Stuart Dickson

I don't think that is any of your business

Ok have a "like" for the post but you'll have to excuse my scepticism until I see proper action from SMiSA in meeting their obligations as a Community Benefit Society. I'm not sure what SMiSA are busy with, since you refuse to publish your minutes, but if it isn't putting the club at the heart of the community you've got your priorities arse from elbow.

Saw him live at the Usher Hall on that tour. Is the story about his run in with the Aberdeen fans on the DVD?

If the football club dies, Paisley wouldn't give a f**k Antrin. That's the sad truth of the matter. Crowds didn't swell in 1997-8 when the clubs future was threatened and they've seldom been engaged since. SMiSA have said they will put the club back at the heart of the community. They are the community benefit society with a responsibility to the community. Yet they've gifted away money in a secondary purpose to a commercial company to pay wages to a professional footballer. The football club board should have raised the money themselves and not gone anywhere near members funds. There are a number of operations that need sorting out within the club that could easily have raised the equivalent money from within. The sad fact is that rather take on the challenge of making club operations efficient they've put out the begging bowl to the fans to continue to fund this poorly run operation.

Yes you did.....

Yes, I read all that yesterday Buddiecat. But which part of any of that was SMiSA - the Community Benefit Society - involved in? And in what way does gifting £9,000 of the Society's money to a commercial operation - for nothing in return - to cover staff wages, benefit the wider community?

Done something already.

St Mirren aren't rumoured to be signing me, even though, at the age of 46 and with two f**ked knees, I could probably still do a better job than Naismith.

Are you not a SMiSA member? If you were you would have seen their e-mail asking for any questions relating to the clubs annual accounts. I responded with my question several days before resigning my membership.

Not in any way. Nor do I know Craig Storie. However I referenced this article in a post at the beginning of the month regarding the kind of attitudes that are prevalent in some of our inflated ego kids as a result of the Pro Youth Elite system and the kind of shite that gets pumped into these kids heads and a number of fans condemned that kind of behaviour. Now, because he's rumoured to be signing for St Mirren - no doubt using the money gifted to the club by SMiSA - the story isn't to be believed, despite the fact the player has admitted his sexual assault. It's a bit of a nothing story in many ways. But he does sound like an utter knob.

He admits to "flicking the girls backside". I'm surprised you'd want to take his side given that revelation. Still, by all means, you carry on with your hypocrisy.

I think Ayrshire Saint might be struggling with the idea of having a full time commercial operation working to raise capital within the business to pay for a part time playing squad Shull. I don't think he's quite grasped the most important of business equations - that MONEY IN > MONEY OUT. Sadly he's showing the kind of logic that has led to the demise of several football clubs.

That's nonsense. There is absolutely no requirement for a community benefit society to employ solely volunteers. http://communityshares.org.uk/resources/handbook/community-benefit-societies SMiSA are failing under the FCA guidance when it comes to Purpose. Making a gift to a commercial business to cover staff wages cannot be described as being for the benefit of the community. The guidance couldn't be any clearer. Oh and someone should point out to Kenny Morrison that he too is wrong. A Community Benefit Society must be run for the wider interests of the community - not just the membership and some paid employees in a commercial business the BenComm owns some shares in. If that was the case then it would have been more fitting had SMiSA registered as a Co-Operative Society which it is not.

This Craig Storie? http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/scottish-news/dons-star-kicked-pub-because-9384983 Sounds like a fanny to me. No wonder Aberdeen want rid.

That might work, if clubs like St Mirren weren't continually queuing up to sign players that get released by the Old Firm. It means that the likes of Celtic and Rangers can justifiably tell parents and kids that if things don't work out for them there at least they'll get a career elsewhere. I wasn't impressed with the Hutton signing, and I wasn't impressed with him as a player. However the stick he took was completely over the top, especially since the lad playing right next to him - Mallan - who in many of the games I watched was demonstrably worse - was getting such an easy ride from the same supporters.

Sorry? Where? What poster is that?

So the club gets no money from the sale of the official merchandise?

Aye so far you've shown tremendous respect to Shull and me and our opinions. Stick your ballet up yer arse. I prefer football.

For the umpteenth time SMiSA is a Community Benefit Society. It enjoys certain privileges as a result. I do not believe that a Community Benefit Society gifting money to a commercial business for the purpose of either increasing a players salary or hiring an extra footballer for no return, is a legitimate way in which that Society should operate. As far as I can see it would, at the very least, be against the spirit of the FCA Guidelines under which BenComms are supposed to operate. As for "fellow fans", look if they were smart they would be having a much closer look right now at how the club operates and they should be demanding that the business takes steps to run itself far more efficiently in all areas of the club. If they were smart they would be demanding the kind of transparency that is sadly lacking from the SMISA "board" currently. They'd be questioning why the SMISA "board" is in breach of it's own constitution. And they would be questioning why the SMISA "board" took the rather extraordinary decision to co-opt two new members onto their "board" just prior to granting an interest free loan to the commercial business that members weren't consulted on. The fact that "fellow fans" appear not to care leads me to one of two conclusions - either these "fellow fans" are stupid, or they really don't give a f**k about the club they profess their undying love for. If you've got another conclusion I'd be happy to consider it.

What greater influence in ownership, governance and management of the club did they gain as a result of either the loan or the gifting away of money?

Tell me Kenny, it that was the case, what would be stopping - lets say - Amazon from setting up a Community Benefit Society as a tax efficient way of paying their profits into the business under the guise of looking after the community of shareholders of the company. I think you should perhaps take Gruffalos advice and have a wee look at the FCA guidelines are as to what the obligations are of the Society that you have been co-opted onto as a "Director".

That is not the purpose of a Community Benefit Society.

I think they have failed to show how gifting £9k of the Community Benefit Societies Funds to a £multi million business to assist with paying wages is benefiting the community. I think they also fail on a number of other points including the openness of the leadership. The failure to produce minutes of meetings for review by the membership and their attempt at setting a minimum criteria for the Community Benefit Society representative on the board of the football club also breach the guidelines as published, IMO.

Aye, it's not a bad wee shop given the retail space that it's got. It would have been interesting to get a breakdown in the accounts as to how much money the club shop brings in to the club and how much money the pie stall franchise makes the club. I did ask SMISA to ask the question for me at the AGM but I believe that request was ignored also.

They are though. They have misrepresented what they are about. They set up as a Community Benefit Society, they promised to put the club at the heart of the community, and they claim on their website that they wish to strengthen the bonds between the community and the club. I haven't made up any of that - it's all available on their website, yet to date they have completely misrepresented their offering and indeed one of their "directors" has posted claiming that the "Community" he thinks that SMiSA are there to benefit are paid employees of the football club. They are con men, they conned me into being a member. However all of that is a million miles away from any claim that anyone is lining their pockets.