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The Falkirk FC Thread


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Guest Brockvillenomore
14 minutes ago, PedroMoutinho said:

If the rumours are correct, no attempt was made to shift them as Mcglynn thought it would damage squad harmony.

Manger seeks squad harmony, whatever next? Luke Holt left so there must have been some attempt. 
I long for rumours that make sense and you can get excited about 😆

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50 minutes ago, PedroMoutinho said:

Good to see the club trying something a bit different with a speakers’ night to raise funds for the academy.

Involved throughout the years supporting the dinner and the academy. Some great speakers and many guests albeit not bairns, would support the evening with many companies and people generously contributing cash to the raffles/prizes etc. Maybe wrong but believe they raised close to 30K one year which was a pretty amazing.

Different animal now and in many business circles, trying to get individuals to attend could be difficult. No problems if it’s a friends invite but there’s been a considerable shift with acceptance/inviting business people to “entertainment” 

As said hope it gets supported  by the local businesses and as many local punters who can afford to attend.

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Is there any genuine chance you lot end up part time/hybrid if you fail to get promoted this season?

Feels unlikely any club can sustain 3/4 years of full time football outwith the top 2 tiers due to the prize money/gates involved.

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I have to say I'm really not understanding the "come clean now" rhetoric from some of our own fans?? I understand other clubs saying that who have not been following but not sure what was not clear back in July from the meet the board night about "we have a 400k operating loss which we need fan ownership to cover or we will have to look elsewhere". And then again in September, and October, and November? 

The concerning thing to me is not the lack of clarity but about the fact we had no cash reserves in the bank this season (which was made clear at the meet the board night) because of ridiculous over spending from the last board. Yes giving McGlynn extra budget is definitely a gamble, but as far as we know, the bigger gates and hospitality uptake etc is covering that so it seems it's maybe a gamble that is paying itself off. Although it would have been ideal if that wasn't needed we equally need to get out this league as soon as possible so I also feel it's worth that gamble. 

On top of that the board have made an attempt for fan ownership to cover costs, and get a steady income from people who can be relied on (us as fans) and our fans have been completely apathetic about it. 620 members is okay but I'd have thought the emergence of the financial situation would have encouraged more and honestly I'm disappointed that it hasn't. 

And finally as for the AGM being delayed, again not sure what is not clear from their most recent statement that they need the finances to be confirmed before they have the AGM. And it's the same with the auditors so I don't get why people are acting as if it's such a surprise and the board have some how mislead people. It's been laid out for everyone to see for months now, to the detriment of us here who have to listen to other clubs rejoicing over it 😂

Edited by Jimmy1876
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30 minutes ago, RandomGuy. said:

Is there any genuine chance you lot end up part time/hybrid if you fail to get promoted this season?

Feels unlikely any club can sustain 3/4 years of full time football outwith the top 2 tiers due to the prize money/gates involved.

Any genuine chance? Think it’s more likely than not - as you said it’s fairly unsustainable down here 

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27 minutes ago, Jimmy1876 said:

On top of that the board have made an attempt for fan ownership to cover costs, and get a steady income from people who can be relied on (us as fans) and our fans have been completely apathetic about it. 620 members is okay but I'd have thought the emergence of the financial situation would have encouraged more and honestly I'm disappointed that it hasn't. 

I’ve noticed a few board supporters/outriders going with this argument recently and I can only hope the board themselves don’t go down this road of blaming fans for the current situation.

The fans have been enormously loyal in buying season tickets and paying at the gate. Putting even more money in on top is something many just can’t afford at the moment.

Frankly the club’s target of increasing FSS income to the equivalent of 4000 members was delusional and I hope we haven’t budgeted for anything like those figures.

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6 minutes ago, PedroMoutinho said:

I’ve noticed a few board supporters/outriders going with this argument recently and I can only hope the board themselves don’t go down this road of blaming fans for the current situation.

The fans have been enormously loyal in buying season tickets and paying at the gate. Putting even more money in on top is something many just can’t afford at the moment.

Frankly the club’s target of increasing FSS income to the equivalent of 4000 members was delusional and I hope we haven’t budgeted for anything like those figures.

It’s never been the target of the FSS to get 4000. I think they were perhaps hoping to get around 1200 to 1500, which is approx 30% of our normal attendance. Quite a few other clubs have achieved this level and it was hoped that we would be similar. Unfortunately not!

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Guest Brockvillenomore
3 minutes ago, PedroMoutinho said:

I’ve noticed a few board supporters/outriders going with this argument recently and I can only hope the board themselves don’t go down this road of blaming fans for the current situation.

The fans have been enormously loyal in buying season tickets and paying at the gate. Putting even more money in on top is something many just can’t afford at the moment.

Frankly the club’s target of increasing FSS income to the equivalent of 4000 members was delusional and I hope we haven’t budgeted for anything like those figures.

The £400k was to the raised by selling shares with the Rawlins buying half that (which was their legal option) and the Patrons nudging up to 26%.
 

I cba working the exact numbers but that leaves roughly between £100k and £150k for the FSS. 
 

I’ve no idea where the 4,000 FSS members from. I’ve never heard it mentioned anywhere except here.

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7 minutes ago, PedroMoutinho said:

I’ve noticed a few board supporters/outriders going with this argument recently and I can only hope the board themselves don’t go down this road of blaming fans for the current situation.

The fans have been enormously loyal in buying season tickets and paying at the gate. Putting even more money in on top is something many just can’t afford at the moment.

Frankly the club’s target of increasing FSS income to the equivalent of 4000 members was delusional and I hope we haven’t budgeted for anything like those figures.

Please don't put words in my mouth.... I don't think I once for a second blamed fans for anything? To recap, the board made a push for fan ownership thinking it would cover the costs - factual. The uptake has been less than anticipated, and I am disappointed with that, because I have hope for fan ownership and worry if the uptake is not high enough it will not be continued. But likewise completely understand the other support that has been provided and even made reference to the increased gates etc.

Also you've spent quite some time saying you aren't against the board and condemning people for suggesting you are an ex-board supporter but when someone disagrees with you you immediately jump to "board supporter". Bit hypocritical no?  

I was also pretty clear about how disappointed I was with the board on their statement about it being unfair only 10% of fans were supporting etc for exactly this reason. Fans support in every way they can and in this climate anything is excellent. Doesn't change my disappointment at the numbers for FSS which I thought and hoped would be higher especially when the board have been clear about the finances. 

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15 minutes ago, PedroMoutinho said:

I’ve noticed a few board supporters/outriders going with this argument recently and I can only hope the board themselves don’t go down this road of blaming fans for the current situation.

The fans have been enormously loyal in buying season tickets and paying at the gate. Putting even more money in on top is something many just can’t afford at the moment.

Frankly the club’s target of increasing FSS income to the equivalent of 4000 members was delusional and I hope we haven’t budgeted for anything like those figures.

What's disappointing about what you've just said is that I actually agree with you that the board should be criticised when required and jumping on people or trying to shut people up by saying you're just an ex board supporter is not okay. But here you are doing the exact same when actually all I've said is that I don't understand people complaining about the lack of clarity when they have been open since the summer about the situation. But the situation is rightly concerning and if there is criticism due it will come, at the moment I'm happy with the information and direction we have been told we are heading. 

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13 minutes ago, Zbairn said:

It’s never been the target of the FSS to get 4000. I think they were perhaps hoping to get around 1200 to 1500, which is approx 30% of our normal attendance. Quite a few other clubs have achieved this level and it was hoped that we would be similar. Unfortunately not!

The target set in October for FSS income would require something like 4000 members

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9 minutes ago, Zbairn said:

 Quite a few other clubs have achieved this level and it was hoped that we would be similar. Unfortunately not!

And of those clubs to which you refer, at least two of them would have long since been counting home attendances in the low three figure bracket if their support had had to put up with a fraction of the garbage served up on the park and the never ending horrendous mismanagement off it that we have had inflicted upon us. The continued backing of the Falkirk support for more than a decade of this nonsense has been absolutely ridiculous really. In that context , comparisons with other clubs, especially some of those you are probably thinking of, are completely redundant. There is no comparison.

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1 minute ago, PedroMoutinho said:

The target set in October for FSS income would require something like 4000 members

The target was £250,000 raised by FSS from October over around 8 months. With an average of £12 per month membership which it was at the time that would need a total of 2604 members. 

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Said previously, the fans wether those financially or the regular supporters who would walk on this ice for the club, have had there fill with how the club have fallen, will support in far greater numbers, once we see a half decent football team every Saturday and a BOD that merits that kind of support.

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3 minutes ago, Jimmy1876 said:

The target was £250,000 raised by FSS from October over around 8 months. With an average of £12 per month membership which it was at the time that would need a total of 2604 members. 

I believe there was discussion around the same time of reducing the minimum subscription to £5, which would have required higher overall numbers.

In any event, both numbers are absolute non starters so I hope they were not budgeted for.

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5 minutes ago, Springfield said:

Said previously, the fans wether those financially or the regular supporters who would walk on this ice for the club, have had there fill with how the club have fallen, will support in far greater numbers, once we see a half decent football team every Saturday and a BOD that merits that kind of support.

I get that this is a common and completely understandable opinion but this is my main reason for feeling so strongly about fan ownership. Because the fans get to vote for two places on the board and can rightly vote people in or out when necessary which has a big impact. Likewise fan ownership gives a steady, reliable income to the club that can be used for the playing budget. If we don't get the numbers then we don't get those things. In the right numbers fan ownership could contribute to the solution to both of those things. 

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I don’t think the FSS membership is disappointing. The scheme is mere months old. Having been involved with other similar schemes at amateur sports clubs (50/50 clubs etc), it takes years to build these up.
Ideally you want a load of people getting a tenner taken out of their account every month and basically not noticing - that takes time, and to me we are well on track. If in 5 years we’re only at 1000 I’d be a tad disappointed.

That’s why I was pretty angry with the shouts of “it’s failed, we’ll have to pursue a different avenue” 

Edited by bairn88
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