Bring Your Own Socks Posted January 22, 2019 Share Posted January 22, 2019 (edited) The "amateur" clause also purported that the club would promote other sports such as running, cricket and lacrosse to name a few. It's fair to say the document isn't totally reflective of the modern club. And the EGM mechansim is there to protect the members opinions and right to speak if needed. In any event, the current committee simply wouldn't change to professional without gathering the majority of fans support. They're going to need all the help they can get, or allow, in the next couple of years. From the short few comments here and what else I've heard it seems most fans are already of the opinion that the amateur status isn't the best option for the future. As for how we would cope? We've much more going for us than many other regional teams at our level in terms of the playing facility, social/function capability and the biggest city in the country wrapped around us. When Change is introduced it's commonly assumed that what is Now has to be sacrificed and what Will Be must be new. It's why Change fails. No reason at all that we couldn't have a paid staff - we already have a set-up that many pro clubs would love to have - and keep the ancient spirit, and the moral compass, of the club intact. The soul lives longer than the flesh. Edited January 22, 2019 by Bring Your Own Socks 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Spider Posted January 23, 2019 Author Share Posted January 23, 2019 The Club has adopted a "progressive" attitude towards professionalism over the years. I wonder when we were founded whether players were even paid expenses, and if not then at some point that would have been a progression. When R S McColl returned from Newcastle via Rangers, it was the club who decided (not the SFA) whether we would re-instate him as an amateur, so that was progressive, and although it took until the 1980s before that floodgate beagn to open again, it was a seismic decision at the time. Another interesting tangent is that several players were employed by Robert McAlpine - would they have otherwise signed for us, or would they have left sooner. Others found work on the ground staff, and John McNiven worked full time when the "Save The Hampden" lottery was running. However it wasn't until our first loan player that we actually played a player who was an active professional, and whilst it remains a moot point as to whether we are amateur by name only or not the fact that the club has never actually paid a player (other than travelling expenses) to play for us still remains. Is it only a matter of time before we become fully committed to professionalism? Perhaps, possibly subject to membership approval and establishing a business model that wouldn't see us drain away our reserves in a never-ending fight to retain league status. Some would be sad to see an end to our current status, whilst others may think it's simply a case of jumping in with both feet having had a toe in the water for so long, so what's the big deal? For me it's this. We'll keep the glorious hoops, we'll still be the same club with the same (for the most part) people attending, and we'll still probably have our own we piece of the 33 acres to play on. But the badge on the strip will be different as it won't be "ludere causa ludendi" anymore, and I for one believe we'll be a poorer club for removing it. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
an86 Posted January 23, 2019 Share Posted January 23, 2019 Wouldn't see any reason for the badge to change. It's a symbol of the club, including the proud history. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Spider Posted January 23, 2019 Author Share Posted January 23, 2019 4 hours ago, an86 said: Wouldn't see any reason for the badge to change. It's a symbol of the club, including the proud history. No problem with the crest Annie, but are you really suggesting that the wording underneath it would remain unaltered? Seriously? If we turn professional and continue to wear jerseys that proudly proclaim "to play for the sake of playing" don't you think that's utter hypocracy? Turning professional would be one thing, but to continue to fly the amateur flag once having done so would surely see us lose all remaining credibility. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
an86 Posted January 23, 2019 Share Posted January 23, 2019 25 minutes ago, The Spider said: No problem with the crest Annie, but are you really suggesting that the wording underneath it would remain unaltered? Seriously? If we turn professional and continue to wear jerseys that proudly proclaim "to play for the sake of playing" don't you think that's utter hypocracy? Turning professional would be one thing, but to continue to fly the amateur flag once having done so would surely see us lose all remaining credibility. I'll be honest, a Latin motto doesn't and will not rank in the top 100 things that would keep me awake in terms of the challenges that lie ahead. If we do turn semi-pro, I'll have absolutely no issue with retaining it as a nod to our history. Furthermore, very few people outside the club either know or care about our club motto, so I'm not sure who we'd be losing credibility with? I also don't really care what people outside the club and local community think of us or our credibility or lack of. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Spider Posted January 23, 2019 Author Share Posted January 23, 2019 7 minutes ago, an86 said: I'll be honest, a Latin motto doesn't and will not rank in the top 100 things that would keep me awake in terms of the challenges that lie ahead. If we do turn semi-pro, I'll have absolutely no issue with retaining it as a nod to our history. Furthermore, very few people outside the club either know or care about our club motto, so I'm not sure who we'd be losing credibility with? I also don't really care what people outside the club and local community think of us or our credibility or lack of. When it comes to turning professional, I'm against it and strongly suspect I'm in the minority so believe it's only a matter of time before it happens. As far as retaining the amateur motto is concerned, that one is a major issue for me, and I very much hope that your's is a minority view. I may be out of touch on many things, but hopefully not on that one. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
an86 Posted January 23, 2019 Share Posted January 23, 2019 55 minutes ago, The Spider said: When it comes to turning professional, I'm against it and strongly suspect I'm in the minority so believe it's only a matter of time before it happens. As far as retaining the amateur motto is concerned, that one is a major issue for me, and I very much hope that your's is a minority view. I may be out of touch on many things, but hopefully not on that one. There's probably 100 legitimate concerns among our support and that's the problem with the situation we're in. Everyone deeply regrets that we're not in the scenario where we play at Hampden and can be guaranteed keep players for a full season. However, there are a number of major issues to address first, including the debate we've been having. Beyond the club's future, the absolute number one issue for me, and I feel it's been overlooked, is the future of the staff at the club. It must be an incredibly uneasy time for them and I hope, whatever happens, that we continue with a model that means nobody has to lose their jobs. The stuff we're debating is small fry compared to not having money in the account at the end of the month. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The man with no name Posted January 23, 2019 Share Posted January 23, 2019 3 hours ago, The Spider said: No problem with the crest Annie, but are you really suggesting that the wording underneath it would remain unaltered? Seriously? If we turn professional and continue to wear jerseys that proudly proclaim "to play for the sake of playing" don't you think that's utter hypocracy? Turning professional would be one thing, but to continue to fly the amateur flag once having done so would surely see us lose all remaining credibility. Do we have a different badge for Loan players? 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hampden Diehard Posted January 23, 2019 Share Posted January 23, 2019 Given our crowds and the miserly cash that it generates, I can't see anyone making life-changing amounts of cash even if we did start paying players. Most of the guys at our level are playing for the love of it. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
an86 Posted January 23, 2019 Share Posted January 23, 2019 5 minutes ago, Hampden Diehard said: Given our crowds and the miserly cash that it generates, I can't see anyone making life-changing amounts of cash even if we did start paying players. Most of the guys at our level are playing for the love of it. Agreed, but even without the Hampden debacle we're now in a situation where players can just up and leave if they take a huff or get a better offer. The double whammy is a massive boot to the stones. No idea what the answer is. It's a bit like Brexit. Either way, we're going to be more fucked than we were and we're going to have to find a way of making the best of a bad situation. I bang on about this a lot, but I think the club has a decent amount of good will locally and we maybe don't make as much of it as we could. Maybe not the number one team of folk in the area, but certainly a lot of people with a fondness for us. We need to find a way of getting to them and others. Tough, but there are still much tougher things to sell in Glasgow than football. If things like speedway can boost crowds, so can we. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bring Your Own Socks Posted January 23, 2019 Share Posted January 23, 2019 57 minutes ago, The man with no name said: Do we have a different badge for Loan players? Or just change the motto to this... Propter Pecuniam Ludere Or there again, just move into the 21st Century. New broom and all that. (That's not the motto). 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Spider Posted January 24, 2019 Author Share Posted January 24, 2019 15 hours ago, The man with no name said: Do we have a different badge for Loan players? And here was me thinking all these years that it was the Club's motto and not tailored towards individual players - it's amazing what you learn on P&B these days. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The man with no name Posted January 24, 2019 Share Posted January 24, 2019 3 hours ago, The Spider said: And here was me thinking all these years that it was the Club's motto and not tailored towards individual players - it's amazing what you learn on P&B these days. You are the one advocating change if we pay a player. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mick1867 Posted January 24, 2019 Share Posted January 24, 2019 23 hours ago, The Spider said: No problem with the crest Annie, but are you really suggesting that the wording underneath it would remain unaltered? Feckin hope so, I'm no going down that tattoo parlour again 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Spider Posted January 24, 2019 Author Share Posted January 24, 2019 5 hours ago, The man with no name said: You are the one advocating change if we pay a player. Nice try. Whether we pay one player or a full squad of them that will be the end of the club's amateur status, and the day that happens our club motto will become obsolete. If we decide to retain it then that's utter hypocracy. Sorry Mick, but you can always get a tatoo of the new motto on your other arm / leg / gonad (delete as applicable) and represent the future as well as the past 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The man with no name Posted January 24, 2019 Share Posted January 24, 2019 22 minutes ago, The Spider said: Nice try. Whether we pay one player or a full squad of them that will be the end of the club's amateur status, and the day that happens our club motto will become obsolete. If we decide to retain it then that's utter hypocracy. Ah hypocracy, is that like maintaining amateur teams of football by playing professionals? 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Spider Posted January 24, 2019 Author Share Posted January 24, 2019 31 minutes ago, The man with no name said: Ah hypocracy, is that like maintaining amateur teams of football by playing professionals? Apologies, I'd initially mistaken you for a Queen's fan. We'll leave that there as you clearly have another agenda here. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The man with no name Posted January 24, 2019 Share Posted January 24, 2019 36 minutes ago, The Spider said: Apologies, I'd initially mistaken you for a Queen's fan. We'll leave that there as you clearly have another agenda here. So anyone who disagrees with you or points out flaws in your logic can't be a Queen's fan. No wonder our support is small! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
an86 Posted January 24, 2019 Share Posted January 24, 2019 5 minutes ago, The man with no name said: So anyone who disagrees with you or points out flaws in your logic can't be a Queen's fan. No wonder our support is small! Yep. Exactly the sort of thing we're going to have to look to avoid as we approach a rocky road. There's going to be so many different opinions on where we go from here. We all want what's best for the club and getting snidey with each other and creating division is the last thing we need. We cannot afford a them v us within a small support. It's something I fear might happen when the semi-pro/amateur debate becomes real. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bring Your Own Socks Posted January 24, 2019 Share Posted January 24, 2019 I'm comforted that I'm not the only one with an agenda. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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