SMISA March Update

[bazil85]

this isn't what a signed up for,why are we paying for everything at the club?undersoil heating (did it get fixed)etc etc,why has club got begging bowl out every 3 months?they get fans season book money,fans at hospitality,fans buying merchandise (JD deal)just seems we paying for everything,our season ticket money etc pays wages,so what does the club actually pay for?a don't mind cash going on new player or so,but every little job we getting asked for cash,lights not working in car park,as smisa,a want money going into playing squad,maybe its just me,

This was what the discretionary fund was put in place for. It's not a begging bowl it's proposals for a £2 a member pot that was put in place at the time of the buy out. In the grand scheme £8k is pennies compared to everything else the club will be doing.

Every quarter there has been a very clear message with the option to carry money over if we chose. No one is forcing us and it's a democracy. I'm sorry but there is some good debate on here but some people are just never happy.

This was exactly what we signed up for, it couldn't of been more transparent IMO they said it would always be a quarterly ask and the option to carry over would always be there.

[buddiecat]

55 minutes ago, paul torfason said:

this isn't what a signed up for,why are we paying for everything at the club?undersoil heating (did it get fixed)etc etc,why has club got begging bowl out every 3 months?they get fans season book money,fans at hospitality,fans buying merchandise (JD deal)just seems we paying for everything,our season ticket money etc pays wages,so what does the club actually pay for?a don't mind cash going on new player or so,but every little job we getting asked for cash,lights not working in car park,as smisa,a want money going into playing squad,maybe its just me,

Not exactly what i signed up for either ( i thought we were intent on having a rainy day fund), as i stated previously, i would much rather see the £2 pot being saved for when SMiSA are in control. That option is always there (spend or save) nobody else is in place to bail us out if we need a loan when we take over. Spending some of it now is useful if it gets used to attract new members, after a year or two we may well not attract new members. HoF boards are only visible to people who are already in the stadium, there is SMiSA advertising on a trackside board at the west stand and in the vomitories, it's not needed on HoF boards as well IMO.

This is just my own opinion of course.

Edited April 4, 2017 by buddiecat

[TsuMirren]

Now, by simply selling the space for div to advertise Big Front Door, a panel could easily be transformed..... erm. [emoji3]
 
 

For the love of...

[notabuddie]

What about a helping a St Mirren womans football team (if we have one,) .. am sure the whole community would be in favour

I think that's a great idea or take over a current woman's or girls team.

[pozbaird]

1 hour ago, TsuMirren said:

 

For the love of...

 

 

Willo Flood?

[Soctty]

There's an awful lot of moaning about a fund used to the benefit of the club we all support.

This money is being used to help the club that we will one day own. It's being used to go towards wages for players at the club we will eventually own. Used for the upkeep of expensive equipment belonging to the club that we will eventually own, and to try to strengthen community bonds with the club we will eventually own.

Does nobody see that helping with wages could be the difference between relegation to the 3rd tier and safety in the Championship? Could one day be the difference between promotion to the premiership or staying in a lower league?

Is it not clear that if the expensive undersoil heating is not maintained, we could inherit a club needing to spend big to totally replace it? Or any other structural work or investments in assets the club holds?

Do we not want to one day own a club that has strong bonds with the community in Paisley and the wider Renfrewshire area, making it more likely the local community will reciprocate that support in generations to come?

Or do we want to keep our £2 a month and to hell with whatever shape the club is in or what level it is playing at by the time we as fans own it.

It's my opinion that a far less short sighted approach is required, but I appreciate others may have smarter plans for our quarterly income. By all means save it, but not at the expense of letting assets, the team or the bond with the local community depreciate to levels where it severely damages the value of our investment.

My sole concern is the football club, and the better it performs, the better its facilities, and the more fondly it is held in the regard of local people, the more successful it will be and the happier I will be with my investment. It's not an investment I'd ever be looking to cash in.

[davidg]

The hall of fame boards, are they in all 3 home stands? 

I honestly can't remember seeing any of them so I would never consider sponsoring them. 

Cut current sponsor off or print artwork with Paisley 2021 logo and stick it over the top. 

[DXBBud]

"if I want to sponsor a local youth team, a charity runner or a cat's home I'd take that decision myself and use other money for that purpose.

let's concentrate on St Mirren."

It's easy to look down the wrong end of the telescope and think of the funds created by SMISA being purely for the club, but I think sponsoring local youth teams is a great idea. The lads playing will get to know that they get to play their football while having a link with the local senior team and, as was suggested, the odd visit to training from one or two players or coaching staff should help generate interest in SMFC, leading to attendance at games, maybe even identification of talent for development through age-groups and into the U-20s at the club.

 

[bazil85]

There's an awful lot of moaning about a fund used to the benefit of the club we all support.

This money is being used to help the club that we will one day own. It's being used to go towards wages for players at the club we will eventually own. Used for the upkeep of expensive equipment belonging to the club that we will eventually own, and to try to strengthen community bonds with the club we will eventually own.

Does nobody see that helping with wages could be the difference between relegation to the 3rd tier and safety in the Championship? Could one day be the difference between promotion to the premiership or staying in a lower league?

Is it not clear that if the expensive undersoil heating is not maintained, we could inherit a club needing to spend big to totally replace it? Or any other structural work or investments in assets the club holds?

Do we not want to one day own a club that has strong bonds with the community in Paisley and the wider Renfrewshire area, making it more likely the local community will reciprocate that support in generations to come?

Or do we want to keep our £2 a month and to hell with whatever shape the club is in or what level it is playing at by the time we as fans own it.

It's my opinion that a far less short sighted approach is required, but I appreciate others may have smarter plans for our quarterly income. By all means save it, but not at the expense of letting assets, the team or the bond with the local community depreciate to levels where it severely damages the value of our investment.

My sole concern is the football club, and the better it performs, the better its facilities, and the more fondly it is held in the regard of local people, the more successful it will be and the happier I will be with my investment. It's not an investment I'd ever be looking to cash in.

Well said! More and more fans seem to have an us versus them mentality in regardless to our money and the club. I for one have trust in the new board and SMISA to have the best interests of St Mirren football club at heart.

As noted as well there is never a demand, always a vote. We have the democratic opportunity not to give money whenever we chose and instead bank it so I don't see why people are moaning or saying 'this isn't what I signed up for.' It's exactly what was signed up for and was very very clear IMO.

I think the important thing for fans to remember is we're only talking about the £2 part of our monthly commitment here. It can be frustrating if things don't go our way in that sense but I urge everyone to keep paying for the greater good and to allow fan ownership to become a reality. That's when our vote will really matter.

I would also urge anyone that's dropped out of the payment or been on the fence to think long and hard about the difference we could make here. Fan ownership falls through what then? We won't get another Gilmour coming in to bail us out. Look at what's happened to many other clubs when new owners have come in. (Hearts, Dundee, Livi for example) this is the best way to preserve St Mirren football club for generations. £12 a month may not be a lot to an individual but they all add up for our club.

[Drew]

10 hours ago, bazil85 said:

 

This was what the discretionary fund was put in place for. It's not a begging bowl it's proposals for a £2 a member pot that was put in place at the time of the buy out. In the grand scheme £8k is pennies compared to everything else the club will be doing.

Every quarter there has been a very clear message with the option to carry money over if we chose. No one is forcing us and it's a democracy. I'm sorry but there is some good debate on here but some people are just never happy.

This was exactly what we signed up for, it couldn't of been more transparent IMO they said it would always be a quarterly ask and the option to carry over would always be there.

The option to carry over should be made more explicit - ie: there should be a vote button.

That way, it would be a constructive, conscious choice, as opposed to a default contingency in the event of other options being declined.

This might seem like a minor point, but I think folk are often inclined to want to vote positively for something, as opposed to dismissing all specifically presented options.

[antrin]

1 hour ago, DXBBud said:

"if I want to sponsor a local youth team, a charity runner or a cat's home I'd take that decision myself and use other money for that purpose.

let's concentrate on St Mirren."

It's easy to look down the wrong end of the telescope and think of the funds created by SMISA being purely for the club, but I think sponsoring local youth teams is a great idea. The lads playing will get to know that they get to play their football while having a link with the local senior team and, as was suggested, the odd visit to training from one or two players or coaching staff should help generate interest in SMFC, leading to attendance at games, maybe even identification of talent for development through age-groups and into the U-20s at the club.

 

As your quote is of me, I shall respond.

You need a new telescope.

My 20-20 (or 2021, if you like) vision for St Mirren is that it should remain alive and be there for Paisley for future generations. That's still a huge aim, in itself.

 I posted many a time against the rantings of the expired pipefitter... against his clarion call for Buy the Buds to be almost solely about it being a community club.  It's not.  It's a struggling professional football club,  trying to survive in a fierce financial world.

so my immediate wish is for my contributions to directly be used to help in that struggle -NOW - not to be diverted towards a different organisation or club, however generous the intent may be

All the things you suggest in the rest of your post are highly laudable... But they are things that any/all Scottish football clubs should already be doing in and for the locality they inhabit.  Much of it already happens.

saints do go into the community. There are young Saints teams.

None of that is innovative, fresh thinking - none of it adds long-term benefit specifically to the aim of buying the Buds and/or making the experience better for current Buds.

 

[FTOF]

A fair bit of sense being talked here, along with reasoned debate. Quite refreshing really.

For me the focus of the money should be prioritised towards making the club as strong as possible, at present. If that means part funding a player's wages, then so be it.

However, that doesn't mean that we can't look at a more community focussed use of some of the funds, with one eye on increasing this type of usage as the club gets stronger.

If anyone feels strongly about this, then either try to get on the SMISA board or at the very least, contact them with your ideas or amendments to current proposals.

The major thing is that it goes to a vote of the members and the majority vote dictates the outcome, as it should be in an organisation of this type.

Edited April 5, 2017 by FTOF

[Sonny]

Maybe we should remember that at some point WE will own the Club. So we will be taking over the Community aspects of the Club ie Street Stuff, Community Football Centres, Panda Club, Powerchair Football, Girls Football Development and Football Fans in Training to name the bigger initiatives. So getting involved just now lets us gain some experience and also helps the whole PR machine to broaden our fanbase. And at some point WE will have to stump up if we want to have HoF boards around the stadium - so why not start now and make the match day experience more enjoyable?

This is not a Them v Us situation it is an Us v Us situation. We cannot just take the keys in 10 years then not have a friggin clue as to how to proceed. The current BoD want to work with the fans which is unique for this Club and refreshing in itself. Let's work together.

 

Edited April 5, 2017 by Sonny

[Isle Of Bute Saint]

helping the club when in need is important for me for reasons well pointed out by above posts. Sponsoring the St Mirren Warriors would be special here a club with special needs getting out there involved in sport . However also feel we should be looking long term by building an egg nest when the fans eventualy take over there has to be funds available for short falls and maintenance.

Never will I get to the stage of packing in the buyout even if I don't agree where some of the funds are going. Being a St Mirren supporter helping to buy the club for the fans should be above everything else. Not happy where funds are going fine use your membership to voice your opinion but  please see the bigger picture the club belonging to the fans will be a remarkable achievement done by Saints fans for Saints fans. 

 

 

[Soctty]

2 hours ago, bazil85 said:

 

Well said! More and more fans seem to have an us versus them mentality in regardless to our money and the club. I for one have trust in the new board and SMISA to have the best interests of St Mirren football club at heart.

As noted as well there is never a demand, always a vote. We have the democratic opportunity not to give money whenever we chose and instead bank it so I don't see why people are moaning or saying 'this isn't what I signed up for.' It's exactly what was signed up for and was very very clear IMO.

I think the important thing for fans to remember is we're only talking about the £2 part of our monthly commitment here. It can be frustrating if things don't go our way in that sense but I urge everyone to keep paying for the greater good and to allow fan ownership to become a reality. That's when our vote will really matter.

I would also urge anyone that's dropped out of the payment or been on the fence to think long and hard about the difference we could make here. Fan ownership falls through what then? We won't get another Gilmour coming in to bail us out. Look at what's happened to many other clubs when new owners have come in. (Hearts, Dundee, Livi for example) this is the best way to preserve St Mirren football club for generations. £12 a month may not be a lot to an individual but they all add up for our club.

 

Good to know we agree on something... 

[Soctty]

40 minutes ago, Sonny said:

Maybe we should remember that at some point WE will own the Club. So we will be taking over the Community aspects of the Club ie Street Stuff, Community Football Centres, Panda Club, Powerchair Football, Girls Football Development and Football Fans in Training to name the bigger initiatives. So getting involved just now lets us gain some experience and also helps the whole PR machine to broaden our fanbase. And at some point WE will have to stump up if we want to have HoF boards around the stadium - so why not start now and make the match day experience more enjoyable?

This is not a Them v Us situation it is an Us v Us situation. We cannot just take the keys in 10 years then not have a friggin clue as to how to proceed. The current BoD want to work with the fans which is unique for this Club and refreshing in itself. Let's work together.

 

Spot on. What we do in the next few years will influence what we take over. If we decide we won't help with things that need done, we'll get a club falling apart, possibly struggling in the lower leagues, core support having dwindled. But hey - we'll have saved up a nice sum of money to try to fix things that may have been damaged beyond repair years before, 

[East Lothian Saint]

Reading through the posts and opinions is basically the only insight I get into SMISA apart from the match day experience and 90% of my matches are away games. In addition, I no longer live in Paisley so I’m out of touch with the community. I’m probably guilty of the us V them label as I tend to look at the buyout venture as a “buy out” and I don’t know enough about the current shareholders to make a proper judgement on where their priorities lie in respect of Club interests v their own investments.

My investment of £2 per month for SMISA to experiment with learning to cope on how to deal with being in charge when the day comes is not under threat.  Irrespective of how my fellow members vote, I’ll stay in the team. FFS it’s only 2 quid and when the day comes £12 a month is well worth being part of the journey.

What ever you guys vote for. Count on my support but occasionally I might have a wee moan just to get my 2 quid’s worth

Won’t make Saturday but the drive to Greenock has not yet been ruled out and the train tickets are sorted for Falkirk.

[div]

15 hours ago, pozbaird said:

Now, by simply selling the space for div to advertise Big Front Door, a panel could easily be transformed..... erm.

 

 

Fuxake

[saintargyll]

42 minutes ago, div said:

Fuxake

Robocop 

[guinness]

Afraid I am three NOs. would rather build up a Fund for emergencies or more important issues.

[Mid Calder Saint]

My view is the most important issue at present is survival in the Championship consequently as a SMISA member I am strongly advocating that those funds are utilised as a Bonus Fund to the players for at least finishing 8th in the league.Money is a strong motivator for players.

[irvine_buddie]

Just now, Mid Calder Saint said:

My view is the most important issue at present is survival in the Championship consequently as a SMISA member I am strongly advocating that those funds are utilised as a Bonus Fund to the players for at least finishing 8th in the league.Money is a strong motivator for players.

So we should be using fans money to pay the players extra money on top of their wages for coming 8th in the league when the target at the start of the season would have been at least 4th?

[bazil85]

The option to carry over should be made more explicit - ie: there should be a vote button.
That way, it would be a constructive, conscious choice, as opposed to a default contingency in the event of other options being declined.
This might seem like a minor point, but I think folk are often inclined to want to vote positively for something, as opposed to dismissing all specifically presented options.

It's a fair point and something they may take on going forward. To be honest though it not being there I don't see as a negative, more just feedback that some people might prefer it being separated out.

[bazil85]

Good to know we agree on something... [emoji14]

It's taken long enough [emoji23]

[bazil85]

See just a side note on the buyout and monthly fee chat. Are there people on here for/ against keeping the regular payment scheme open ended beyond the buy out?

I personally don't miss the £25 a month and would be happy to keep it going after we have the club. I know some may not be in that situation or may think about keeping it going at the lesser amount.

I just feel I'd love to be having this conversation in 7/8 years time but talking about how we spend £50,000 not £8,000... just a thought