Double Winning St Johnstone FC Thread

[Clown Job]

28 minutes ago, RandomGuy. said:

Old Firm fans should probably try boycotting a game at some point, tbh.

It’s abysmal that clubs think it’s acceptable to charge that much, but as long as Rangers/Celtic fans just mindlessly pay it and sell out clubs will continue to do it.

So it’s the fault of fans for wanting to go to the game… the club has no choice but to raise its prices?

Brilliant 

But hey, if it’s all about money then you shouldn’t complain that the club is giving up 3 stands… after all of the fans will mindlessly buy tickets the club will continue to it

Right?

Edited December 30, 2022 by Clown Job

[RandomGuy.]

Just now, Clown Job said:

So it’s the fault of fans for wanting to go to the game… the club has no choice but to raise its prices?

Brilliant 

Did you read the post?

- Its shit that clubs think its acceptable to charge that amount, and prices need to be capped before it gets out of hand

- The two biggest fanbases in the country could probably help by making a high profile protest (Saints fans are virtually boycotting this, imagine the reaction if Rangers fans did too and the stadium was empty) instead of just sucking up every single ticket instantly

As long as clubs think they'll sell out tickets, they'll continue to raise prices, you see that with Old Firm game prices creeping up all the time. The fans need to do something as the clubs won't until they're forced.

[PauloPerth]

Terrible decision. And one I didn’t see coming at all.

I’ll put my hand up to accepting them getting 3 stands for league games pre-covid. Not many Saints fans were turning up, sitting us altogether seemed to make it a slightly better atmosphere from a Saints point of view.  And we were in the middle of a spell of getting pumped by both every time we played them so it felt like it wouldn’t make much difference.

Since then, however, our support and season ticket numbers have increased and there’s a far better atmosphere from home fans. The fact that the most recent matches against each of them resulted in a win against rangers and seconds from a draw against Celtic with Saints fans in the East Stand making a good noise seems to have been totally ignored.

And then we make this decision out of nowhere! As mentioned, it’s our only hope of progress in a cup and chance of silverware, however slim.

I’d be in favour of a visual display rather than staying away. I get the calls for a boycott, especially with the price, but I still want to see us progress in the cup as the season feels like it’s over a bit when we’re out of both.  And it wasn’t the players who chose this so they still deserve support.

Throwing hundreds of tennis balls 1 minute into the game to get it stopped, or fans all occupying the blue seats in front of the directors box and letting them know the feelings on this all match are a couple of suggestions.  

I don’t think Saints fans staying away will bother the board too much as it sounds like as long as there’s plenty of rangers fans paying top dolla they’ll be happy.

[Clown Job]

1 minute ago, RandomGuy. said:

Did you read the post?

- Its shit that clubs think its acceptable to charge that amount, and prices need to be capped before it gets out of hand

- The two biggest fanbases in the country could probably help by making a high profile protest (Saints fans are virtually boycotting this, imagine the reaction if Rangers fans did too and the stadium was empty) instead of just sucking up every single ticket instantly

As long as clubs think they'll sell out tickets, they'll continue to raise prices, you see that with Old Firm game prices creeping up all the time. The fans need to do something as the clubs won't until they're forced.

Didn’t your club reduce the allocation for visiting Celtic & RFC fans already?

So what’s changed? Just pure greed?

I do find it strange that you’re trying to shift the blame onto the fans who attend 

 

[RandomGuy.]

Just now, Clown Job said:

Didn’t your club reduce the allocation for visiting Celtic & RFC fans already?

So what’s changed? Just pure greed?

I do find it strange that you’re trying to shift the blame onto the fans who attend 

Since we came back the normal allocation for the OF was the ends and a bit of the Main. 

Every so often they decide to give them the East and the ends and its just totally random. Think last time it happened was yourselves in the cup, so maybe something to do with it being a cup game? Feels counter intuitive though.

For the 3rd time, I'm not blaming the fans. I'm merely saying its now obvious that its up to the fans to force change, as clubs aren't going to just decide to go with lower prices. Rangers/Celtic are ones we "milk" the most, purely because they sell out of tickets no matter what they get charged, the biggest step to stopping price rises would be the biggest fanbases refusing to pay the prices.

[jamamafegan]

Got to hit the clubs where it hurts them most - in the pockets. Clearly that's all they care about.

[Theyellowbox]

18 minutes ago, PauloPerth said:

I’d be in favour of a visual display rather than staying away. I get the calls for a boycott, especially with the price, but I still want to see us progress in the cup as the season feels like it’s over a bit when we’re out of both.  And it wasn’t the players who chose this so they still deserve support.

Throwing hundreds of tennis balls 1 minute into the game to get it stopped, or fans all occupying the blue seats in front of the directors box and letting them know the feelings on this all match are a couple of suggestions.  

I don’t think Saints fans staying away will bother the board too much as it sounds like as long as there’s plenty of rangers fans paying top dolla they’ll be happy.

What would be the point in a visual display though? Cameras would never see it, nor would the board. An empty stand would be noticeable to all.

More impacting would be something at the utd game. Fans boycotting kiosks or coming in late or something.

You say the players deserve the support and that is true, but it's the club that has effectively removed that support. 

[mizfit]

39 minutes ago, Theyellowbox said:

What would be the point in a visual display though? Cameras would never see it, nor would the board. An empty stand would be noticeable to all.

More impacting would be something at the utd game. Fans boycotting kiosks or coming in late or something.

You say the players deserve the support and that is true, but it's the club that has effectively removed that support. 

I wouldn’t ask fans to boycott kiosks, but I will certainly be choosing to have a Baynes pie and have my pre match pint(s) at home than put money in the club on Monday. 
 

maybe a wee case of holding back in the concourse until kick off might make a small protest possible

[Sconesaint]

Emailed in a complaint to Iain Flaherty and the ticket office too. Emails are the on club website for those who feel the need. 
 

a first complaint for me 

[Munoz]

6 hours ago, PSJ.84 said:

Not just the giving out three stands, thirty fucking pounds. Get that so far in the bin. Shameful. 

You could tell the club to ram it. Give them the 4 stands. 

Boycott the game.

[Jamie_B]

43 minutes ago, Sconesaint said:

Emailed in a complaint to Iain Flaherty and the ticket office too. Emails are the on club website for those who feel the need. 
 

a first complaint for me 

I’ve also written in. Dreadful.

[SJFCtheTeamForMe]

As have I. 

Mainly pointing out why fans are so unhappy about it. 

Fans show quite a high level of loyalty. This decision shows the club do not value that loyalty whatsoever as the second they can make a bit of extra cash in he short term they've stuck the up to their own fans and chased the cash. 

They can't just take take take and except the loyalty without question. 

This was a club where the relationship between the players, fans and club was a close one. They're at risk of completely ruining it with these kind of decisions. 

If they keep making this wild decisions no amount of PR videos of Liam Gordon knocking on fans doors will fix it. 

[AJF]

Where has this chat come from about Rangers fans planning to vandalise a mural?

You’d probably do well to find a Rangers fan that even knew such a mural was in place. What is it, and why would it be vandalised?

It has been claimed that social media has instances of Rangers fans “gleefully” planning to vandalise it. I done a search using different combinations of various words such as: St Johnstone, Rangers, Mural, Vandalise and FCU. Only 2 solitary results came up, both from St Johnstone fans claiming the mural will be destroyed. Where are the Rangers fans planning to vandalise it?

Edited December 31, 2022 by AJF

[PauloPerth]

2 hours ago, Theyellowbox said:

What would be the point in a visual display though? Cameras would never see it, nor would the board. An empty stand would be noticeable to all.

More impacting would be something at the utd game. Fans boycotting kiosks or coming in late or something.

You say the players deserve the support and that is true, but it's the club that has effectively removed that support. 

If throwing hundreds of toilet rolls cos we think it’s a shite decision, or tennis balls or whatever onto the pitch stopped the game to get the pitch cleared then the cameras would see it.  And if we did it every 5 minutes for the first 20 minutes it would have a huge impact.

Boycotting kiosks on Monday is a good idea as there will be a big home support.

[Davis Love III]

I also dispatched a (lengthy) email...

----------------------------

Hi Ian,

Apologies for adding to what I suspect has been a deluge of emails into your inbox, but I had to say something after the statement that was released by the club regarding the upcoming Rangers cup game. Consider this my personal contribution to the mysterious consultation with "supporter groups" that apparently took place before the announcement.

I'm not going to point fingers at individuals, so let's call it a collective decision. Like the overwhelming majority of supporters, I was bitterly disappointed by the ticketing policy and pricing that was announced by the club. Saddened, frankly, by what I view as extraordinarily misguided thinking that is foolishly and needlessly damaging to the connection between the club and supporters.

As you rightly noted when speaking to the local press during the summer, the fans backed a struggling team last season and have continued that support with an uptake of season tickets that is far beyond what the club enjoyed prior to the pandemic - during which many of us still spent significant funds to watch games from home.

Much of that supporter growth has been generated organically by the Fair City Unity group, who have themselves campaigned on matchday pricing at football and have improved the atmosphere at McDiarmid and engaged with increasing numbers of young fans. Turning their section over to away supporters in this manner is a slap in the face to that progress.

So, why jepordise all of that for (maybe) earning a few extra quid from a fixture that was only made possible by the luck (or misfortune) of a draw? With a little bit of imagination, perhaps we could have made this a proper cup tie, a Saturday evening occasion for supporters to buy into, instead of a soulless cash grab that has only turned people against the club at a time when results have improved on the park. 

Has it been worth it? I suspect this will prove far more costly than any short-term revenues generated by the game.

I view the allocation of all home supporters to the Main Stand without any genuine consultation as being unjustifiable, but the pricing of all seats in the stadium is disgraceful. Against Dundee United on Monday, an adult and two kids can access the East Stand for £17. A couple of weeks later, that same family trio would be expected to spend £70 in January during the worst cost of living crisis in generations. That is a laughable, borderline criminal increase of 311%. Three. Hundred. And. Eleven. Percent.

For regular Main Stand seats, adult tickets are £25. That was also the figure when Celtic visited for a quarter-final of the cup in March 2020. For this game, it will be £30. Where is the justification for the extra £5 (25% increase) put on both sets of supporters?

Customers are fickle; they will search for the best product/value. If fans are treated simply like customers, as they absolutely have been here, then it should come as no shock when they respond accordingly. But it doesn't need to be this way. Having a collaborative, communicative and connected relationship with supporters can nurture something lasting. 

But this decision - and the manner in which it has been handled - has stupidly doused weedkiller on that growth we have seen. Let's hope it doesn't erode the roots. 

The Scottish Cup means a considerable amount to our fans, me included, but I (a longtime season ticket holder) won't be attending this game. And I don't say this lightly, because I care deeply about the club, but I sincerely hope the home end is empty on the 21st. It's everything this decision and the thinking behind it deserves. And I hope the considerable away end is quiet too, because St Johnstone doesn't deserve the money of the Rangers fans either.

It's high-time for football clubs (and sadly the one I love) to consider what is right/acceptable rather than what they believe they can get away with. Blind loyalty only goes so far.

I'm not sure what's worse - not having the vision to see how this would go down, or actually knowing that would happen and still thinking it's appropriate to proceed anyway.

Situations like this can easily develop into a negative atmosphere that hangs around long after the event. That would be an unfortunate happening, but one that is entirely self-inflicted.

Repeating what I said earlier; has it been worth it?

[SJFCtheTeamForMe]

9 hours ago, AJF said:

Where has this chat come from about Rangers fans planning to vandalise a mural?

You’d probably do well to find a Rangers fan that even knew such a mural was in place. What is it, and why would it be vandalised?

It has been claimed that social media has instances of Rangers fans “gleefully” planning to vandalise it. I done a search using different combinations of various words such as: St Johnstone, Rangers, Mural, Vandalise and FCU. Only 2 solitary results came up, both from St Johnstone fans claiming the mural will be destroyed. Where are the Rangers fans planning to vandalise it?

Not sure where it's come from. Not seen any, nor looked it up. 

In Perth I don't think it would be difficult at all to find Rangers or indeed Celtic fans as well that know the mural exists. There's plenty Old Firm fans who tag along with the FCU. Especially for "bigger" games. 

[Widge]

I didn’t actually want to send an email,  but woke up this morning still pissed odd about the whole thing! 
 

 

Dear Ian,

 

No doubt you’ll be receiving a lot of emails from disgruntled St Johnstone fans and your inbox will quite rightly be filling up. Now I’m sorry that you’re the one who will be getting all these especially around the festive period, but that’s the position we find ourselves in. 

 

Firstly I’ve just got to say the decisions taken by the board in relation to the upcoming Rangers game in the Scottish Cup are borderline disgraceful. Firstly the price is an outrageous sum of money for any fan (home or away) to be paying for a game that is live on television, at an unsociable kick off time and in the height of the biggest financial squeeze the nation has had for years. Couple this with the fact that there isn’t any incentive for season ticket holders or the people who turn up week in week out to support the team, I won’t be attending and I’ll be entirely honest and say I don’t know any saints fans who will. You’ll be lucky to have 4 figures as a home crowd and I hope when the time comes this only goes to show what a poor decision has been made. 

 

Secondly, the thought process to give Rangers fans 3 full stands is baffling. Who thought that was a good idea? Not only are we as a club selling ourselves out, you’re pushing loyal fans away from their rightful seats, allowing an away team to essentially have home advantage and furthermore giving the same set of fans who’ve had previous for abusive behaviour and causing damage free run at our own stadium. This is even more galling by the fact that the kick off time is 5.30pm and to a man every single away fan will have likely been drinking for 4/5 hours by that point. You’re setting yourself up for bedlam and the club only have themselves to blame when staff are abused again and properly damaged beyond easy repairs. This may be hypothetical, but let’s be honest here, there’s a past and proven record to back this up. 

 

Thirdly, the Scottish Cup is arguably the only chance of silverware we get now this season. We’ve done remarkable in the last decade to win 3 trophies; however what club and fan base doesn’t want more? We literally beat Rangers at home less than 2 months ago by virtue of having the entire East stand behind the team driving them on with passion and fight. You’ve removed that from the upcoming game and I’d love to know exactly what the players think of that decision. Even if they somehow do win, which they’re more than capable of, they’ll get to do it with little support or little praise. We have essentially given up home advantage in a competition we should always look to compete in, that for me is unforgivable. 

 

I don’t expect any changes to happen now, the damage has been done. But the alienation and treatment of the loyal fan base that stuck with the club through the poor results of last season. The same fans who turn up week in week out and have suffered some frankly awful results and football in the last 2 seasons deserve better. In fact they deserve much better. The club used to be built on loyalty and fan interaction, if you’re not careful that is going to be thrown out the window very quickly. This may in fact be a revolving door moment for the club, so pick your next actions very carefully otherwise you’ll quickly see the consequences. 

 

Have a great New Year when it comes. 

 

[jamamafegan]

I emailed last night. Felt a bit dirty with the St. Mirren mention at the end...but credit must be given where due.

"I am writing to you tonight to express my disgust at the decision made by the club to allocate 3 stands to Rangers fans for the upcoming Scottish Cup tie and also at the pricing for a match ticket.

 

Personally speaking (although I believe I speak for many other Saints fans as well) going to home games against the Old Firm is often a deeply unpleasant experience. With two stands behind either goal and a section of the Main Stand, the away fans make their presence very much felt. They sing bigoted songs and create a toxic atmosphere, cause damage to our stadium and have even recently attacked members of the catering staff. To top it all off, we are often comfortably beaten by them. I believe it is these reasons that many Saints fans like myself avoid going to home fixtures involving Celtic and Rangers.

 

To then give the Old Firm 3 stands makes this problem even worse and has potential long lasting implications for our home support. In this case, it effectively makes it a home game for Rangers and gives them a psychological advantage over us when we are already struggling to compete with their enormous wealth. By punting home fans out of the East Stand - our home stand - the club have successfully alienated their own supporters. This is a small support which we should be trying to grow. We cannot expect to attract future supporters to McDiarmid Park by treating the ones we already have with such utter contempt.

 

Regarding the pricing for the match, it's nothing short of ridiculous. It's already difficult to attract people to McDiarmid Park as it is when tickets are priced at £24 - and you will be well aware of the "twenty's plenty" campaign that many supporters are pushing for. It is already (in my opinion) far too expensive to watch Scottish football and isn't worth it for the standard it is and the general matchday experience. Add into the mix the dreadful cost of living crisis and it makes the pricing arrangement for this match look even more lousy. In my opinion, a more sensible approach would have been slashing the ticket prices, reducing Rangers allocation and the club pushing to get as many St Johnstone fans through the gates as possible. This helps attract new would be Saint supporters to McDiarmid Park and you would hope a bigger home crowd could help push the team on to a win. Instead the club has decided to treat an important Scottish Cup tie - our only chance of a cup this season - as a big payday. £30 to go and be surrounded by thousands of Rangers fans and probably watch Saints get cuffed. It's easy to understand why only the most diehard of supporters would be willing to shell out for that. Even then there is now talk of boycotts and it appears many diehards are going to give this a game miss.

 

I would like to point you in the direction of St. Mirren and suggest that St. Johnstone take note of their recent approach to fixtures against the Old Firm sides. My understanding is that the St. Mirren board properly consulted their supporters and asked them how they felt about the allocation being given to Celtic and Rangers. St. Mirren fans made themselves clear that they would prefer to see a reduced Old Firm allocation. The St. Mirren board explained that the club could potentially lose money but they stuck by the fans and reduced the allocation. The outcomes so far: two positive results, very similar attendances compared to the same games from the previous season and a happier home fanbase. I feel this kind of progressive, positive, long-term thinking is currently lacking at St. Johnstone. I feel there have been many missed past opportunities to bolster our home support off the back of our recent cup successes and the club could do more when it comes to fan consultation and growing our home support. Todays decision has been massively disappointing and has upset many Saints fans. I can only hope the club learns lessons from this."

 

[Loemba90]

Have to say this is pathetic from Saints and if I was a fan I’d be raging about it.  Hope you are able to do something to show your displeasure and ensure this doesn’t happen again.

[AJF]

2 hours ago, SJFCtheTeamForMe said:

Not sure where it's come from. Not seen any, nor looked it up. 

In Perth I don't think it would be difficult at all to find Rangers or indeed Celtic fans as well that know the mural exists. There's plenty Old Firm fans who tag along with the FCU. Especially for "bigger" games. 

Aye, that’s fair enough. I was just intrigued after only being able to find mentions of it online from St Johnstone fans despite them claiming the contrary.