The Falkirk FC Thread

[Believe The Hype]

12 hours ago, Senor Bairn said:

Does any FFC fan actually care about us not having a fourth stand? It used to bother me years ago but if we were to mirror the main stand it would end up making the fans more spread out and kill the atmosphere. Seems to only bother weirdos from other supports. The stadium was rocking last night and that was due to a good home crowd and a very good away crowd.
 

Suppose we could build a stand then just not open it up and that would stop all the moaning... 

Aye this is my thoughts as well. It would be nice to have and then have the Fans to fill it, but I'm not bothered about not having one. By that I mean, I have no idea why other clubs use it as a stick to beat us with? It's a very Charlie Nicholas type insult. Do other teams get slagged for only having 3 stands? I.e. Partick thistle or Hamilton or clubs with only 1 stand, your Dumbarton and East fife's. Or we could look at Airdrie and have 4 stands and only ever use 2 of them? What's the point in having 4 stands if they are not needed? What a bizarre thing to use to point score

[Donathan]

Looking at the championship, it’ll probably be between Cove, Hamilton Accies and Arbroath for the bottom three. One will go down automatically, one will be safe and one will be in the playoffs. 
 

 

The three clubs have combined for just 15 points out of the last possible 45. Cove in particular are in free fall and will go bottom if both Hamilton and Arbroath win their respective game in hand. They also have the worst goal difference of the three.

 

I’d love the chance to relegate Paul Hartley but I can’t see past Cove going down automatically. Could well be Arbroath in the playoffs with Hamilton just about staying up.

 

In our league, with Dunfermline having one hand on the title and us looking good for second place, it’s probably going to be two out of Edinburgh, Alloa and Airdrie to join us in the playoffs. don’t count out Montrose yet as winning their game in hand (against us) puts them just four points out of 4th place, but it’s probably too late for Queen of the South and Kelty to make a run to the playoffs.

 

I hope Airdrie and Montrose miss out as both have a decent record against us.

 

If the season ended today we’d be playing Edinburgh with the second leg at home. The winner of that tie would face Alloa or Hamilton. 
 

 

I could be wrong but I don’t think we’ve ever actually played in a traditional playoff format since they were incepted 15 years or so ago? We played in the ridiculous premiership playoffs three times, losing to Hamilton in the QF, Dundee Utd in the SF and Kilmarnock in the Final all in the space of four years from 2014-2017. We also narrowly missed out on making the playoffs the year we made the cup final in 2015, but to my knowledge we’ve never actually been in the league 1 playoffs. 

Edited March 15, 2023 by Donathan

[Ranaldo Bairn]

5 minutes ago, Donathan said:

Looking at the championship, it’ll probably be between Cove, Hamilton Accies and Arbroath for the bottom three. One will go down automatically, one will be safe and one will be in the playoffs. 
 

 

The three clubs have combined for just 15 points out of the last possible 45. Cove in particular are in free fall and will go bottom if both Hamilton and Arbroath win their respective game in hand. They also have the worst goal difference of the three.

 

I’d love the chance to relegate Paul Hartley but I can’t see past Cove going down automatically. Could well be Arbroath in the playoffs with Hamilton just about staying up.

 

In our league, with Dunfermline having one hand on the title and us looking good for second place, it’s probably going to be two out of Edinburgh, Alloa and Airdrie to join us in the playoffs. don’t count out Montrose yet as winning their game in hand (against us) puts them just four points out of 4th place, but it’s probably too late for Queen of the South and Kelty to make a run to the playoffs.

 

I hope Airdrie and Montrose miss out as both have a decent record against us.

 

If the season ended today we’d be playing Edinburgh with the second leg at home. The winner of that tie would face Alloa or Hamilton. 
 

 

I could be wrong but I don’t think we’ve ever actually played in a traditional playoff format since they were incepted 15 years or so ago? We played in the ridiculous premiership playoffs three times, losing to Hamilton in the QF, Dundee Utd in the SF and Kilmarnock in the Final all in the space of four years from 2014-2017. We also narrowly missed out on making the playoffs the year we made the cup final in 2015, but to my knowledge we’ve never actually been in the league 1 playoffs. 

Hamilton was a semi too after we eliminated QOS.

[Bairney The Dinosaur]

1 hour ago, HopeStreetWalker said:

Then the business model has to change as the fans putting in an extra £300k+ per year is not sustainable. Sooner or later and with the financial constraints on fans disposable income it's going to decline. Apart from that it's arrogant to assume the fan's will just keep contributing that season in season out.

Therefore any monies from that funding stream must be looked on as a bonus and not included in the budget. Uncomfortable decisions will have to be made in the closed season to ensure the club does not have another mid season financial crisis and set a budget for next season that is credible.

I'm not entirely sure where you're coming from here, are you suggesting fan ownership doesn't work? A number of Scottish clubs has excelled with this model.

Why would regular fan donations not be included in the budget? That is an integral part of fan ownership.

[HoBNob]

24 minutes ago, NUMBER 7 said:

Your Main Stand ( South ) did have terracing and the players came down steps from the changing rooms in the middle to get on the pitch.  Get with it, learn about your club.

Fair play! Everydays a schooldays. Was fully aware about the old changing rooms and steps, there's multiple pictures and footage of the players coming down them. Less so of the front of the main stand. Games used to be filmed from the main stand itself, with the camera platform not switching until the North Stand was re-developed, and I presume they also seated the main stand enclosures at this time. Which is probably which I had the impression that much like the rest of the main stand, it had always been seated. 

That photo would have been very late 90s ish, which is how it looked when I first started going. 

With the renovations to the main stand over the years, and the hospitality boxes that have been added the enclosures down the front are no longer viewing areas. They were probably the worst position to watch a game from at EEP however they made a nice backdrop for the below photo. 

Hospitality boxes don't quite have the same effect, although will have undoubtedly made more money, such is modern football. 

[da_no_1]

28 minutes ago, Grant228 said:

Fair play! Everydays a schooldays. Was fully aware about the old changing rooms and steps, there's multiple pictures and footage of the players coming down them. Less so of the front of the main stand. Games used to be filmed from the main stand itself, with the camera platform not switching until the North Stand was re-developed, and I presume they also seated the main stand enclosures at this time. Which is probably which I had the impression that much like the rest of the main stand, it had always been seated. 

That photo would have been very late 90s ish, which is how it looked when I first started going. 

With the renovations to the main stand over the years, and the hospitality boxes that have been added the enclosures down the front are no longer viewing areas. They were probably the worst position to watch a game from at EEP however they made a nice backdrop for the below photo. 

Hospitality boxes don't quite have the same effect, although will have undoubtedly made more money, such is modern football. 

Nothing to add - just loving my favourite ever DAFC photo on the Falkirk thread 

[NUMBER 7]

21 minutes ago, da_no_1 said:

Nothing to add - just loving my favourite ever DAFC photo on the Falkirk thread 

I though you might have meant the other one from the 1960's if you were in it 

[Guest Wind Chime Jimmy]

4 hours ago, Shodwall cat said:

It's called financial cheating . Spending money you don't have and then never paying it back. The fact the football authorities let it happen is frankly ludicrous.  Rangers, gretna, Airdrie, Dundee twice, livi 3 times, Dunfermline, hearts and motherwell.Scottish footballs list of shame.

It is called cheating its exactly what it is. There is no hiding from it, and neither should there be. For those of us who recognised what was going on, we got organised, highlighted what was going on, then fought to oust those who were responsible for taking us to an abyss. I don't feel any level of guilt for that period, embarrsed in some way, but we as fans weren't  responsible. In fact I feel proud of what the supporters achieved in saving the club and bringing back pride in our club. Things are being done right since Mastertons regime was moved on. The personnel responsible winning the club back were the ones who lost hundreds of thousands of pounds, and went on to run the club, putting more money in.

[Guest Brockvillenomore]

1 hour ago, HopeStreetWalker said:

The budget gets decided at the end of the season when there's certainty. 

Then every option should be on the table to ensure sound finances. 

Have you listened to the podcast? If you haven’t I recommend you do. Certainly before offering any other opinions Thank you  @HopeStreetWalker

[PedroMoutinho]

2 hours ago, Brockvillenomore said:

Bang on mate, except the cinnamon twist I’d go for the chocolate option, seriously though have to build the FSS and push us up the leagues, all while continuing to support the club in any way we can. 

How @PedroMoutinho viewed the call to arms for us all to pull together as owners of the club as some sort of threat makes no sense whatsoever. 

It’s all about communication for me. Personally I’m not convinced saying to fans “stump up more or we’ll cut £400k from the playing budget” is the best way to encourage sign ups.

In my view, we have quite a serious issue if a competitive championship budget is outwith our means without extra donations given the size and loyalty of the fanbase we have. Particularly as the stadium costs are not the problem.

Ultimately the aim has to be to grow the club’s commercial and transfer income to a level where ordinary operating costs can be funded without extra donations and that income can be used to increase the playing budget/fund an academy or whatever.

Personally I also disagree with the opposition to having external investment as a part of the ownership mix. It’s going to be very difficult to raise £400k from supporter donations as it currently stands so it’s looking like huge cuts to the playing squad if the board are totally closed to external investment.

[Guest]

4 hours ago, Shodwall cat said:

It's been rife because the authorities allow it.  Should be all debts paid in full before a team can continue in the leagues.

Not sure if that is realistic. They have to pay football debts, probably as would be in most industries to “get supply” but I agree much better control is required including clipping the wings of clubs who have benefactors that falsely improve and sustain clubs positions in the game. 

[Fallen Angel]

22 hours ago, 18BAIRN76 said:

Didn’t we take 12k to the Pars game in 2009 or am I completely imagining that? Probably am tbf. Still, with the novelty value/unexpected nature of us getting there given where we were a few months ago, I think that 10-12k could be doable if marketed properly.

I remember the train stopping at Larbert that day and what seemed like the whole of the town got on

Even got offered a couple of beers from a couple of nice Falkirk fans

[Bairn in Exile]

Just found this on YouTube, really captures the atmosphere and emotions of the night, especially at full-time, that you don't get on Falkirk TV (not a criticism of Falkirk TV).

Enjoy!

 

[Shodwall cat]

8 minutes ago, PedroMoutinho said:

It’s all about communication for me. Personally I’m not convinced saying to fans “stump up more or we’ll cut £400k from the playing budget” is the best way to encourage sign ups.

In my view, we have quite a serious issue if a competitive championship budget is outwith our means without extra donations given the size and loyalty of the fanbase we have. Particularly as the stadium costs are not the problem.

Ultimately the aim has to be to grow the club’s commercial and transfer income to a level where ordinary operating costs can be funded without extra donations and that income can be used to increase the playing budget/fund an academy or whatever.

Personally I also disagree with the opposition to having external investment as a part of the ownership mix. It’s going to be very difficult to raise £400k from supporter donations as it currently stands so it’s looking like huge cuts to the playing squad if the board are totally closed to external investment.

The stadium costs can still be an issue in some ways though if other teams are getting better deals off their councils than we are mind you. WLC simply wrote off over 200k  in rent arrears and then allowed Livingston to pay only 20k a year   to play in the stadium as long as they were not in the top flight. Now that gives them a huge advantage straight away if they are paying a lot less to use their facility than we are and  negates the fact that we have much bigger attendances some what. The question should be asked why WLC will do that but ours stick to sizeable sum  no matter what league we happen to play in.

[Guest]

11 minutes ago, PedroMoutinho said:

It’s all about communication for me. Personally I’m not convinced saying to fans “stump up more or we’ll cut £400k from the playing budget” is the best way to encourage sign ups.

In my view, we have quite a serious issue if a competitive championship budget is outwith our means without extra donations given the size and loyalty of the fanbase we have. Particularly as the stadium costs are not the problem.

Ultimately the aim has to be to grow the club’s commercial and transfer income to a level where ordinary operating costs can be funded without extra donations and that income can be used to increase the playing budget/fund an academy or whatever.

Personally I also disagree with the opposition to having external investment as a part of the ownership mix. It’s going to be very difficult to raise £400k from supporter donations as it currently stands so it’s looking like huge cuts to the playing squad if the board are totally closed to external investment.

Why do you bother going to watch the club now? Your nose is clearly out of joint. You couldn’t even enjoy Monday without having a pop not 10 minutes after the final whistle. Thankfully the majority of the support can see the huge strides forward we have made in a short time and you and your type are a tiny minority. 

[bairn88]

34 minutes ago, Bairn in Exile said:

Just found this on YouTube, really captures the atmosphere and emotions of the night, especially at full-time, that you don't get on Falkirk TV (not a criticism of Falkirk TV).

Enjoy!

 

Didn't realise from the KM how long the players and Mcglynn was hanging around the tunnel and main stand for - great video

[bairn88]

Didn't think we'd have the stadium looking like this again, considering where we were 10 months ago

[Guest Brockvillenomore]

28 minutes ago, Back Post Misses said:

Why do you bother going to watch the club now? Your nose is clearly out of joint. You couldn’t even enjoy Monday without having a pop not 10 minutes after the final whistle. Thankfully the majority of the support can see the huge strides forward we have made in a short time and you and your type are a tiny minority. 

I’m not sure berating somebody is the best way to get the argument across BPM. Everybody is entitled to an opinion and is free to express it here or anywhere else for that matter. 

I used the term havering or maybe blethering in an early post about @PedroMoutinho which is as far as I would go. But I understand your view and I’d guess frustration with PM’s input here. They clearly have an agenda that to the majority of us makes no sense whatsoever. 

I see PM put in quotations a statement that wasn’t made on the podcast to give a false and misleading impression of what the boards message was….then proceeds to try and take the moral high ground about communication. All sadly more than a little disingenuous and further evidence of the transparency around their motivation. 

My 50 odd years on the planet tell me that when somebody shows you who they are, believe them. 

 

[Guest]

16 minutes ago, Brockvillenomore said:

I’m not sure berating somebody is the best way to get the argument across BPM. Everybody is entitled to an opinion and is free to express it here or anywhere else for that matter. 

I used the term havering or maybe blethering in an early post about @PedroMoutinho which is as far as I would go. But I understand your view and I’d guess frustration with PM’s input here. They clearly have an agenda that to the majority of us makes no sense whatsoever. 

I see PM put in quotations a statement that wasn’t made on the podcast to give a false and misleading impression of what the boards message was….then proceeds to try and take the moral high ground about communication. All sadly more than a little disingenuous and further evidence of the transparency around their motivation. 

My 50 odd years on the planet tell me that when somebody shows you who they are, believe them. 

 

I am not arguing with him any more it is pointless. You will never convince him that the club is now is hands of people who not only care but are competent, insisting on the best standards. He doesn’t even get that people who are on the Board can be removed if the fans are not happy with them. 
I haven’t seen this sense of togetherness at the club since the early 1990’s under Jefferies yet we still have someone having a pop 10 minutes after full time on Monday. (A post he subsequently deleted as far as I could see) 

Edited March 15, 2023 by Back Post Misses

[fuzzydunlop]

3 hours ago, ShaggerG said:

Shot down for what? Word of mouth (along with a bit of gentle persuasion) is probably our best route to additional sign-ups. Keep up the good work my friend.

Ha probably my internet paranoia taking over...theres usually someone that comes along to rip into you!