The Falkirk FC Thread

[PedroMoutinho]

46 minutes ago, LatapyBairn. said:

How do you know the patrons haven’t contributed any additional funding? Have the club released a statement I haven’t seen? I’d heard the opposite to be honest and that there has been a pretty diverse mix of sources within the financial package. I also don’t think anybody thinks or has said hitting 4000 FSS members is a realistic target but getting half of that should be when you see the numbers other clubs who are fan owned have paying into similar schemes. 

I didn’t say the patrons haven’t contributed any additional funding. I said clearly they are unable or unwilling to cover the full black whole amount, so it is a risky decision to then increase the playing budget substantially.

[Rugster]

8 minutes ago, PedroMoutinho said:

 

The fact is that if the auditors have refused to approve the accounts on a going concern basis, that’s very serious as they will only do that they believe if a business has to viable alternative but to cease trading.

Is it actually a fact though?

[gav-ffc]

4 minutes ago, Rugster said:

Is it actually a fact though?

Some random berwick fan said it on twitter so has to be imo. 

[Sarcastic Bairn]

20 minutes ago, PedroMoutinho said:

If you aren’t concerned about the club’s financial position, that’s up to you. However, this insinuation that anyone who asks questions is somehow part of an anti-bod/anti-patron conspiracy is extremely unhelpful.

The fact is that if the auditors have refused to approve the accounts on a going concern basis, that’s very serious as they will only do that they believe if a business has to viable alternative but to cease trading.

Of course I would be, can you get me this factual info? 

[bairn88]

15 minutes ago, Rugster said:

Is it actually a fact though?

I think it's more than likely to be true, yes. AGM postponement is a major step and would not be surprised if auditors had refused to approve.

The Scottish Cup being our last hope is a major lol though. There are many ways of raising funds (as we are a fairly large club) - club are obviously exploring all these options. There's no point in covering up that it is a serious financial situation - the 2 guys on the Falkirk Daft podcast were clear imo.

[Rugster]

14 minutes ago, bairn88 said:

I think it's more than likely to be true, yes. AGM postponement is a major step and would not be surprised if auditors had refused to approve.

The Scottish Cup being our last hope is a major lol though. There are many ways of raising funds (as we are a fairly large club) - club are obviously exploring all these options. There's no point in covering up that it is a serious financial situation - the 2 guys on the Falkirk Daft podcast were clear imo.

Absolutely agree there is a serious financial situation, and I also agree that it could be true that the auditors have refused to sign off. I just think it's pretty disingenuous to be claiming it as a fact at this stage based on some two bit William Hill podcaster who supports Berwick and Newcastle.

[roman_bairn]

I think some of our supporters are in perpetual self denial that the club could be in financial difficulties.
It was obvious to anyone who listened to that podcast a couple of months ago that the situation is really serious. When we are going cap in hand to the people we wanted shot of it’s obvious that we are not in a good place.
We’ve been warned that the plans to raise funds through FSS were not at the numbers needed and investment from elsewhere was a necessity.
I’m not saying we can’t come through this but can we please stop shrugging our shoulders and saying it’ll be alright on the night because we have some decent people in place….

[roman_bairn]

Of course I would be, can you get me this factual info? 

He doesn’t actually say it’s a fact if you reread it though…

[Dawson Park Boy]

6 minutes ago, roman_bairn said:

He doesn’t actually say it’s a fact if you reread it though…

Nobody knows the true situation other than the Directors.

Reasonable assumptions can however be made based on the Podcast and the delay of the AGM.

If the situation is serious and they are having difficulty raising the cash to allow the Auditors to sign off the Accounts, in my opinion they should come clean NOW and ask the wider fan base for help. At the end of the day we aren’t going to allow the club to go down but we need the true position put to us. 

[LatapyBairn.]

6 minutes ago, Dawson Park Boy said:

Nobody knows the true situation other than the Directors.

Reasonable assumptions can however be made based on the Podcast and the delay of the AGM.

If the situation is serious and they are having difficulty raising the cash to allow the Auditors to sign off the Accounts, in my opinion they should come clean NOW and ask the wider fan base for help. At the end of the day we aren’t going to allow the club to go down but we need the true position put to us. 

And what if they’ve already funded the shortfall or almost funded it and there is nothing to come clean over? They’ve already been completely transparent about 400k operating loss and the efforts that were underway to try and fund it. The later than usual AGM combined with the podcast doesn’t in itself mean anything, it’s just adding 2 and 2 together and getting 5. 

Edited December 2, 2022 by LatapyBairn.

[Benny74]

As long as people remain transparent. Somebody on here said there is no cash and that is what usually takes a firm under. Trying to sell access to future games is usually one of the last resorts as nobody wants to tie up future income even with only 25 tickets. The problem at this stage is firms and individuals are worried about investing in case administration is imminent. I am sure there are not many Bairns fans who can afford £5k if it just end up giving you a numbered ticket with an administrator. If anyone at Falkirk knows what the situation is I hope they step in before fans spend £5k on a ticket. Rival or not I hope things are not so bad.

 

Quote

 

 

[Reggie Perrin]

PedroMoutinho really seems to be revelling in this financial crisis which was created by the imbeciles who polluted the Boardroom previously.

Almost as if he has an agenda.

[PedroMoutinho]

37 minutes ago, LatapyBairn. said:

And what if they’ve already funded the shortfall or almost funded it and there is nothing to come clean over? They’ve already been completely transparent about 400k operating loss and the efforts that were underway to try and fund it. The later than usual AGM combined with the podcast doesn’t in itself mean anything, it’s just adding 2 and 2 together and getting 5. 

If they had already funded the shortfall, the AGM would be going ahead as normal or at the very least, we’d have details of when it is taking place.

[PedroMoutinho]

5 minutes ago, Reggie Perrin said:

PedroMoutinho really seems to be revelling in this financial crisis which was created by the imbeciles who polluted the Boardroom previously.

Almost as if he has an agenda.

I’ve been very clear that I have no connections to either the current or previous regimes.

I think it is perfectly reasonable to ask questions and scrutinise what is going on whoever the board is or whether people’s mates are on it.

I don’t buy into this idea that we should just sit and clap our hands as there are good guys now on the board. Particularly when some of the posters who were rightly critical of previous boards will now not accept any challenge or criticism of what is going on.

The current board cannot be considered blameless either in my view considering some of the spending decisions that they have made.

Edited December 2, 2022 by PedroMoutinho

[LatapyBairn.]

2 minutes ago, PedroMoutinho said:

If they had already funded the shortfall, the AGM would be going ahead as normal or at the very least, we’d have details of when it is taking place.

How do you know that? There could be multiple reasons for a delay in the AGM, I agree the delay probably was to allow the I’s to be dotted an T’s crossed regarding the new investment and potential soft loans but surely that makes perfect sense? Why have the AGM before that was all finalised? 

[Zbairn]

53 minutes ago, Dawson Park Boy said:

Nobody knows the true situation other than the Directors.

Reasonable assumptions can however be made based on the Podcast and the delay of the AGM.

If the situation is serious and they are having difficulty raising the cash to allow the Auditors to sign off the Accounts, in my opinion they should come clean NOW and ask the wider fan base for help. At the end of the day we aren’t going to allow the club to go down but we need the true position put to us. 

I think it has been made pretty clear on various media channels that we need to find around £400k. It's not a secret !

They have asked the wider fan base to help through calls to join the FSS (or the Patrons Group) but this has been largely ignored. Remember they were castigated for the comment re actual numbers joined versus potential core support.  Around 600 members of a 4000 core support, is roughly only 15% of our fans signing up to this initiative to help the club. If the fans truly want fan ownership, we really should be doing better than this.

One thing you cannot accuse the current BoD is that they haven't laid our situation out there for all to see. What we can perhaps argue is that we don't know the current status and where we are in respect to this shortfall.

I'm also of the opinion and agree with LB, that perhaps the reason for the delay in the AGM is to make sure that the funding is in place to satisfy the accountants, prior to the AGM going ahead. Whether it takes place in December or January is pretty much irrelevant as long as the work to secure financing has been done.

[Shodwall cat]

This 400k has been there since the summer. It was always going to need covered by investment of some sort of another.  Thinking that fss was ever going to cover it was an extreme longshot so really we are in no different a situation to where we were 6 months ago.  The concern is cash at hand but I'm not overly concerned as MR and SA won't let a club they did so much to keep going fall into admin again. 

[Dawson Park Boy]

1 hour ago, LatapyBairn. said:

And what if they’ve already funded the shortfall or almost funded it and there is nothing to come clean over? They’ve already been completely transparent about 400k operating loss and the efforts that were underway to try and fund it. The later than usual AGM combined with the podcast doesn’t in itself mean anything, it’s just adding 2 and 2 together and getting 5. 

I just hope you’re correct.

Time will tell.

[Caractacus Potts]

1 hour ago, PedroMoutinho said:

I’ve been very clear that I have no connections to either the current or previous regimes.

I think it is perfectly reasonable to ask questions and scrutinise what is going on whoever the board is or whether people’s mates are on it.

I don’t buy into this idea that we should just sit and clap our hands as there are good guys now on the board. Particularly when some of the posters who were rightly critical of previous boards will now not accept any challenge or criticism of what is going on.

The current board cannot be considered blameless either in my view considering some of the spending decisions that they have made.

Not sure how true that is. I’ve consistently questioned things about the club I don’t agree with however you used to regularly mark me down whenever I questioned anything about the previous board. That doesn’t mean to say I disagree with your opinion on the right to scrutinise anything you see fit. 

[Bairn in Exile]

1 hour ago, Zbairn said:

I think it has been made pretty clear on various media channels that we need to find around £400k. It's not a secret !

They have asked the wider fan base to help through calls to join the FSS (or the Patrons Group) but this has been largely ignored. Remember they were castigated for the comment re actual numbers joined versus potential core support.  Around 600 members of a 4000 core support, is roughly only 15% of our fans signing up to this initiative to help the club. If the fans truly want fan ownership, we really should be doing better than this.

 

I live on the other side of the world and I know that the club is in dire straits so I’ve signed up to the FSS. How the f*ck can fans who live and work in the Falkirk area not know that we’re up shit creek without a paddle? What will it take for them to commit a decent wedge in reasonable numbers; a front page advert/plea in the Falkirk Herald? McGlynn, Smith and the Board standing in the centre circle at half time pleading their case for more help from the fans? We pride ourselves on being the best and most loyal of fans – our current situation and lack of support from the fan base suggests otherwise.

Re: the 600+ fans who have signed up to the FSS, and without knowing their personal financial situations, if everyone of us pledged £500 to some sort of fighting fund, that would make a big £300k dent in our £400k black hole.

I’ll pony up a monkey, anybody else? (if the missus finds out she’ll go fecking Tonto but what the hell).

And before anyone has a go, I’m not trying to be some sort of “I’m a better fan than you”, I’m only trying to help my club. And anyway, my 500 quid would be chickenfeed compared to what some P&B posters have done previously for the club.