Personally I always knew I would sign up but strangely waited until only a few days before the closing date.

I'm not sure if it's a blind optimism or an addiction but I believe that fan ownership is without doubt the only way forward at this current time for our club.

I signed up for my dad and my son- so I can proudly say that when the opportunity presented itself to have a stake in the club I love I stepped forward and did my bit.

What reasons do you have for getting involved in #buythebuds?

I got a call a few mins ago from someone in the media asking me if I had heard anything about the proposed sale of the club. I said no.

They told me there was very good information suggesting that English buyer(s) with "strong Scottish connections" had agreed a deal to buy the majority shareholding.

I'm taking this all with a large pinch of salt as I've never had any information from this source before but I'll leave this here anyway in case anyone else has heard similar ?

Media Pro Sports, who failed with a bid for Queen of the South, is considering an approach for control of St Mirren. (Herald)

Can't find the item in the online Herald.

With the running total now at 302 in less than a week, i am encouraged and feel we can get the 1000 sign-ups.

Everyone who backs the bid needs to be talking to people about it and directing them to the web page http://www.smisa.net/ to read the details of the bid and also the FAQ part where all frequently asked questions are and will be posted and of course where they can sign up to one of the packages or use the contact us link if they want to talk about alternative methods of payment. The minimum sign-up amount is £12 a month.

Although some fans have already signed up for one of the other 2 options, they can and will only be counted as one sign-up, the sellers and bankers want to see commitment from 1000 fans to convince them that it is a sustainable proposition.

Your thoughts and ideas on how we can achieve 1000 sign-ups are very welcome.

I would welcome details of any proposed 5 to 110 year plan for the club which sets out the purpose,  vision and objectives.

This may encourage us and perhaps others to sign up.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/171079269536?ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1555.l2649

Congratulations to all involved, it's gonna be a hell of a journey guys and girls!!



Is it too early to start splinter groups?

It is worth noting the leader and a partner in the last fan led bid were co-opted onto the board with all the benefit and influence that afforded them in not only putting their bid together, but the ongoing going public support they received from the board and our chairman. In specific. Countless Tv, radio and press pieces with SG giving it the club's and his personal endorsement.

Smisa have not had this luxury, public support and endorsement yet. It may well be the last bit in the jigsaw that will convince more saints fans to #BuyTheBuds?

You can understand having been left at the alter more than once the board and SG may feel more comfortable standing back a bit this time until its all signed, sealed and delivered.

However given that many rightly believe that SG and the board have the best intrests of the club at heart, and want to pass the reins on to the 'right' team, perhaps now is the time they should consider giving the Smisa & GLS bid the royal seal of public approval?

If the sellers are convinced we the fans can take over the reins with Gordon, then I believe it is in keeping with their desire to see the club move forward with safe hands at the wheel, to come out and back the bid.

If that is what it takes to get the sale they want, to the people they trust then perhaps its time to get past 'ChickYoungGate' and support the fans???

#LeaveALegacy

Source;

https://t.co/6Ono87oRPy

BID FOR THE CLUB - PUBLIC MEETING ON SATURDAY

As you will already know, there has been major progress of late on our joint bid with former St Mirren director Gordon Scott for the majority shareholding in St Mirren.

As a result of that we are holding a public meeting on Saturday at 12:30pm in the Wynd Centre, School Wind, Paisley.

Existing SMISA members are being asked to come along at noon for the trust's AGM, where we will deal with routine trust business.

Non-Members should join us at 12:30pm for a presentation and Q&A on the bid, where you can put your questions to Gordon and the SMISA committee.

Be aware capacity in the venue will be limited, so in the event of exceptional demand, entry will be first come, first served. See you there!

More details on the NEW LOOK SMISA WEBSITE!!!! www.smisa.net

#BuyTheBuds

They are from Argentina, so get your money on the new manager being South American.

Exciting, and absolutely terrifying in equal measure.

Hold on to your hats !

Can I check something out, please. Is it possible to have another member who will be in attendance also vote on my behalf if I confirm details in advance?

I don't think I can arrange for someone to attend on behalf at this notice.

If this is an option, would anyone be kind enough to oblige?

This will be a joint venture between investors in London and in the USA.

One of the men behind this new consortium is the former Tottenham player, and English internationalist Darren Anderton.

Watch this space…

..............and counting!

£5 a share!

No one is going to buy a huge debt in Scottish Football, you need to find another way for the sake of the club you love.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/35031972

There have been some important developments of late which the committee of the trust are keen to share with members and the wider support.

Over the past few weeks we have been working with former St Mirren director Gordon Scott on plans to make a joint offer for the shares held by the selling consortium.

As part of our research into that we conducted a survey of fans, which had about 600 responses, and we would like to thank everybody who took the time to fill it out.

All in, 96% of fans backed the idea of fan ownership, and 94% backed the principle of a fan on the board, while 60% said they would be willing to make a financial contribution towards a scheme that would bring about either or both.

Those results have encouraged us to go public on plans which if realised could ensure St Mirren stays in the hands of the people who care about it most...you.

Members of the consortium have already indicated to the trust that they are happy to listen to what we put forward.

We would stress things are at an early stage and there is a lot of work to be done before we would be in a position to make a formal offer to them.

However we have the basis of a plan which - should an offer be accepted - would bring about meaningful fan representation over the short and medium term, and a transfer to majority fan ownership over the long term.

The model we are looking into is as follows:

- Gordon will put up most of the money, and SMiSA will fundraise the rest. The fundraising campaign will only start if we agree a deal in principle with the consortium;

- if a deal is done, Gordon would become the majority shareholder and chairman of the club;

- SMiSA would substantially increase its shareholding, and receive a place on the board, to be elected by the fans;

- Both parties would have an agreement that would see SMiSA continue to fundraise over several years to raise the cash to buy Gordons majority shareholding at some point in the future

The financial details are still to be decided but we envisage a £10-per-month membership scheme being the primary source of long-term ongoing funding, while other short-term income streams would be needed to fund the trusts contribution to the initial share purchase.

The trust has a five-figure sum of money in the bank as it stands, however we would only commit this towards an offer for the shares if a majority of members were happy for us to do so.

We see the benefits of the proposed model as being as follows:

- the current board deserves a tremendous amount of credit for the job they have done over the years, but they have made it clear they would like to move on. This would allow them to do so while keeping the club in the hands of St Mirren supporters;

- it would see control of St Mirren transfer to Gordon, a lifelong Saints fan with the business background and boardroom experience to take the club forward, while the fans would have a direct representative with influence over its day-to-day running;

- the previous attempt at fan ownership suffered because it had to find all the money at once; this would be different as Gordons presence means an Ann Budge model where we would have years to raise the funds to buy him out and put a viable fan ownership structure in place;

We are very keen to hear the thoughts of members and the wider support on these plans, and invite your feedback.

Although we believe SMiSA is best placed to be the vehicle through which this process should happen, ultimately it belongs to everybody who cares about St Mirren.

We have already begun the process of engaging with fan groups because we know what we are proposing will only work if the wider support is willing to back it.

As it stands, the SMiSA committee is a small group and we would welcome the input of any fans who feel they have the expertise and skills to help us take it forward.

As we say, things are at a very early stage and there are a lot of hurdles which would need to be cleared before any of this could become reality.

It wont happen overnight, but we will do our best to keep members and the wider support updated whenever there are developments to be shared.

However, we are excited by the possibilities of what this could mean for our club and hope you are too.

The SMiSA committee

Meeting runs from 7pm to 9pm at the Wynd Centre, School Wynd. Tickets are free, and available from Eventbrite.

Could be interesting.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/251915278440?ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1555.l2649

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/251915309180?ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1555.l2649

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/251915317429?ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1555.l2649

f**k Sakes!

Anyone who thinks the current board don't care about our club need to read this.

If it's true, a few posters on here need to shut their mouths and trust the board.

Stewart Gilmour could easily have ignored this and we'd have potentially been in the shit.