barrymitchell

Hi there, not sure why your DM never came up as a notification, I've sent you on an email just now. 

What's wrong with those. I quite like going to Saporito and prefer it over going to the ground. Coming straight from work I can get a coffee and some food. 

What's wrong with those. I quite like going to Saporito and prefer it over going to the ground. Coming straight from work I can get a coffee and some food. 

Why don't you ask him. [email protected]

Why don't you ask him. [email protected]

Why don't you ask him. [email protected]

Why don't you ask him. [email protected]

Nah you said "You are right when you say that the 75% shares controlled now by GLS give him virtual carte blanche." That is not a given by any means. 

Ballot will be live tonight.

This is really, really, not funny. 

This is really, really, not funny. 

This is really, really, not funny. 

Welcome to Jack
The club this week confirmed the appointment of Jack Ross as the new manager and the SMISA committee would like to welcome Jack to the Paisley 2021 Stadium.
SMISA's man on the club board David Nicol was obviously involved in the recruitment process and we know Jack really impressed the board with his vision for the club and that they see him as a good fit for their long-term plans.
It was also encouraging to see him talking up the benefits of fan ownership in his interview on the official website today - for those who missed it, there's a good insight into his approach here.
It goes without saying supporting St Mirren hasn't been easy over the past few years and maybe the atmosphere hasn't always helped matters on the pitch.
But we now have a new manager, a new board and a new opportunity to move forward as a club. We hope all members and fans will give their full support to Jack and the team, and hopefully better days lie ahead.
Latest member numbers
Current membership numbers as of the start of October are 1344. That is slightly down on last month but we always expected that over time numbers would tail off and we budgeted on that basis.
Of the handful of cancellations, the feedback we have from those who wrote to us is that their reasons were purely down to finance.
We have been given no indication anybody has left because they are unhappy with the job we are doing or because of results on the park.
As always we would stress the work to take the club into majority fan ownership is a long-term project which will take years to save up for, and that means we need a long-term commitment from as many members to stay the course as possible.
First £2 pot spend
One of the key ways we will be keeping everybody engaged is by spending the £2 proportion of your monthly membership, which we plan to do every three months.
We wrote to you last week with the results of the survey we ran on your priorities and the feedback from that will be used to inform future spending decisions.
As we explained in that update, the bulk of the £8,500 raised through the first three months of #BuyTheBuds money will be used to make up the shortfall (estimated at £6,000-7,000) on the club’s planned disabled platform at the back of the main stand.
But we asked the members to vote on where the remainder of the money should go – either into youth development or to be left in the pot for future investment.
Voting closed earlier in the week and the results were as follows:
Option 1 (Spend on Youth Academy)
43% 325
Option 2 (Carry funds over)
57% 430
Director election
As you know, one of the key points of the #BuyTheBuds campaign is that you the members can elect one of your own to represent you on the club board.
SMISA committee member David Nicol has been doing this role for the past couple of months but it was always our plan to hold an election to be concluded before the club AGM at the end of the year.
We have now produced a set of election rules, along with a timetable detailing how the process will unfold over the next couple of months.
The first stage of that will be a nomination period where any interested members will be able to put themselves forward to go on to the ballot.
The full set of election rules, including details of how to nominate yourself, will be sent out later this week, along with a job description outlining the expected duties of a SMISA rep on the club board.
Volunteer call to action
Something both the SMISA committee and Gordon Scott are keen to investigate is how to harness the membership’s collective power to volunteer on projects which will help the club and community.
The club have approached us with a couple of projects which they need some extra pairs of hands on and have asked if SMISA members are willing to provide them.
The first project involves the possibility of the club installing an electronic advertising billboard on land at the north end of the stadium, which could be a very lucrative income stream.
However the companies who operate these boards will only install one if they know there will be a certain amount of traffic at that location each day.
So to find out if this idea is feasible, the club is looking for a number of volunteers to work in shifts to help electronically count the vehicles at that spot over the course of one day (note - this is likely to be a weekday).
If you were able to spare an hour or two and would like to register an interest in this or any future volunteering opportunities, please send an email to [email protected] and we will be in touch with more detail when we have it.
If there was sufficient interest, this could be the start of a SMISA volunteer pool of people who use their collective skills to work on various club and community projects as and when required.
This could be ideal for members who are perhaps retired and willing to give up some time to, or those who are looking for something to add to their CV.

Welcome to Jack
The club this week confirmed the appointment of Jack Ross as the new manager and the SMISA committee would like to welcome Jack to the Paisley 2021 Stadium.
SMISA's man on the club board David Nicol was obviously involved in the recruitment process and we know Jack really impressed the board with his vision for the club and that they see him as a good fit for their long-term plans.
It was also encouraging to see him talking up the benefits of fan ownership in his interview on the official website today - for those who missed it, there's a good insight into his approach here.
It goes without saying supporting St Mirren hasn't been easy over the past few years and maybe the atmosphere hasn't always helped matters on the pitch.
But we now have a new manager, a new board and a new opportunity to move forward as a club. We hope all members and fans will give their full support to Jack and the team, and hopefully better days lie ahead.
Latest member numbers
Current membership numbers as of the start of October are 1344. That is slightly down on last month but we always expected that over time numbers would tail off and we budgeted on that basis.
Of the handful of cancellations, the feedback we have from those who wrote to us is that their reasons were purely down to finance.
We have been given no indication anybody has left because they are unhappy with the job we are doing or because of results on the park.
As always we would stress the work to take the club into majority fan ownership is a long-term project which will take years to save up for, and that means we need a long-term commitment from as many members to stay the course as possible.
First £2 pot spend
One of the key ways we will be keeping everybody engaged is by spending the £2 proportion of your monthly membership, which we plan to do every three months.
We wrote to you last week with the results of the survey we ran on your priorities and the feedback from that will be used to inform future spending decisions.
As we explained in that update, the bulk of the £8,500 raised through the first three months of #BuyTheBuds money will be used to make up the shortfall (estimated at £6,000-7,000) on the club’s planned disabled platform at the back of the main stand.
But we asked the members to vote on where the remainder of the money should go – either into youth development or to be left in the pot for future investment.
Voting closed earlier in the week and the results were as follows:
Option 1 (Spend on Youth Academy)
43% 325
Option 2 (Carry funds over)
57% 430
Director election
As you know, one of the key points of the #BuyTheBuds campaign is that you the members can elect one of your own to represent you on the club board.
SMISA committee member David Nicol has been doing this role for the past couple of months but it was always our plan to hold an election to be concluded before the club AGM at the end of the year.
We have now produced a set of election rules, along with a timetable detailing how the process will unfold over the next couple of months.
The first stage of that will be a nomination period where any interested members will be able to put themselves forward to go on to the ballot.
The full set of election rules, including details of how to nominate yourself, will be sent out later this week, along with a job description outlining the expected duties of a SMISA rep on the club board.
Volunteer call to action
Something both the SMISA committee and Gordon Scott are keen to investigate is how to harness the membership’s collective power to volunteer on projects which will help the club and community.
The club have approached us with a couple of projects which they need some extra pairs of hands on and have asked if SMISA members are willing to provide them.
The first project involves the possibility of the club installing an electronic advertising billboard on land at the north end of the stadium, which could be a very lucrative income stream.
However the companies who operate these boards will only install one if they know there will be a certain amount of traffic at that location each day.
So to find out if this idea is feasible, the club is looking for a number of volunteers to work in shifts to help electronically count the vehicles at that spot over the course of one day (note - this is likely to be a weekday).
If you were able to spare an hour or two and would like to register an interest in this or any future volunteering opportunities, please send an email to [email protected] and we will be in touch with more detail when we have it.
If there was sufficient interest, this could be the start of a SMISA volunteer pool of people who use their collective skills to work on various club and community projects as and when required.
This could be ideal for members who are perhaps retired and willing to give up some time to, or those who are looking for something to add to their CV.

Welcome to Jack
The club this week confirmed the appointment of Jack Ross as the new manager and the SMISA committee would like to welcome Jack to the Paisley 2021 Stadium.
SMISA's man on the club board David Nicol was obviously involved in the recruitment process and we know Jack really impressed the board with his vision for the club and that they see him as a good fit for their long-term plans.
It was also encouraging to see him talking up the benefits of fan ownership in his interview on the official website today - for those who missed it, there's a good insight into his approach here.
It goes without saying supporting St Mirren hasn't been easy over the past few years and maybe the atmosphere hasn't always helped matters on the pitch.
But we now have a new manager, a new board and a new opportunity to move forward as a club. We hope all members and fans will give their full support to Jack and the team, and hopefully better days lie ahead.
Latest member numbers
Current membership numbers as of the start of October are 1344. That is slightly down on last month but we always expected that over time numbers would tail off and we budgeted on that basis.
Of the handful of cancellations, the feedback we have from those who wrote to us is that their reasons were purely down to finance.
We have been given no indication anybody has left because they are unhappy with the job we are doing or because of results on the park.
As always we would stress the work to take the club into majority fan ownership is a long-term project which will take years to save up for, and that means we need a long-term commitment from as many members to stay the course as possible.
First £2 pot spend
One of the key ways we will be keeping everybody engaged is by spending the £2 proportion of your monthly membership, which we plan to do every three months.
We wrote to you last week with the results of the survey we ran on your priorities and the feedback from that will be used to inform future spending decisions.
As we explained in that update, the bulk of the £8,500 raised through the first three months of #BuyTheBuds money will be used to make up the shortfall (estimated at £6,000-7,000) on the club’s planned disabled platform at the back of the main stand.
But we asked the members to vote on where the remainder of the money should go – either into youth development or to be left in the pot for future investment.
Voting closed earlier in the week and the results were as follows:
Option 1 (Spend on Youth Academy)
43% 325
Option 2 (Carry funds over)
57% 430
Director election
As you know, one of the key points of the #BuyTheBuds campaign is that you the members can elect one of your own to represent you on the club board.
SMISA committee member David Nicol has been doing this role for the past couple of months but it was always our plan to hold an election to be concluded before the club AGM at the end of the year.
We have now produced a set of election rules, along with a timetable detailing how the process will unfold over the next couple of months.
The first stage of that will be a nomination period where any interested members will be able to put themselves forward to go on to the ballot.
The full set of election rules, including details of how to nominate yourself, will be sent out later this week, along with a job description outlining the expected duties of a SMISA rep on the club board.
Volunteer call to action
Something both the SMISA committee and Gordon Scott are keen to investigate is how to harness the membership’s collective power to volunteer on projects which will help the club and community.
The club have approached us with a couple of projects which they need some extra pairs of hands on and have asked if SMISA members are willing to provide them.
The first project involves the possibility of the club installing an electronic advertising billboard on land at the north end of the stadium, which could be a very lucrative income stream.
However the companies who operate these boards will only install one if they know there will be a certain amount of traffic at that location each day.
So to find out if this idea is feasible, the club is looking for a number of volunteers to work in shifts to help electronically count the vehicles at that spot over the course of one day (note - this is likely to be a weekday).
If you were able to spare an hour or two and would like to register an interest in this or any future volunteering opportunities, please send an email to [email protected] and we will be in touch with more detail when we have it.
If there was sufficient interest, this could be the start of a SMISA volunteer pool of people who use their collective skills to work on various club and community projects as and when required.
This could be ideal for members who are perhaps retired and willing to give up some time to, or those who are looking for something to add to their CV.

Welcome to Jack
The club this week confirmed the appointment of Jack Ross as the new manager and the SMISA committee would like to welcome Jack to the Paisley 2021 Stadium.
SMISA's man on the club board David Nicol was obviously involved in the recruitment process and we know Jack really impressed the board with his vision for the club and that they see him as a good fit for their long-term plans.
It was also encouraging to see him talking up the benefits of fan ownership in his interview on the official website today - for those who missed it, there's a good insight into his approach here.
It goes without saying supporting St Mirren hasn't been easy over the past few years and maybe the atmosphere hasn't always helped matters on the pitch.
But we now have a new manager, a new board and a new opportunity to move forward as a club. We hope all members and fans will give their full support to Jack and the team, and hopefully better days lie ahead.
Latest member numbers
Current membership numbers as of the start of October are 1344. That is slightly down on last month but we always expected that over time numbers would tail off and we budgeted on that basis.
Of the handful of cancellations, the feedback we have from those who wrote to us is that their reasons were purely down to finance.
We have been given no indication anybody has left because they are unhappy with the job we are doing or because of results on the park.
As always we would stress the work to take the club into majority fan ownership is a long-term project which will take years to save up for, and that means we need a long-term commitment from as many members to stay the course as possible.
First £2 pot spend
One of the key ways we will be keeping everybody engaged is by spending the £2 proportion of your monthly membership, which we plan to do every three months.
We wrote to you last week with the results of the survey we ran on your priorities and the feedback from that will be used to inform future spending decisions.
As we explained in that update, the bulk of the £8,500 raised through the first three months of #BuyTheBuds money will be used to make up the shortfall (estimated at £6,000-7,000) on the club’s planned disabled platform at the back of the main stand.
But we asked the members to vote on where the remainder of the money should go – either into youth development or to be left in the pot for future investment.
Voting closed earlier in the week and the results were as follows:
Option 1 (Spend on Youth Academy)
43% 325
Option 2 (Carry funds over)
57% 430
Director election
As you know, one of the key points of the #BuyTheBuds campaign is that you the members can elect one of your own to represent you on the club board.
SMISA committee member David Nicol has been doing this role for the past couple of months but it was always our plan to hold an election to be concluded before the club AGM at the end of the year.
We have now produced a set of election rules, along with a timetable detailing how the process will unfold over the next couple of months.
The first stage of that will be a nomination period where any interested members will be able to put themselves forward to go on to the ballot.
The full set of election rules, including details of how to nominate yourself, will be sent out later this week, along with a job description outlining the expected duties of a SMISA rep on the club board.
Volunteer call to action
Something both the SMISA committee and Gordon Scott are keen to investigate is how to harness the membership’s collective power to volunteer on projects which will help the club and community.
The club have approached us with a couple of projects which they need some extra pairs of hands on and have asked if SMISA members are willing to provide them.
The first project involves the possibility of the club installing an electronic advertising billboard on land at the north end of the stadium, which could be a very lucrative income stream.
However the companies who operate these boards will only install one if they know there will be a certain amount of traffic at that location each day.
So to find out if this idea is feasible, the club is looking for a number of volunteers to work in shifts to help electronically count the vehicles at that spot over the course of one day (note - this is likely to be a weekday).
If you were able to spare an hour or two and would like to register an interest in this or any future volunteering opportunities, please send an email to [email protected] and we will be in touch with more detail when we have it.
If there was sufficient interest, this could be the start of a SMISA volunteer pool of people who use their collective skills to work on various club and community projects as and when required.
This could be ideal for members who are perhaps retired and willing to give up some time to, or those who are looking for something to add to their CV.

Photo of David Nicol by Drew Reid ©
Welcome to the latest update from the trust committee.
It’s now been around six weeks since our joint bid for the club with Gordon Scott went through and we’ve continued to be busy behind the scenes.
It’s been a massive transition for us, with our member numbers going from 200 to nearly 1,400 and our annual income from four figures to six, but we feel we now have the back-end admin and financial processes we need in place to deal with that increase in workload.
Our member numbers have held pretty steady throughout August and as of the end of the month were sitting at 1,370.
Along the way we have lost a few and gained a few and we expect that is how it will be – we know from our discussions with friends at the Foundation of Hearts that numbers will vary.
Obviously it is important we maintain our numbers as the years go on and we aim to do that by showing members the benefit their money is having on St Mirren and the local community.
The £2 per month members pot
With that in mind, we will soon be in a position to start investing your cash in the club.
As we told you last month, the plan is to spend the £2 ringfenced from each member’s monthly subscription on a quarterly basis.
The September subscriptions will be the third tranche of #BuyTheBuds money, meaning we will have in the region of £8,000 to invest in the club as the members choose at some point soon.
The plan is for the SMISA committee to speak to the club about their priorities for investment, to survey members over their priorities and ideas, and compile all of that into several costed spending options through which members will vote via secure online ballot.
We are still finalising the details of the exact procedure through which we will do this, but will be in touch with members soon regarding the next steps.
SMISA director and club matters
As you know, SMISA committee member David Nicol is now on the board of the club. Dave’s feedback from the first of the board meetings is that they have been really positive and that Gordon Scott in particular has lots of ideas he wants to implement at the club.
On club matters, it is important to again stress that SMISA is not directly responsible for club business – the club board control club operations, as has always been the case.
But the benefit to having a SMISA rep on the board is that we have a man in the room who can raise issues which matter to our members.
If there is something you wish Dave to raise for possible consideration at a club board meeting then let us know via [email protected]
We would also remind you that Dave’s appointment is only temporary for the time being – we plan to hold an election before the end of the year where members will choose who will do the job over the longer-term.
Open meeting – 5 September
To give members a chance to speak directly with the SMISA committee and to raise any issues they wish to discuss, we will be having a drop-in session during one of our regular meetings.
We will be in the back room at Saporito Coffee in Gauze Street, Paisley, on Monday 5 September between 7 and 8pm.
If there is anything you want to talk to us about, please pop by.
Events and benefits update
We ran our first public event since #BuyTheBuds became reality when more than 100 fans joined us for a fan party in the library cafe at the University of the West of Scotland after the Morton game.
Gordon Scott, Alex Rae and Tony Fitzpatrick joined us and addressed the crowd, as did SMISA chair George Adam and director Dave Nicol.
We want to thank everybody for coming along, as well as UWS for hosting and Billy Gray for being DJ on the night.
We have also started to roll out the benefits due to those who signed up the #BuyTheBuds through the £2,500 premium package – with some of those members joining the squad during the official team photo last week.
Some of the £25 per month members have also been picked to enjoy directors guest lounge access at the Paisley 2021 Stadium for home games.
Paul Wycherley was the man chosen from the hat for the Hibs game and we'll announce the winner for the the Queen of the South game on Saturday 10th shortly.
We are also working on plans for the first of the exclusive £25 per month members events, and hope to have more free events for all members at some point too.
In the meantime, you can contact us via [email protected] if there are any queries.
The SMISA Committee
 
Original article from smisa.net

Welcome to Jack
The club this week confirmed the appointment of Jack Ross as the new manager and the SMISA committee would like to welcome Jack to the Paisley 2021 Stadium.
SMISA's man on the club board David Nicol was obviously involved in the recruitment process and we know Jack really impressed the board with his vision for the club and that they see him as a good fit for their long-term plans.
It was also encouraging to see him talking up the benefits of fan ownership in his interview on the official website today - for those who missed it, there's a good insight into his approach here.
It goes without saying supporting St Mirren hasn't been easy over the past few years and maybe the atmosphere hasn't always helped matters on the pitch.
But we now have a new manager, a new board and a new opportunity to move forward as a club. We hope all members and fans will give their full support to Jack and the team, and hopefully better days lie ahead.
Latest member numbers
Current membership numbers as of the start of October are 1344. That is slightly down on last month but we always expected that over time numbers would tail off and we budgeted on that basis.
Of the handful of cancellations, the feedback we have from those who wrote to us is that their reasons were purely down to finance.
We have been given no indication anybody has left because they are unhappy with the job we are doing or because of results on the park.
As always we would stress the work to take the club into majority fan ownership is a long-term project which will take years to save up for, and that means we need a long-term commitment from as many members to stay the course as possible.
First £2 pot spend
One of the key ways we will be keeping everybody engaged is by spending the £2 proportion of your monthly membership, which we plan to do every three months.
We wrote to you last week with the results of the survey we ran on your priorities and the feedback from that will be used to inform future spending decisions.
As we explained in that update, the bulk of the £8,500 raised through the first three months of #BuyTheBuds money will be used to make up the shortfall (estimated at £6,000-7,000) on the club’s planned disabled platform at the back of the main stand.
But we asked the members to vote on where the remainder of the money should go – either into youth development or to be left in the pot for future investment.
Voting closed earlier in the week and the results were as follows:
Option 1 (Spend on Youth Academy)
43% 325
Option 2 (Carry funds over)
57% 430
Director election
As you know, one of the key points of the #BuyTheBuds campaign is that you the members can elect one of your own to represent you on the club board.
SMISA committee member David Nicol has been doing this role for the past couple of months but it was always our plan to hold an election to be concluded before the club AGM at the end of the year.
We have now produced a set of election rules, along with a timetable detailing how the process will unfold over the next couple of months.
The first stage of that will be a nomination period where any interested members will be able to put themselves forward to go on to the ballot.
The full set of election rules, including details of how to nominate yourself, will be sent out later this week, along with a job description outlining the expected duties of a SMISA rep on the club board.
Volunteer call to action
Something both the SMISA committee and Gordon Scott are keen to investigate is how to harness the membership’s collective power to volunteer on projects which will help the club and community.
The club have approached us with a couple of projects which they need some extra pairs of hands on and have asked if SMISA members are willing to provide them.
The first project involves the possibility of the club installing an electronic advertising billboard on land at the north end of the stadium, which could be a very lucrative income stream.
However the companies who operate these boards will only install one if they know there will be a certain amount of traffic at that location each day.
So to find out if this idea is feasible, the club is looking for a number of volunteers to work in shifts to help electronically count the vehicles at that spot over the course of one day (note - this is likely to be a weekday).
If you were able to spare an hour or two and would like to register an interest in this or any future volunteering opportunities, please send an email to [email protected] and we will be in touch with more detail when we have it.
If there was sufficient interest, this could be the start of a SMISA volunteer pool of people who use their collective skills to work on various club and community projects as and when required.
This could be ideal for members who are perhaps retired and willing to give up some time to, or those who are looking for something to add to their CV.

Welcome to Jack
The club this week confirmed the appointment of Jack Ross as the new manager and the SMISA committee would like to welcome Jack to the Paisley 2021 Stadium.
SMISA's man on the club board David Nicol was obviously involved in the recruitment process and we know Jack really impressed the board with his vision for the club and that they see him as a good fit for their long-term plans.
It was also encouraging to see him talking up the benefits of fan ownership in his interview on the official website today - for those who missed it, there's a good insight into his approach here.
It goes without saying supporting St Mirren hasn't been easy over the past few years and maybe the atmosphere hasn't always helped matters on the pitch.
But we now have a new manager, a new board and a new opportunity to move forward as a club. We hope all members and fans will give their full support to Jack and the team, and hopefully better days lie ahead.
Latest member numbers
Current membership numbers as of the start of October are 1344. That is slightly down on last month but we always expected that over time numbers would tail off and we budgeted on that basis.
Of the handful of cancellations, the feedback we have from those who wrote to us is that their reasons were purely down to finance.
We have been given no indication anybody has left because they are unhappy with the job we are doing or because of results on the park.
As always we would stress the work to take the club into majority fan ownership is a long-term project which will take years to save up for, and that means we need a long-term commitment from as many members to stay the course as possible.
First £2 pot spend
One of the key ways we will be keeping everybody engaged is by spending the £2 proportion of your monthly membership, which we plan to do every three months.
We wrote to you last week with the results of the survey we ran on your priorities and the feedback from that will be used to inform future spending decisions.
As we explained in that update, the bulk of the £8,500 raised through the first three months of #BuyTheBuds money will be used to make up the shortfall (estimated at £6,000-7,000) on the club’s planned disabled platform at the back of the main stand.
But we asked the members to vote on where the remainder of the money should go – either into youth development or to be left in the pot for future investment.
Voting closed earlier in the week and the results were as follows:
Option 1 (Spend on Youth Academy)
43% 325
Option 2 (Carry funds over)
57% 430
Director election
As you know, one of the key points of the #BuyTheBuds campaign is that you the members can elect one of your own to represent you on the club board.
SMISA committee member David Nicol has been doing this role for the past couple of months but it was always our plan to hold an election to be concluded before the club AGM at the end of the year.
We have now produced a set of election rules, along with a timetable detailing how the process will unfold over the next couple of months.
The first stage of that will be a nomination period where any interested members will be able to put themselves forward to go on to the ballot.
The full set of election rules, including details of how to nominate yourself, will be sent out later this week, along with a job description outlining the expected duties of a SMISA rep on the club board.
Volunteer call to action
Something both the SMISA committee and Gordon Scott are keen to investigate is how to harness the membership’s collective power to volunteer on projects which will help the club and community.
The club have approached us with a couple of projects which they need some extra pairs of hands on and have asked if SMISA members are willing to provide them.
The first project involves the possibility of the club installing an electronic advertising billboard on land at the north end of the stadium, which could be a very lucrative income stream.
However the companies who operate these boards will only install one if they know there will be a certain amount of traffic at that location each day.
So to find out if this idea is feasible, the club is looking for a number of volunteers to work in shifts to help electronically count the vehicles at that spot over the course of one day (note - this is likely to be a weekday).
If you were able to spare an hour or two and would like to register an interest in this or any future volunteering opportunities, please send an email to [email protected] and we will be in touch with more detail when we have it.
If there was sufficient interest, this could be the start of a SMISA volunteer pool of people who use their collective skills to work on various club and community projects as and when required.
This could be ideal for members who are perhaps retired and willing to give up some time to, or those who are looking for something to add to their CV.

Welcome to Jack
The club this week confirmed the appointment of Jack Ross as the new manager and the SMISA committee would like to welcome Jack to the Paisley 2021 Stadium.
SMISA's man on the club board David Nicol was obviously involved in the recruitment process and we know Jack really impressed the board with his vision for the club and that they see him as a good fit for their long-term plans.
It was also encouraging to see him talking up the benefits of fan ownership in his interview on the official website today - for those who missed it, there's a good insight into his approach here.
It goes without saying supporting St Mirren hasn't been easy over the past few years and maybe the atmosphere hasn't always helped matters on the pitch.
But we now have a new manager, a new board and a new opportunity to move forward as a club. We hope all members and fans will give their full support to Jack and the team, and hopefully better days lie ahead.
Latest member numbers
Current membership numbers as of the start of October are 1344. That is slightly down on last month but we always expected that over time numbers would tail off and we budgeted on that basis.
Of the handful of cancellations, the feedback we have from those who wrote to us is that their reasons were purely down to finance.
We have been given no indication anybody has left because they are unhappy with the job we are doing or because of results on the park.
As always we would stress the work to take the club into majority fan ownership is a long-term project which will take years to save up for, and that means we need a long-term commitment from as many members to stay the course as possible.
First £2 pot spend
One of the key ways we will be keeping everybody engaged is by spending the £2 proportion of your monthly membership, which we plan to do every three months.
We wrote to you last week with the results of the survey we ran on your priorities and the feedback from that will be used to inform future spending decisions.
As we explained in that update, the bulk of the £8,500 raised through the first three months of #BuyTheBuds money will be used to make up the shortfall (estimated at £6,000-7,000) on the club’s planned disabled platform at the back of the main stand.
But we asked the members to vote on where the remainder of the money should go – either into youth development or to be left in the pot for future investment.
Voting closed earlier in the week and the results were as follows:
Option 1 (Spend on Youth Academy)
43% 325
Option 2 (Carry funds over)
57% 430
Director election
As you know, one of the key points of the #BuyTheBuds campaign is that you the members can elect one of your own to represent you on the club board.
SMISA committee member David Nicol has been doing this role for the past couple of months but it was always our plan to hold an election to be concluded before the club AGM at the end of the year.
We have now produced a set of election rules, along with a timetable detailing how the process will unfold over the next couple of months.
The first stage of that will be a nomination period where any interested members will be able to put themselves forward to go on to the ballot.
The full set of election rules, including details of how to nominate yourself, will be sent out later this week, along with a job description outlining the expected duties of a SMISA rep on the club board.
Volunteer call to action
Something both the SMISA committee and Gordon Scott are keen to investigate is how to harness the membership’s collective power to volunteer on projects which will help the club and community.
The club have approached us with a couple of projects which they need some extra pairs of hands on and have asked if SMISA members are willing to provide them.
The first project involves the possibility of the club installing an electronic advertising billboard on land at the north end of the stadium, which could be a very lucrative income stream.
However the companies who operate these boards will only install one if they know there will be a certain amount of traffic at that location each day.
So to find out if this idea is feasible, the club is looking for a number of volunteers to work in shifts to help electronically count the vehicles at that spot over the course of one day (note - this is likely to be a weekday).
If you were able to spare an hour or two and would like to register an interest in this or any future volunteering opportunities, please send an email to [email protected] and we will be in touch with more detail when we have it.
If there was sufficient interest, this could be the start of a SMISA volunteer pool of people who use their collective skills to work on various club and community projects as and when required.
This could be ideal for members who are perhaps retired and willing to give up some time to, or those who are looking for something to add to their CV.

Welcome to Jack
The club this week confirmed the appointment of Jack Ross as the new manager and the SMISA committee would like to welcome Jack to the Paisley 2021 Stadium.
SMISA's man on the club board David Nicol was obviously involved in the recruitment process and we know Jack really impressed the board with his vision for the club and that they see him as a good fit for their long-term plans.
It was also encouraging to see him talking up the benefits of fan ownership in his interview on the official website today - for those who missed it, there's a good insight into his approach here.
It goes without saying supporting St Mirren hasn't been easy over the past few years and maybe the atmosphere hasn't always helped matters on the pitch.
But we now have a new manager, a new board and a new opportunity to move forward as a club. We hope all members and fans will give their full support to Jack and the team, and hopefully better days lie ahead.
Latest member numbers
Current membership numbers as of the start of October are 1344. That is slightly down on last month but we always expected that over time numbers would tail off and we budgeted on that basis.
Of the handful of cancellations, the feedback we have from those who wrote to us is that their reasons were purely down to finance.
We have been given no indication anybody has left because they are unhappy with the job we are doing or because of results on the park.
As always we would stress the work to take the club into majority fan ownership is a long-term project which will take years to save up for, and that means we need a long-term commitment from as many members to stay the course as possible.
First £2 pot spend
One of the key ways we will be keeping everybody engaged is by spending the £2 proportion of your monthly membership, which we plan to do every three months.
We wrote to you last week with the results of the survey we ran on your priorities and the feedback from that will be used to inform future spending decisions.
As we explained in that update, the bulk of the £8,500 raised through the first three months of #BuyTheBuds money will be used to make up the shortfall (estimated at £6,000-7,000) on the club’s planned disabled platform at the back of the main stand.
But we asked the members to vote on where the remainder of the money should go – either into youth development or to be left in the pot for future investment.
Voting closed earlier in the week and the results were as follows:
Option 1 (Spend on Youth Academy)
43% 325
Option 2 (Carry funds over)
57% 430
Director election
As you know, one of the key points of the #BuyTheBuds campaign is that you the members can elect one of your own to represent you on the club board.
SMISA committee member David Nicol has been doing this role for the past couple of months but it was always our plan to hold an election to be concluded before the club AGM at the end of the year.
We have now produced a set of election rules, along with a timetable detailing how the process will unfold over the next couple of months.
The first stage of that will be a nomination period where any interested members will be able to put themselves forward to go on to the ballot.
The full set of election rules, including details of how to nominate yourself, will be sent out later this week, along with a job description outlining the expected duties of a SMISA rep on the club board.
Volunteer call to action
Something both the SMISA committee and Gordon Scott are keen to investigate is how to harness the membership’s collective power to volunteer on projects which will help the club and community.
The club have approached us with a couple of projects which they need some extra pairs of hands on and have asked if SMISA members are willing to provide them.
The first project involves the possibility of the club installing an electronic advertising billboard on land at the north end of the stadium, which could be a very lucrative income stream.
However the companies who operate these boards will only install one if they know there will be a certain amount of traffic at that location each day.
So to find out if this idea is feasible, the club is looking for a number of volunteers to work in shifts to help electronically count the vehicles at that spot over the course of one day (note - this is likely to be a weekday).
If you were able to spare an hour or two and would like to register an interest in this or any future volunteering opportunities, please send an email to [email protected] and we will be in touch with more detail when we have it.
If there was sufficient interest, this could be the start of a SMISA volunteer pool of people who use their collective skills to work on various club and community projects as and when required.
This could be ideal for members who are perhaps retired and willing to give up some time to, or those who are looking for something to add to their CV.

I have followed the forums on Black and White Army over the years. It has been clear that a number of internal feuds and pseudo feuds have arisen and taken root. 
It seems too almost now standard to ridicule the views of others, tournaments, the club, the board, the manager, team, players, fans and the opposition.
Now, banter is good. We all enjoy that. Argument is both good and healthy. But ridicule and the use of bad language merely for effect are not.
Is respect for each other now dead? Is that what we want in the forum/
Only asking?

Photo of David Nicol by Drew Reid ©
Welcome to the latest update from the trust committee.
It’s now been around six weeks since our joint bid for the club with Gordon Scott went through and we’ve continued to be busy behind the scenes.
It’s been a massive transition for us, with our member numbers going from 200 to nearly 1,400 and our annual income from four figures to six, but we feel we now have the back-end admin and financial processes we need in place to deal with that increase in workload.
Our member numbers have held pretty steady throughout August and as of the end of the month were sitting at 1,370.
Along the way we have lost a few and gained a few and we expect that is how it will be – we know from our discussions with friends at the Foundation of Hearts that numbers will vary.
Obviously it is important we maintain our numbers as the years go on and we aim to do that by showing members the benefit their money is having on St Mirren and the local community.
The £2 per month members pot
With that in mind, we will soon be in a position to start investing your cash in the club.
As we told you last month, the plan is to spend the £2 ringfenced from each member’s monthly subscription on a quarterly basis.
The September subscriptions will be the third tranche of #BuyTheBuds money, meaning we will have in the region of £8,000 to invest in the club as the members choose at some point soon.
The plan is for the SMISA committee to speak to the club about their priorities for investment, to survey members over their priorities and ideas, and compile all of that into several costed spending options through which members will vote via secure online ballot.
We are still finalising the details of the exact procedure through which we will do this, but will be in touch with members soon regarding the next steps.
SMISA director and club matters
As you know, SMISA committee member David Nicol is now on the board of the club. Dave’s feedback from the first of the board meetings is that they have been really positive and that Gordon Scott in particular has lots of ideas he wants to implement at the club.
On club matters, it is important to again stress that SMISA is not directly responsible for club business – the club board control club operations, as has always been the case.
But the benefit to having a SMISA rep on the board is that we have a man in the room who can raise issues which matter to our members.
If there is something you wish Dave to raise for possible consideration at a club board meeting then let us know via [email protected]
We would also remind you that Dave’s appointment is only temporary for the time being – we plan to hold an election before the end of the year where members will choose who will do the job over the longer-term.
Open meeting – 5 September
To give members a chance to speak directly with the SMISA committee and to raise any issues they wish to discuss, we will be having a drop-in session during one of our regular meetings.
We will be in the back room at Saporito Coffee in Gauze Street, Paisley, on Monday 5 September between 7 and 8pm.
If there is anything you want to talk to us about, please pop by.
Events and benefits update
We ran our first public event since #BuyTheBuds became reality when more than 100 fans joined us for a fan party in the library cafe at the University of the West of Scotland after the Morton game.
Gordon Scott, Alex Rae and Tony Fitzpatrick joined us and addressed the crowd, as did SMISA chair George Adam and director Dave Nicol.
We want to thank everybody for coming along, as well as UWS for hosting and Billy Gray for being DJ on the night.
We have also started to roll out the benefits due to those who signed up the #BuyTheBuds through the £2,500 premium package – with some of those members joining the squad during the official team photo last week.
Some of the £25 per month members have also been picked to enjoy directors guest lounge access at the Paisley 2021 Stadium for home games.
Paul Wycherley was the man chosen from the hat for the Hibs game and we'll announce the winner for the the Queen of the South game on Saturday 10th shortly.
We are also working on plans for the first of the exclusive £25 per month members events, and hope to have more free events for all members at some point too.
In the meantime, you can contact us via [email protected] if there are any queries.
The SMISA Committee
 
Original article from smisa.net

Photo of David Nicol by Drew Reid ©
Welcome to the latest update from the trust committee.
It’s now been around six weeks since our joint bid for the club with Gordon Scott went through and we’ve continued to be busy behind the scenes.
It’s been a massive transition for us, with our member numbers going from 200 to nearly 1,400 and our annual income from four figures to six, but we feel we now have the back-end admin and financial processes we need in place to deal with that increase in workload.
Our member numbers have held pretty steady throughout August and as of the end of the month were sitting at 1,370.
Along the way we have lost a few and gained a few and we expect that is how it will be – we know from our discussions with friends at the Foundation of Hearts that numbers will vary.
Obviously it is important we maintain our numbers as the years go on and we aim to do that by showing members the benefit their money is having on St Mirren and the local community.
The £2 per month members pot
With that in mind, we will soon be in a position to start investing your cash in the club.
As we told you last month, the plan is to spend the £2 ringfenced from each member’s monthly subscription on a quarterly basis.
The September subscriptions will be the third tranche of #BuyTheBuds money, meaning we will have in the region of £8,000 to invest in the club as the members choose at some point soon.
The plan is for the SMISA committee to speak to the club about their priorities for investment, to survey members over their priorities and ideas, and compile all of that into several costed spending options through which members will vote via secure online ballot.
We are still finalising the details of the exact procedure through which we will do this, but will be in touch with members soon regarding the next steps.
SMISA director and club matters
As you know, SMISA committee member David Nicol is now on the board of the club. Dave’s feedback from the first of the board meetings is that they have been really positive and that Gordon Scott in particular has lots of ideas he wants to implement at the club.
On club matters, it is important to again stress that SMISA is not directly responsible for club business – the club board control club operations, as has always been the case.
But the benefit to having a SMISA rep on the board is that we have a man in the room who can raise issues which matter to our members.
If there is something you wish Dave to raise for possible consideration at a club board meeting then let us know via [email protected]
We would also remind you that Dave’s appointment is only temporary for the time being – we plan to hold an election before the end of the year where members will choose who will do the job over the longer-term.
Open meeting – 5 September
To give members a chance to speak directly with the SMISA committee and to raise any issues they wish to discuss, we will be having a drop-in session during one of our regular meetings.
We will be in the back room at Saporito Coffee in Gauze Street, Paisley, on Monday 5 September between 7 and 8pm.
If there is anything you want to talk to us about, please pop by.
Events and benefits update
We ran our first public event since #BuyTheBuds became reality when more than 100 fans joined us for a fan party in the library cafe at the University of the West of Scotland after the Morton game.
Gordon Scott, Alex Rae and Tony Fitzpatrick joined us and addressed the crowd, as did SMISA chair George Adam and director Dave Nicol.
We want to thank everybody for coming along, as well as UWS for hosting and Billy Gray for being DJ on the night.
We have also started to roll out the benefits due to those who signed up the #BuyTheBuds through the £2,500 premium package – with some of those members joining the squad during the official team photo last week.
Some of the £25 per month members have also been picked to enjoy directors guest lounge access at the Paisley 2021 Stadium for home games.
Paul Wycherley was the man chosen from the hat for the Hibs game and we'll announce the winner for the the Queen of the South game on Saturday 10th shortly.
We are also working on plans for the first of the exclusive £25 per month members events, and hope to have more free events for all members at some point too.
In the meantime, you can contact us via [email protected] if there are any queries.
The SMISA Committee
 
Original article from smisa.net

Photo of David Nicol by Drew Reid ©
Welcome to the latest update from the trust committee.
It’s now been around six weeks since our joint bid for the club with Gordon Scott went through and we’ve continued to be busy behind the scenes.
It’s been a massive transition for us, with our member numbers going from 200 to nearly 1,400 and our annual income from four figures to six, but we feel we now have the back-end admin and financial processes we need in place to deal with that increase in workload.
Our member numbers have held pretty steady throughout August and as of the end of the month were sitting at 1,370.
Along the way we have lost a few and gained a few and we expect that is how it will be – we know from our discussions with friends at the Foundation of Hearts that numbers will vary.
Obviously it is important we maintain our numbers as the years go on and we aim to do that by showing members the benefit their money is having on St Mirren and the local community.
The £2 per month members pot
With that in mind, we will soon be in a position to start investing your cash in the club.
As we told you last month, the plan is to spend the £2 ringfenced from each member’s monthly subscription on a quarterly basis.
The September subscriptions will be the third tranche of #BuyTheBuds money, meaning we will have in the region of £8,000 to invest in the club as the members choose at some point soon.
The plan is for the SMISA committee to speak to the club about their priorities for investment, to survey members over their priorities and ideas, and compile all of that into several costed spending options through which members will vote via secure online ballot.
We are still finalising the details of the exact procedure through which we will do this, but will be in touch with members soon regarding the next steps.
SMISA director and club matters
As you know, SMISA committee member David Nicol is now on the board of the club. Dave’s feedback from the first of the board meetings is that they have been really positive and that Gordon Scott in particular has lots of ideas he wants to implement at the club.
On club matters, it is important to again stress that SMISA is not directly responsible for club business – the club board control club operations, as has always been the case.
But the benefit to having a SMISA rep on the board is that we have a man in the room who can raise issues which matter to our members.
If there is something you wish Dave to raise for possible consideration at a club board meeting then let us know via [email protected]
We would also remind you that Dave’s appointment is only temporary for the time being – we plan to hold an election before the end of the year where members will choose who will do the job over the longer-term.
Open meeting – 5 September
To give members a chance to speak directly with the SMISA committee and to raise any issues they wish to discuss, we will be having a drop-in session during one of our regular meetings.
We will be in the back room at Saporito Coffee in Gauze Street, Paisley, on Monday 5 September between 7 and 8pm.
If there is anything you want to talk to us about, please pop by.
Events and benefits update
We ran our first public event since #BuyTheBuds became reality when more than 100 fans joined us for a fan party in the library cafe at the University of the West of Scotland after the Morton game.
Gordon Scott, Alex Rae and Tony Fitzpatrick joined us and addressed the crowd, as did SMISA chair George Adam and director Dave Nicol.
We want to thank everybody for coming along, as well as UWS for hosting and Billy Gray for being DJ on the night.
We have also started to roll out the benefits due to those who signed up the #BuyTheBuds through the £2,500 premium package – with some of those members joining the squad during the official team photo last week.
Some of the £25 per month members have also been picked to enjoy directors guest lounge access at the Paisley 2021 Stadium for home games.
Paul Wycherley was the man chosen from the hat for the Hibs game and we'll announce the winner for the the Queen of the South game on Saturday 10th shortly.
We are also working on plans for the first of the exclusive £25 per month members events, and hope to have more free events for all members at some point too.
In the meantime, you can contact us via [email protected] if there are any queries.
The SMISA Committee
 
Original article from smisa.net