The Falkirk FC Thread

[Springfield]

55 minutes ago, Russ said:

Something else that was commented on last night but I’ve not seen on here yet it was confirmed that we are still owed money by that Clarke ePos shite and we are taking them to court.

Heard about financial issues weeks back, you’ve just confirmed what I thought was rumour, was very much true. Another shambles after losing Central Demolition after nearly twenty years. Guessing there’s probably another horror story behind that to filter out…..

[Just a bairn]

12 minutes ago, Kevin James Left Knee said:

The weirdest thing was David Lapsley suddenly announcing that Bairn for Life money would ONLY be spent on replacing the pitch with grass. He seemed to have not consulted with anyone in B4L but just suddenly decided it during the meeting. The Board are reviewing which option (Grass, Hybrid or astro) they will go with and it seems to be a difficult decision that isn't just financial or about the footballer's preference for a particular surface that will decide. Basically Lapsley wanted money raised by the supporters in B4L to be kept back from the club when we are struggling and need cash to sign players because he prefers watching football on grass. That is crazy and I bet B4L contributors don't want that. Not that they have been asked!

I don't know David at all, but that outburst was absolutely wild. To then ask to go along the line of board memebers and ask for each of them to give a date as to when we would be playing on grass was even more wild.

[Dawson Park Boy]

22 minutes ago, FFC1965 said:

Some of the more recent posts have given me some reassurance that it wasn't just me who experienced a commercial shambles at the club.

At the start of the 2020/21 season I sponsored a players shirt for the first (and as it now turns out only) time. 

It wasnt cheap, but as I was WFH not commuting and spending money socialising was a no no , I decided to take the plunge to help my club out.  

Once the cash was paid I heard nothing from the club after the season end.  I know that the pandemic meant there wouldnt be the normal shindig with players & sponsors.  When I signed up I even asked the club to just post me the jersey once the season had finished, and specifically asked for them not to go to the trouble and expense of getting it framed as I just wanted a jersey to wear playing 5s. 

Emailed the club twice after the season finished - no reply.   In the end I gave up.  

What really surprised me was that they didn't even approach me to ask if I wanted to continue as a shirt sponsor for season 21/22, which Id probably have done if my arm had been twisted (and the situation with the 20/21 shirt resolved).

I wasnt expecting the red carpet treatment but the way it was handled (or not) was simply negligent. 

i do hope that the new management gets a hold of basic stuff like this.     

 

 

 

That is appalling.

From what I can judge, it is now a totally different set up and the new Commercial Manager along with a great bunch of volunteers is dedicated to sort things out.

Please give them another chance.

[Kevin James Left Knee]

2 minutes ago, Springfield said:

Heard about financial issues weeks back, you’ve just confirmed what I thought was rumour, was very much true. Another shambles after losing Central Demolition after nearly twenty years. Guessing there’s probably another horror story behind that to filter out…..

We have lost pretty much 450,00 every year going back seasons - it has been disguised by income from player sales, add on clauses and Armstong money and Covid relief money - this is the first year we don't have any of that. We need to raise money by investment from supporters, patrons and others but try to avoid vultures from buying shares for the wrong reason. Won't be easy but at least now our situation is transparent, we started last season with 750,00 in the bank but that is pretty much gone now.

[Dawson Park Boy]

15 minutes ago, Springfield said:

Just when we thought things were back on track…….you couldn’t make it up.

On a slightly different subject has anyone getting hassle registering for new ticket provider?

Nope- seems okay and I’ve changed the password that they gave me.

Still too early to buy tickets.

Starts from next week, I believe.

[Shadwell Dog]

1 hour ago, Russ said:

Something else that was commented on last night but I’ve not seen on here yet it was confirmed that we are still owed money by that Clarke ePos shite and we are taking them to court.

Yeah kozary in his wisdom allowed them to pay in bloody installments. They paid the first one and then that's been it. Absolute joke of a deal.

[Dawson Park Boy]

9 minutes ago, Just a bairn said:

I don't know David at all, but that outburst was absolutely wild. To then ask to go along the line of board memebers and ask for each of them to give a date as to when we would be playing on grass was even more wild.

Yes, I was at the first session but heard about this.

David, I know, has had a few personal issues recently.

Maybe that’s affected his thinking?

I understand  the club are doing a feasibility study on the various options and, until that is completed nothing can be decided.

Anyway, it’s a decision for the Board, no one else.

[Senor Bairn]

46 minutes ago, FFC 1876 said:

Torn between whether I want the 30 goals a season striker next or the centre midfielder who runs through brick walls on his holidays for fun.

Why not both x

[LatapyBairn.]

45 minutes ago, Kevin James Left Knee said:

Announced last night that season ticket prices and the deals were all being kept same as last year. The club will lose c. 450,000 it seems this year but there is cost cutting and sensible management of outgoings being put in place. Overall it was a much more optimistic showing than past efforts (let us all forget the Q&A).

The weirdest thing was David Lapsley suddenly announcing that Bairn for Life money would ONLY be spent on replacing the pitch with grass. He seemed to have not consulted with anyone in B4L but just suddenly decided it during the meeting. The Board are reviewing which option (Grass, Hybrid or astro) they will go with and it seems to be a difficult decision that isn't just financial or about the footballer's preference for a particular surface that will decide. Basically Lapsley wanted money raised by the supporters in B4L to be kept back from the club when we are struggling and need cash to sign players because he prefers watching football on grass. That is crazy and I bet B4L contributors don't want that. Not that they have been asked!

From my limited knowledge of it I don’t think the club is in a position to be reverting to a grass pitch any time soon, surely with a predicted operating loss of 400k we don’t have the luxury of ditching the 4G surface and losing the additional revenue it brings added to the increased costs of maintaining a good quality grass surface? Also regarding BFL, I was under the impression it had a merged with the FSS and all the money now went to accruing shares? Surely any change to the distribution of funds raised would need to be put to the membership and not unilaterally decided by Mr Lapsley? It’s not his money after all nor is it the gift of any other committee member to be making such bold statements. 

Edited June 3 by LatapyBairn.

[Shadwell Dog]

Davie's always been a major grass fanatic. He brings it up at every AGM. We'd all like to get back to grass but there's a lot of things to take into contention.  Where do we train?  Loss of pitch hirings, what about the shire,more postponements, more upkeep and standard will drop in the winter unless you plough(no pun intended) a fortune into it . 

[Ranaldo Bairn]

1 minute ago, Shadwell Dog said:

Davie's always been a major grass fanatic. He brings it up at every AGM. We'd all like to get back to grass but there's a lot of things to take into contention.  Where do we train?  Loss of pitch hirings, what about the shire,more postponements, more upkeep and standard will drop in the winter unless you plough(no pun intended) a fortune into it . 

Untrue.

[Shadwell Dog]

1 minute ago, LatapyBairn. said:

From my limited knowledge of it I don’t think the club is in a position to be reverting to a grass pitch any time soon, surely with a predicted operating loss of 400k we don’t have the luxury of ditching the 4G surface and losing the additional revenue it brings added to the increased costs of maintaining a good quality grass surface. Also regarding BFL, I was under the impression it had a merged with the FSS and all the money now went to accruing shares? Surely any change to the distribution of funds raised would need to be put to the membership and not unilaterally decided by Mr Lapsley? It’s not his money after all nor is it the gift of any other committee member to be making such bold statements. 

I'm sure the majority of folk putting cash into bfl would much rather see the cash used for signings to get us out this league than for a bloody pitch. Get promoted and we should have more cash available to go towards replacing the pitch.

[Shadwell Dog]

Just now, Ranaldo Bairn said:

Untrue.

Surely there's noone on here that wouldn't prefer to see us playing on a beautiful grass surface instead of artificial. Nothing beats a good quality grass pitch. I can only presume anyone otherwise minded has never played the game. Artificial is preferred due to its easy upkeep and all weather use and I get that but if I had the choice and nothing else came into it grass is far better.

[Ranaldo Bairn]

Just now, Shadwell Dog said:

Surely there's noone on here that wouldn't prefer to see us playing on a beautiful grass surface instead of artificial. Nothing beats a good quality grass pitch. I can only presume anyone otherwise minded has never played the game. Artificial is preferred due to its easy upkeep and all weather use and I get that but if I had the choice and nothing else came into it grass is far better.

That's pie in the sky though as we're not going to get one of those Barclays pitches. It would revert back to the absolute disgrace we had pre 2014 within a year, especially if the Shire continue to share.

In times when we need every possible income stream then losing groundsharing revenue, pitch hire, concert revenue, savings from not hiring elsewhere to train etc, plus the cost of ripping it up and laying grass again would be rank stupidity. I get it needs refreshed but to even entertain the idea of grass at the moment is lunacy.

[Kevin James Left Knee]

3 minutes ago, LatapyBairn. said:

From my limited knowledge of it I don’t think the club is in a position to be reverting to a grass pitch any time soon, surely with a predicted operating loss of 400k we don’t have the luxury of ditching the 4G surface and losing the additional revenue it brings added to the increased costs of maintaining a good quality grass surface? Also regarding BFL, I was under the impression it had a merged with the FSS and all the money now went to accruing shares? Surely any change to the distribution of funds raised would need to be put to the membership and not unilaterally decided by Mr Lapsley? It’s not his money after all nor is it the gift of any other committee member to be making such bold statements. 

B4L agreed at its last AGM that it would merge with FSS and as a result all B4L members would have a vote in the Directors election. David Lapsley unilaterally stopped that without any consultation and refused to hand over the membership lists in time to give his members a vote in FSS. He now says he has lost the membership lists.  He also wanted shares to be given by the club to B4L for their contributions which the club refused to do because of the lack of any democratic structure to B4L - effectively the way it is currently run the shares would have been given to one person who has been acting erratically. 

At the AGM David Lapsely announced that all money from B4L would go only to youth development - which didn't happen - but that encouraged the then member of staff to go out and make absurd promises to parents that caused the club a lot of problems (European training camps anyone?) and led to the sacking of the staff member.

The problem here is that B4L raised money (and for that Lapsley should be praised) but once it is in the bank account it is treated like his own personal donation and he makes demands on the club that the B4L members almost certainly do not want (he also interfered in the attempt to sign Kingsley by insisting he have a say in what the contract said). B4L is a good thing but it cannot be run as one person's fiefdom. 

[Ranaldo Bairn]

4 minutes ago, Kevin James Left Knee said:

B4L agreed at its last AGM that it would merge with FSS and as a result all B4L members would have a vote in the Directors election. David Lapsley unilaterally stopped that without any consultation and refused to hand over the membership lists in time to give his members a vote in FSS. He now says he has lost the membership lists.  He also wanted shares to be given by the club to B4L for their contributions which the club refused to do because of the lack of any democratic structure to B4L - effectively the way it is currently run the shares would have been given to one person who has been acting erratically. 

At the AGM David Lapsely announced that all money from B4L would go only to youth development - which didn't happen - but that encouraged the then member of staff to go out and make absurd promises to parents that caused the club a lot of problems (European training camps anyone?) and led to the sacking of the staff member.

The problem here is that B4L raised money (and for that Lapsley should be praised) but once it is in the bank account it is treated like his own personal donation and he makes demands on the club that the B4L members almost certainly do not want (he also interfered in the attempt to sign Kingsley by insisting he have a say in what the contract said). B4L is a good thing but it cannot be run as one person's fiefdom. 

I'd like to say I'm gobsmacked by this behaviour but I can only laugh.

[FFC1965]

44 minutes ago, Dawson Park Boy said:

That is appalling.

From what I can judge, it is now a totally different set up and the new Commercial Manager along with a great bunch of volunteers is dedicated to sort things out.

Please give them another chance.

Aye I know Graeme Stewart from way back.  I don't doubt that things will indeed be sorted out.    

[Passionate]

3 minutes ago, Shadwell Dog said:

Surely there's noone on here that wouldn't prefer to see us playing on a beautiful grass surface instead of artificial. Nothing beats a good quality grass pitch. I can only presume anyone otherwise minded has never played the game. Artificial is preferred due to its easy upkeep and all weather use and I get that but if I had the choice and nothing else came into it grass is far better.

How busy is the artificial pitch at TFS,   if it is hired out extensively is should be a good money maker or is it not yours to hire out...???

Technically the Excelsior is not owned by the Football club a seperate entity it just happens to be the club owner Hetherington..  Post covid the stadium has been booked out basically 6 days a week,   Celtic B, and Ladies ,  Glas Univ, being resident teams......

 

If this is not making money at TFS then a grass pitch would surely make more sense..

[gav-ffc]

1 minute ago, Passionate said:

How busy is the artificial pitch at TFS,   if it is hired out extensively is should be a good money maker or is it not yours to hire out...???

Technically the Excelsior is not owned by the Football club a seperate entity it just happens to be the club owner Hetherington..  Post covid the stadium has been booked out basically 6 days a week,   Celtic B, and Ladies ,  Glas Univ, being resident teams......

 

If this is not making money at TFS then a grass pitch would surely make more sense..

The pitch is ours and not the councils.

[LatapyBairn.]

3 hours ago, Kevin James Left Knee said:

B4L agreed at its last AGM that it would merge with FSS and as a result all B4L members would have a vote in the Directors election. David Lapsley unilaterally stopped that without any consultation and refused to hand over the membership lists in time to give his members a vote in FSS. He now says he has lost the membership lists.  He also wanted shares to be given by the club to B4L for their contributions which the club refused to do because of the lack of any democratic structure to B4L - effectively the way it is currently run the shares would have been given to one person who has been acting erratically. 

At the AGM David Lapsely announced that all money from B4L would go only to youth development - which didn't happen - but that encouraged the then member of staff to go out and make absurd promises to parents that caused the club a lot of problems (European training camps anyone?) and led to the sacking of the staff member.

The problem here is that B4L raised money (and for that Lapsley should be praised) but once it is in the bank account it is treated like his own personal donation and he makes demands on the club that the B4L members almost certainly do not want (he also interfered in the attempt to sign Kingsley by insisting he have a say in what the contract said). B4L is a good thing but it cannot be run as one person's fiefdom. 

That’s an absolutely horrendous state of affairs if true and an abuse of the fans/members trust in the set up, it isn’t being run as a democratic members organisation. Unless things change people paying they’re money every month should be made aware of this and perhaps transfer membership and direct debits over to the FSS which is obviously fully democratic. We don’t need more people involved who treat the fans money and our club as they’re own personal play thing, if you want to play the big man and make demands on the club without consulting the fans/members who raised the cash then don’t take they’re money trying to play the big shot.  Walk the walk yourself, let’s see the colour of your own personal cash to fund it. 

Edited June 3 by LatapyBairn.