Jump to content

Speculation Thread


jimdickloyal

Recommended Posts

17 minutes ago, SuperSaints1877 said:

I think the problem we had with the build was that it was done to a Tesco Savings rather than Finest budget.

IIRC the club had to push hard just to get 4 stands. I’d have hated it if we had ended up with a 2 or 3 sided stadium. 

I really don’t see the demand for increasing the capacity.

Indeed.

We were extremely fortunate to get a new stadium paid for by Tesco. We were in no position to be demanding the "ideal" stadium. 

Gordon Scott managed to get the best out of a fixed budget set by Tesco and we managed to get  many "extras" added onto the basic plans that were first presented. 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites


1 hour ago, FTOF said:

Indeed.

We were extremely fortunate to get a new stadium paid for by Tesco. We were in no position to be demanding the "ideal" stadium. 

Gordon Scott managed to get the best out of a fixed budget set by Tesco and we managed to get  many "extras" added onto the basic plans that were first presented. 

 

I can see both sides of the argument about the size and layout balanced against the budget we had. It was also an opportunity for directors loans to be repaid and I can’t/won’t argue against that either. 

My thoughts are that there may well be a mid term approach taken which works over 3 seasons till we are in our final position on the use of the stands and perhaps 5 before we look at increasing capacity and rental space.
 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Our dinky little purpose-built stadium (according to Wikipedia) is the 21st largest football stadium in Scotland - behind the likes of Ayr United, Airdrie, Raith Rovers, Livingston and Falkirk. Remember Paisley is the largest town in Scotland after the so-called cities.

We are on a par with the likes of Inverness Caley, Clyde and Arbroath.

That's forward planning for you buddies!

This is why we have to allocate 2 stands to the ugly sisters - at the expense and inconvenience of the loyal home fans.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

12 minutes ago, northstbuddie said:

Our dinky little purpose-built stadium (according to Wikipedia) is the 21st largest football stadium in Scotland - behind the likes of Ayr United, Airdrie, Raith Rovers, Livingston and Falkirk. Remember Paisley is the largest town in Scotland after the so-called cities.

We are on a par with the likes of Inverness Caley, Clyde and Arbroath.

That's forward planning for you buddies!

This is why we have to allocate 2 stands to the ugly sisters - at the expense and inconvenience of the loyal home fans.

It's called living within your means.

We can afford the upkeep of our stadium. 

We rarely come close to filling our stadium and to think we would ever fill it regularly is pie in the sky stuff. Looking at the attendances since the stadium was built, it looks like the capacity is more than adequate. Looks like the forward planning was indeed spot on.

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

6 minutes ago, FTOF said:

It's called living within your means.

We can afford the upkeep of our stadium. 

We rarely come close to filling our stadium and to think we would ever fill it regularly is pie in the sky stuff. Looking at the attendances since the stadium was built, it looks like the capacity is more than adequate. Looks like the forward planning was indeed spot on.

 

 

100%, I remember when the stadium was getting built and I was "disappointed" it was quite small. :lol:

Shows what I know, we've never looked like filling it on a regular basis and probably never will.

It is what it is, suitable for our fan base. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

8 minutes ago, FTOF said:

It's called living within your means.

We can afford the upkeep of our stadium. 

We rarely come close to filling our stadium and to think we would ever fill it regularly is pie in the sky stuff. Looking at the attendances since the stadium was built, it looks like the capacity is more than adequate. Looks like the forward planning was indeed spot on.

 

 

Indeed - it was spot on for a club with our ambitions.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 minutes ago, northstbuddie said:

Indeed - it was spot on for a club with our ambitions.

Give it time NSB. We had a budget to work to and  we had directors loans to repay (quite sizeable if I remember rightly) and without them we wouldn’t have stayed in existence. The club was then for sale for years and nothing bar maintenance would have been considered by the board. Who would have financed it? Not the selling board. 
 

It is possible to keep the main stand and family stand for our own support and give half of the West Stand to large travelling supports as the West Stand has, I believe, two sets of toilets and two catering units. As we sit in the west stand, I am not too keen on this solution but, in practice, it’s probably the easiest to do. 
 

Longer term, I do so opportunities to fill in the corners and I would start with the North Stand which would then accommodate more away fans. As we intend to increase prices for these then that produces the best return.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

It's hard to think of another club in Scotland with our population base who have under-achieved to the extent of St Mirren since the 1980s.

Despite that, we managed a cup win in !987 and a league cup win in 2013 - an indication of our potential compared to the likes of Ayr United, Airdrie, Raith Rovers, Livingston and Falkirk.

However, that IMO was due more to the players and management at the time, rather than the board.

On-field success has not been matched behind the scenes to maintain the standing of the club within the Scottish context for a town the size of Paisley and surrounding area. We have consistently fallen considerably short of the likes of Kilmarnock, Motherwell and even St Johnstone (although in the case of the latter, not in attendances).

 

PS: I do acknowledge the success of the board in providing the training facilities at Ralston but consider that St Mirren should be attracting larger crowds than it has done for the past few decades.

Edited by northstbuddie
Link to comment
Share on other sites

4 minutes ago, northstbuddie said:

It's hard to think of another club in Scotland with our population base who have under-achieved to the extent of St Mirren since the 1980s.

Despite that, we managed a cup win in !987 and a league cup win in 2013 - an indication of our potential compared to the likes of Ayr United, Airdrie, Raith Rovers, Livingston and Falkirk.

 However, that IMO was due more to the players and management at the time, rather than the board.

On-field success has not been matched behind the scenes to maintain the standing of the club within the Scottish context for a town the size of Paisley and surrounding area. We have consistently fallen considerably short of the likes of Kilmarnock, Motherwell and even St Johnstone (although in the case of the latter, not in attendances).

No disagreement from me on this NSB but have a feeling that ,once the new ownership model settles down, that we will start to change things on and off the field with the biggest challenges being off the field of play.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

8 minutes ago, northstbuddie said:

On what evidence do you base that assumption?

The general apathy of the Paisley public towards the club.

Even when we have been successful in the past few seasons, we haven't come close to filling the ground with our own support, on a regular basis.

People seem to think that there's this vast number of St.Mirren fans that choose not to attend games and that they can be wooed back to attend games. In my experience there isn't. Sadly, in today's world, for many people there are many more attractive and/or important things to do than watch St.Mirren.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

4 minutes ago, FTOF said:

The general apathy of the Paisley public towards the club.

Even when we have been successful in the past few seasons, we haven't come close to filling the ground with our own support, on a regular basis.

People seem to think that there's this vast number of St.Mirren fans that choose not to attend games and that they can be wooed back to attend games. In my experience there isn't. Sadly, in today's world, for many people there are many more attractive and/or important things to do than watch St.Mirren.

FTOF. Would you agree that attendances were on the way up pre-covid? You are right to point out that people have many more opportunities available to them for entertainment. In some ways, the widespread tv coverage of the game in England seems to have fuelled a growth in people attending. Better coverage here, improved marketing of the game and more involvement with the community at all levels locally would I feel keep an upwards trajectory in attendances. On field success obviously helps!!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

8 minutes ago, FTOF said:

The general apathy of the Paisley public towards the club.

Even when we have been successful in the past few seasons, we haven't come close to filling the ground with our own support, on a regular basis.

People seem to think that there's this vast number of St.Mirren fans that choose not to attend games and that they can be wooed back to attend games. In my experience there isn't. Sadly, in today's world, for many people there are many more attractive and/or important things to do than watch St.Mirren.

Strangely, I agree with your comments to some extent.

However, when we do manage to get to (or near) a final, we do manage to acquire a few thousand extra supporters from somewhere.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, northstbuddie said:

It's hard to think of another club in Scotland with our population base who have under-achieved to the extent of St Mirren since the 1980s.

 

What becomes of being next to Glasgow.  If we were ever to outclass the ugly sisters, our support would increase I have no doubt, but not in my life time.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Just now, pod said:

What becomes of being next to Glasgow.  If we were ever to outclass the ugly sisters, our support would increase I have no doubt, but not in my life time.

We don’t need to do that IMO. Were we doing that when any of us became St Mirren Fans? I don’t think so. One driving force for a number might have been to identify with a local team and to distance themselves from the OF nonsense. Both remain valid.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

14 minutes ago, northstbuddie said:

Strangely, I agree with your comments to some extent.

However, when we do manage to get to (or near) a final, we do manage to acquire a few thousand extra supporters from somewhere.

I think they're called glory hunters. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

58 minutes ago, Rascal said:

FTOF. Would you agree that attendances were on the way up pre-covid? You are right to point out that people have many more opportunities available to them for entertainment. In some ways, the widespread tv coverage of the game in England seems to have fuelled a growth in people attending. Better coverage here, improved marketing of the game and more involvement with the community at all levels locally would I feel keep an upwards trajectory in attendances. On field success obviously helps!!

Agree with you both that the close location to the glory hunter duo has an impact on attendances. Covid also has also allowed people to step away from the game. However our average attendance last year compared to 19/20 has dropped circa 650 people. Compare this to Motherwell, who have a similar proximity to Glasgow they have only dropped 200. In fact if you look at Motherwell they have since 2017 added an additional circa 1200 to their average attendance.

These numbers suggest to me that we have lost our own support and that we are not trying as hard as the likes of Motherwell to increase and retain our core support.

Covid and the Old Firm are easy fall backs. We will never be as successful as the ugly sisters however we have to market on what strengths we have.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

9 minutes ago, Brilliant Disguise said:

Agree with you both that the close location to the glory hunter duo has an impact on attendances. Covid also has also allowed people to step away from the game. However our average attendance last year compared to 19/20 has dropped circa 650 people. Compare this to Motherwell, who have a similar proximity to Glasgow they have only dropped 200. In fact if you look at Motherwell they have since 2017 added an additional circa 1200 to their average attendance.

These numbers suggest to me that we have lost our own support and that we are not trying as hard as the likes of Motherwell to increase and retain our core support.

Covid and the Old Firm are easy fall backs. We will never be as successful as the ugly sisters however we have to market on what strengths we have.

Did Motherwell not give out free season tickets to existing holders post covid and free kids tickets when a new season ticket holder purchased one?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Motherwell last won a major trophy in 1991 I believe. Aberdeen have hardly won anything since Fergie departed. 
The fact we have a fit for purpose stadium and training ground when those clubs have ageing stadiums can only help us during the next few years when money is going to be tight for supporters and sponsors alike.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, munoz said:

I think they're called glory hunters. 

How does that help anyone feel welcome?

People come or not entirely for their own reasons.

Nobody needs to justify the self and everyone should be made to feel welcome... Even if it is only for a cup final.

 

In 2013 I bought 6 tickets and brought 4 neutrals to join us 2 ST holders.

They were not glory hunters.

They came along and supported Saints at my request.

Many people attend games like that for nostalgic reasons. They are no less welcome.

A large number of fans return from abroad for such an occasion. Hardly practical to watch a league match but wholly understandable for a special occasion.

Rather than label them glory hunters, I'd simply welcome them to the fold. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 hours ago, FTOF said:

The general apathy of the Paisley public towards the club.

Even when we have been successful in the past few seasons, we haven't come close to filling the ground with our own support, on a regular basis.

People seem to think that there's this vast number of St.Mirren fans that choose not to attend games and that they can be wooed back to attend games. In my experience there isn't. Sadly, in today's world, for many people there are many more attractive and/or important things to do than watch St.Mirren.

Our first home game after taking roughly 30k fans to Hampden in 87 was v Dunfermline and there was a crowd of 4762

First game after taking 15k to Hampden in 2013 was v sellic so can’t really compare Our next game was Dundee Utd with a crowd of 3394

Link to comment
Share on other sites

22 minutes ago, SuperSaints1877 said:

Motherwell last won a major trophy in 1991 I believe. Aberdeen have hardly won anything since Fergie departed. 
The fact we have a fit for purpose stadium and training ground when those clubs have ageing stadiums can only help us during the next few years when money is going to be tight for supporters and sponsors alike.

 

Good points IMO.

The future looks bright for the Saints.

We have had our near bankruptcy period, came out of it with a new stadium but not a lot of cash. We’re run strictly within budget pre club sale and since. New owners, new board, more community emphasis. Once we get used to it, I think we will like it. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
×
×
  • Create New...