directions. The joke has been applied to mean that if a person wanted to get there (a successful place), he or she wouldn’t start from here (a humble place).

This, unfortunately, is where Falkirk FC and the FSS and others supporters organisations find ourselves. It is precisely because we are languishing in tier 3 that all of these laudable efforts to raise cash for the club are so important. Sadly, the timing couldn’t be more wrong due to external factors such as Covid, rising fuel and energy costs, rising mortgages etc. However, we can’t give up, we have to keep trying to raise the necessary funds to help get us where we all would like to be. Due to circumstances, it just might take us longer than we would all like.

We have to start from somewhere, what better place than here (and now)?

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