Iael18

Someone suggested at the meeting tonight with fans groups (Supporters bus clubs,SMDSA, Saint Mirren Active, Fans Council, SMiSA and Taxi drivers - all represented) that there should be a separate thread for the buyout campaign. Obviously i agree with that suggestion, my hope is that this thread is used to promote the campaign to recruit the 1000 sign-ups that are needed, and that fellow fans pitch in with ideas and opinions which concern only the recruitment of 1000 fans.
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.

Calm down, the fans have been given a second chance to buy the club. If SG sells to someone else it's because the fans were unable to get a proper bid together. We certainly have had plenty of time to do it and it would appear to be the preferred way forward for both SG and the BOD.

Thought the quality of work, foundation and organisation that had gone into creating this opportunity was spot on yesterday. Unlike previous bids that chopped, changed but still left you none the wiser this proposal ticks all the boxes.
It guarantees:
Fan Ownership
No one individual can hold charges against the club
It does not saddle the members or club with an unservicable debt
It is affordable for most to get involved
One member, one vote
No subservient fans board
By design it aims to get as many saints fans as possible involved in the democratic set up
It is committed to building, enhancing and working to give back to the community
And it is within our grasp!
Was openly concerned about having an MP as chair of Smisa and perhaps walking on to the board, but George to his credit insisted that being on the board would/could be counter productive and that he will not be going up for the board, and will keep that distance as Smisa chair.
Gordon has obviously done a lot of research and come up with, in my opinion an excellent opportunity to take our club forward again.
The work put in by all the Smisa team, including George is to be applauded.
They have held back releasing piecemeal headline grabbing info until they were absolutely sure and ready to launch the bid. Unlike the last series of fiascos all the financial info is up front and centre. Most of the questions you may have are already explained,,or the info is there to enable you to form an opinion.
The club will be sold, the current board who I have to applaud, in this instance have agreed a deal in principal with Smisa and Gordon that wouldnt be available to any other. However if we dont grab this opportunity to push the club froward again it will be sold to whoever pays the Bod what they want!
They have had enough, and lets face it with the honesty and opinion shared yesterday are making decisions purely on a day to day basis that keeps the club running (the sevco stand debacle).
Gordon won't and can't make such decisions without it going to the membership to canvass ideas, options and opinion.
If we take this great opportunity the current board can move on with their heads held high, having preserved the good work they have done over the years by handing the batton on to us to kick on. I am more than happy to retract all the criticism I have had of the Bod over recent times, Given their part in creating this deal and golden opportunity to not just secure, but take forward our club's future and build it for the support and the community.
#BUYTHEBUDS
Time to put up, and push on!

According to some it'll be just you...................enjoy yerself.

Hope it goes well tomorrow.
Regardless of attendance it's already a success. You can't argue with the membership figures.
I'm sure there will be tweaks to the structure over time to maximise it's potential.
Well done in making it happen.

enter by the door at the end of the main stand next to the ticket pick up point. doors open at 12 noon.

Lets face it we were hardly going to fill the stadium with our own fans were we?

This will all blow over in a few days and those who have been frothing at the mouth for the last few days will be back as normal next season. Talk of protests and walkouts are laughable.
Having said that it's unbelievable how badly the BOD have (mis)handled this whole affair and the sooner the selling mob GTF the better.

A small but important gesture and the sort of message that, had it been included in the original statement, would have gone a long way towards reducing the heat.
I don't think anyone wants Rangers to get the South Stand but if the economic argument is that it will make a material difference next season and the displaced season ticket holders are at least being taken care of properly first and foremost, then I guess that makes it slightly easier to swallow.
Still not a great epsiode but at least they have listened.

Exactly what I've been saying .
If more people made an effort to come to home games , this wouldn't be happening .
I bet there's been a few on here complaining about this , who don't even turn up on a regular basis .

Some fans need to wake the f**k up, yeah its not ideal giving them the extra seats, but read what Tony says. This is a chance to make a good few quid that will help bring in a couple of players for next year and will cover the wages. Look at the long term picture.
Why not just see it as an opportunity to stick it to 4k scum fans and get a result to ruin their day. But guys saying they won't be back (bullshit, Blah Blah Blah) isn't acceptable, it doesn't make you seem like more of a fan as your disgusted, it shows you don't particularly care for the long term goals that this could help us achieve

First post on this subject the reason being it does not bother me. It was also not hard to work out a large following from Rangers will desend on our stadium for this game as such I had visions of them getting into the home support which could still happen of course. However this messure taken by the board will go some way to try and control the situation . If we are going to make money off them then I would also give them a section of the west stand. I want to see our manager put together the best squad possible for next season. As for attending I will be there to support Saints like I would no matter who we play.

The long and short of it is :-
a) The league will be over before this game and they will be crowned champions elsewhere
It will potentially bring in more revenue for us.
If it is a bit inconvenient for some fans but brings in another £30,000 for the budget for next year, then surely the advantages outweigh the disadvantages.
If the club want to save a bit of face they could run a free raffle with some club merchandise for those ticket holders who are inconvenienced.
Pragmatically - I want Rae to have as good a budget for next year as possible. Potentially we'll have Hibs and Killie/Dundee Utd to beat and we need better players in several positions.

Maybe if more of our own supporters decided to turn up for games , we wouldn't have to give these mutants any extra tickets .
I don't like how the club have gone about it though .

If people were as passionate about this issue as they were about actually supporting saints then there would some atmosphere at St Mirren Park on match days. Everyone seems very easily offended these days. Unbelievable!
Most match day threads struggle to get half as many posts as this topic has in less than 12 hours. Is Div at the heart of this club statement in order to get traffic up on the forum? ;-)
People seem more interested in mobilising an anti Rangers and anti board campaign than proactive St Mirren on match days.
What has annoyed me more this season is shit performances on the park rather than a few old firm fans sitting in the south stand.

What a hilarious thread!! You would think the board were going to kill the second born of every St Mirren supporter!!! Get a life guys FFS. Even a suggestion the hopeless fans council should have got involved. I would admit St Mirren's PR has been non existent for years and this could have been handled a bit better but take a deep breath count to ten and realise no one has died. The over reaction from the usual suspects is embarrassing. If ever there was a thread to suggest fans should not be involved in the running of a football cub this is it. One even suggesting this game may be important cause we an still finish 4th!! What planet are some of you on!!
To me this is the best solution as Rangers fans would have bought tickets for the family stand in large numbers. Moving ST holders(a few dozen at best) and the Panda club into the Main Stand where the vast majority will be St Mirren fans seems perfectly sensible to me.

It's not about me either. If there are 8000 people wanting to see the match why exclude them? Let them all in. If it was Raith Rovers bringing a huge support there would barely be a complaint. The reason this has Saints Fans foaming at the mouth is its cause it's "Rangers".

I personally don't have a big issue with this but that's just my opinion on the matter. I don't have a season ticket in the south stand so it doesn't directly affect me.
The flipside could be that 500 rangers fans buy tickets for the south stand and it all kicks off in front of families. Would people be blaming the club then for selling tickets to non st mirren fans for the home end?
Would it be the same public outcry if Falkirk or Hibs were coming to town and the club thought they could sell 4000 tickets to them?
The board are damned if they do and damned if they don't.
Just my opinion.

I would like to update the forum to state that on behalf of the Fans Council I have spoken with Stewart Gilmour today. The purpose of the call was to offer assistance in making decisions of this magnitude in future. The Fans Council would have preferred an audience with the board to assist in the approach and communication of this difficult financial decision.
Stewart has taken this on board and at the same time shared with me some correspondence that he wrote today personally to a fan that contacted him direct.
I have enclosed this below as I believe it helps give his and the boards perspective on the decision made for the re-allocation of the seats in the Family stand for the Rangers fixture.
Fans Council
Email message -
The only stand we have freed up is the family stand for the following reasons, please remember the guys on the Board are trying to do their best for the club as a total entity.
1. We only have just over 200 actual paying Season Ticket Holders in that stand.
2. The actual numbers of these that actually attend Celtic and Rangers games is very low as well.
3. They have all been offered other tickets in either the Main Stand or West Stand for this Match.
4. Given the low numbers of our support in this stand it was anticipated that many Rangers Supporters would try and purchase tickets for this stand, so on a security basis it was best to have our supporters in our stands with fellow St Mirren supporters.
5. It is really important that we try to give Alex Rae the best budget we can to try to get us back into the top league and this is at least another player if not 2 for next season.
I trust from my transparency and quick answer to your e mail you will see the Board are acting in the best interests of the club as a whole.
I look forward to your continued support of our team
Regards
Stewart

Ok. It's not the first time that's happened.
Drew, be honest though. If it wasn't for the fact that you have a "reserved" seat would you have been the slightest bit bothered about the two behind the goal stands being handed over to away fans? Surely it's better for the stadium to be as close to capacity as possible. Isn't it?

It's very easy to complain about this, but the board have a club to run and with wages and bills to pay. The last few months, there's usually been just over 2,000 home fans at games. Strip out season ticket holders and actual cash taken at games must be horrifically low.
If this extra cash is the difference between wages or bills being paid or not then it makes sense rather than having empty seats. Having your seat moved for one game is a minor inconvenience, if that.
I also don't think this is the first time this has happened. I'm sure a section of the Main Stand was given over to away fans once?
And going back to the days at Love Street, thousands of OF fans got allocated the home end behind the goals at every visit, not just season ending games.

Sensible decision IMO. Maximise income.

Apparently the membership applications are flooding in after people reading this thread and seeing the names of the posters that have vowed never set foot in the place.

Every time the club does something there are always people outraged.
Outraged we don't have a bar,
outraged we are building a bar,
outraged at the 10000 hours bid,
outraged the club isn't sold,
outraged the games aren't called off early,
outraged that fans were clearing the pitch of snow,
outraged about the tannoy system.
I could go on and on. It would appear that the only thing our club does is outrage people.
The fact is our club is well run and have got more things right than wrong over the years. This new bar is an asset and long overdue, it might not be perfect but it an improvement on what we had before. At least people who were outraged that we didn't have a bar have something else to be outraged about.