Family Stand

[ianmac]

I would also be interested to know how many people would take their kids to a Rangers/Celtic game in the Family stand and how many people take kids to the other stands when the Family Stand is given to them.

I certainly would not take my kids to theses games.

[BuddieinEK]

We have literally progressed on the park every single season since they came in & have the chance to do once again this season. 
 
By what possible parameter is that underachieving for a club that probably has one of the lowest budgets in the Premier league? 

"since they came in"?

You are raising that. Not me.

We have indeed shown progress on the park in recent years. I believe there is room for greater things off the park too. You seem to think not.

Fair enough.

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[bazil85]

18 minutes ago, BuddieinEK said:

"since they came in"?

You are raising that. Not me.

We have indeed shown progress on the park in recent years. I believe there is room for greater things off the park too. You seem to think not.

Fair enough.

Sent from my HD1913 using Tapatalk
 

That’s just rubbish, of course there’s room for improvement off the park. Never suggested once otherwise.
 

Let’s hope it comes… Likely would be very difficult right enough if some people got their way &  we had ownership & boardroom changes weeks/ months into arrangements, just because they didn't like the way some short-term oppositional issues were handled.  

[ianmac]

22 minutes ago, ianmac said:

I would also be interested to know how many people would take their kids to a Rangers/Celtic game in the Family stand and how many people take kids to the other stands when the Family Stand is given to them.

I certainly would not take my kids to theses games.

I should have added that I really dislike the atmosphere at these matches and that is partly due to them being at both ends of the ground.

I do not know if this is still the case, but I remember a good few years ago (at least 20) I worked with a guy who had a season ticket at Parkhead which excluded Old Firm (it still existed then 😀) matches.

Frankly, if I could get a similar deal which excluded Rangers and Celtic matches on my Saints West Stand season ticket I would probably take it.

[faraway saint]

1 minute ago, ianmac said:

I should have added that I really dislike the atmosphere at these matches and that is partly due to them being at both ends of the ground.

I do not know if this is still the case, but I remember a good few years ago (at least 20) I worked with a guy who had a season ticket at Parkhead which excluded Old Firm (it still existed then 😀) matches.

Frankly, if I could get a similar deal which excluded Rangers and Celtic matches on my Saints West Stand season ticket I would probably take it.

Worth considering that. 

[munoz]

I think the Rangers game will be Tony Fitzpatrick's last game in his current role. It might have been a good game to get as many families into the FS, free or otherwise, and give him the send off he deserves. 

[faraway saint]

47 minutes ago, munoz said:

I think the Rangers game will be Tony Fitzpatrick's last game in his current role. It might have been a good game to get as many families into the FS, free or otherwise, and give him the send off he deserves. 

I would guess most younger supporters will not be too fussed about Tony one way or the other.

The older support would, I'd imagine, like to give him a send off so the last home game of the season would be more suitable, unless it's against Rangers/Celtic. 

Edited March 16, 2022 by faraway saint
Missed a comma, i'm an idiot.

[shull]

Give out free tickets to the children of Renfrewshire.

That will guarantee the Family Stand will be rammed full of Sevco weans.

[Guest]

1 hour ago, ianmac said:

I do not know if this is still the case, but I remember a good few years ago (at least 20) I worked with a guy who had a season ticket at Parkhead which excluded Old Firm (it still existed then 😀) matches.

He would have had a season ticket in the auld away end at Celtic park which would have been used by Rangers fans. 

Same situation in reverse with Rangers fans with season tickets in the Broomloan Rd stand. 

Now I think both clubs sell full Season tickets. 

[Guest]

1 hour ago, munoz said:

I think the Rangers game will be Tony Fitzpatrick's last game in his current role. It might have been a good game to get as many families into the FS, free or otherwise, and give him the send off he deserves. 

I thought the United game was the game I question hence this initiative. I wonder how many people in Renfrewshire know about this. I wonder how many Season ticket holders or regular punters were aware as I don’t think we market these initiatives very well as I no longer even receive an email from the club with latest updates and don’t use Twitter or Facebook.

https://www.stmirren.com/fans-news/4347-group-ticket-offer-st-mirren-v-dundee-united-19th-mar

SMFC Webteam Fans News 08 March 2022

“We are delighted to announce that we are once again offering our fantastic deal for youth teams, clubs and groups with two adults and up to 20 under-12s able to attend our match against Dundee United on Saturday 19th March for just £24.”

 

[Guest]

I’ve suggested in the past that the club make the family stand for home and away family/community groups. St Johnstone do this initiative very well. As usual the response was “we’ll look into it”. 

When I first started following Saints with Fergie in charge in mid 70s we were a lower league team, but went on to have massive crowds in the old first division. And those crowds never included all the kids like me who got a lift over the turnstiles. Admittedly the OF did not have the same numbers at every home game.

The support for the club is out there as demonstrated by major cup finals. Who can ever forget the Saints crowds at the ‘87 cup final. 

No doubt the marketing power, media and TV exposure now of the ugly sisters means that kids are so aware of those two clubs that their home crowds are much bigger than the 70s and early 80s.

I’m a bit of a dreamer and yearn for those days. The game seemed to be filled with great players and characters. On and off the park!

We have to get a plan to capture the hearts and minds of kids early on. Get all the schools targeted in Renfrewshire and get management and players in there promoting the club on a regular basis encouraging healthy lifestyle choices and free tickets. Not just a one off. Make it a regular part of school life. Discounted football holiday camps. There are council initiatives that encourage some of activities that we could partner with. Involve local businesses to sponsor events with awards and prizes. Make it fun and engaging for the kids. 

If nothing changes we will never see improvements. 

 

 

[faraway saint]

6 minutes ago, SuperSaints1877 said:

I’ve suggested in the past that the club make the family stand for home and away family/community groups. St Johnstone do this initiative very well. As usual the response was “we’ll look into it”. 

The support for the club is out there as demonstrated by major cup finals. Who can ever forget the Saints crowds at the ‘87 cup final. 

We have to get a plan to capture the hearts and minds of kids early on. Get all the schools targeted in Renfrewshire and get management and players in there promoting the club on a regular basis encouraging healthy lifestyle choices and free tickets. Not just a one off. Make it a regular part of school life. Discounted football holiday camps. There are council initiatives that encourage some of activities that we could partner with. Involve local businesses to sponsor events with awards and prizes. Make it fun and engaging for the kids. 

If nothing changes we will never see improvements. 

Ok, I removed the "all our yesterdays" bit, not overly relevant IMO.

Quite simply we, at this point in time, do not have, even remotely, the support to take up the empty seats.

As for cup final support, I don't see the glory hunters turning into the hard core support we would like.

I do agree we should be trying harder to get more people interested, especially the younger generation. 

How productive any initiative would be, as Shull pointed out the majority are already converted the either of the OF, is very debatable.

I've always believed that success ON the pitch is the best marketing tool we have. 

Your last sentence is bang on, no effort, no change. 

Small steps and all that. 

[BuddieinEK]

I’ve suggested in the past that the club make the family stand for home and away family/community groups. St Johnstone do this initiative very well. As usual the response was “we’ll look into it”. 
When I first started following Saints with Fergie in charge in mid 70s we were a lower league team, but went on to have massive crowds in the old first division. And those crowds never included all the kids like me who got a lift over the turnstiles. Admittedly the OF did not have the same numbers at every home game.
The support for the club is out there as demonstrated by major cup finals. Who can ever forget the Saints crowds at the ‘87 cup final. 
No doubt the marketing power, media and TV exposure now of the ugly sisters means that kids are so aware of those two clubs that their home crowds are much bigger than the 70s and early 80s.
I’m a bit of a dreamer and yearn for those days. The game seemed to be filled with great players and characters. On and off the park!
We have to get a plan to capture the hearts and minds of kids early on. Get all the schools targeted in Renfrewshire and get management and players in there promoting the club on a regular basis encouraging healthy lifestyle choices and free tickets. Not just a one off. Make it a regular part of school life. Discounted football holiday camps. There are council initiatives that encourage some of activities that we could partner with. Involve local businesses to sponsor events with awards and prizes. Make it fun and engaging for the kids. 
If nothing changes we will never see improvements. 
 
 

Amen!

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[exiledfan]

Do Family Season ticket holders not get old firm games included in the price of the season book?  I notice the web site says they get a discounted rate for other stands.  Seems a bit off that they are excluded from games.

[Rascal]

1 hour ago, SuperSaints1877 said:

I’ve suggested in the past that the club make the family stand for home and away family/community groups. St Johnstone do this initiative very well. As usual the response was “we’ll look into it”. 

When I first started following Saints with Fergie in charge in mid 70s we were a lower league team, but went on to have massive crowds in the old first division. And those crowds never included all the kids like me who got a lift over the turnstiles. Admittedly the OF did not have the same numbers at every home game.

The support for the club is out there as demonstrated by major cup finals. Who can ever forget the Saints crowds at the ‘87 cup final. 

No doubt the marketing power, media and TV exposure now of the ugly sisters means that kids are so aware of those two clubs that their home crowds are much bigger than the 70s and early 80s.

I’m a bit of a dreamer and yearn for those days. The game seemed to be filled with great players and characters. On and off the park!

We have to get a plan to capture the hearts and minds of kids early on. Get all the schools targeted in Renfrewshire and get management and players in there promoting the club on a regular basis encouraging healthy lifestyle choices and free tickets. Not just a one off. Make it a regular part of school life. Discounted football holiday camps. There are council initiatives that encourage some of activities that we could partner with. Involve local businesses to sponsor events with awards and prizes. Make it fun and engaging for the kids. 

If nothing changes we will never see improvements. 

 

 

I see the need to maximise gate receipts and the easy way to do this is, it seems to cater for the demand for tickets from the supporters of these two clubs. This definitely makes it about money. Clearly, the more money we make the more we have to spend on players the argument goes. I have supported this approach to date but now feel that alternative approaches should be brought in for next season. Too late to do anything other than stay away and sadly a number, possibly an increasing number of fans and families do. If we are going to allow away fans into the family stand then I do think that these should also be family or community groups. 

Edited March 16, 2022 by Rascal

[Guest]

37 minutes ago, exiledfan said:

Do Family Season ticket holders not get old firm games included in the price of the season book?  I notice the web site says they get a discounted rate for other stands.  Seems a bit off that they are excluded from games.

No they don’t receive any Celtic and Rangers games. Their season tickets were reduced in price plus they get option T buy additional tickets in either remaining home stands for those games.

[exiledfan]

3 minutes ago, SuperSaints1877 said:

No they don’t receive any Celtic and Rangers games. Their season tickets were reduced in price plus they get option T buy additional tickets in either remaining home stands for those games.

So the club can promote family tickets at a lower price that don't include 3 home games. 

[Guest]

15 minutes ago, exiledfan said:

So the club can promote family tickets at a lower price that don't include 3 home games. 

Here you go. https://www.stmirren.com/fans-news/4022-find-out-now-about-the-21-22-season-ticket-release

[exiledfan]

31 minutes ago, SuperSaints1877 said:

Here you go. https://www.stmirren.com/fans-news/4022-find-out-now-about-the-21-22-season-ticket-release

So if your a season ticket holder in family stand and an adult your only saving £30 if you choose to go but have the inconvenience of having to go to the ticket office to buy and collect it.  Would put me off tbh. 

[Callum Gilhooley]

15 hours ago, bazil85 said:

This subject has been done to death IMO regarding Stewarding and Police costs. There were pages and pages on it. 

For me, the reality is, the club are not going to do it if it doesn't generate a pretty penny. It defies logic to think they would for a value that isn't substantial to the budget. Calculations were also done on what it could be worth regarding players and it was again pretty decent. No reason to think two consecutive St Mirren ownerships and several directors are lying about this. 

I’ve seen plenty of pages with the throwaway lines of player or two wages and £100k loss but if I am correct , none of this has been presented in any great detail by the club - I may of course be wrong on this and if so ,I’d be happy if you’d point me in the direction of where this detailed information is .

In the Thommo / cup winning period we gave them one stand and didn’t exactly do too badly for players and from what i recall broke even or made a small profit at season ends,  what’s changed ? 🤷‍♂️

[TopCat]

20 minutes ago, Callum Gilhooley said:

 

In the Thommo / cup winning period we gave them one stand and didn’t exactly do too badly for players and from what i recall broke even or made a small profit at season ends,  what’s changed ? 🤷‍♂️

I may be remembering this wrong, but didn't they used to get W6/W7 and the North Stand? There was a big stooshie about that and we gave them the south stand instead of W6/W7. 

[Guest]

20 minutes ago, Callum Gilhooley said:

I’ve seen plenty of pages with the throwaway lines of player or two wages and £100k loss but if I am correct , none of this has been presented in any great detail by the club - I may of course be wrong on this and if so ,I’d be happy if you’d point me in the direction of where this detailed information is .

In the Thommo / cup winning period we gave them one stand and didn’t exactly do too badly for players and from what i recall broke even or made a small profit at season ends,  what’s changed ? 🤷‍♂️

The BoD have never disclosed any figures anytime they have been asked the question at formal meetings.

 

[djchapsticks]

17 hours ago, bazil85 said:

I think we maybe just put this to a SMISA member vote to once and for all end the issue. Outline the financial differences this has made to the club season on season and let fans decide - money or empty seats. 

Job done. 

Talk about a loaded question intended to get an outcome you want FFS.

The question should be 'should the old form be given two stands? Yes or No'. Neutral, non-emotive and gets a true flavour of feeling on the subject.

 

However,  'The old firm attendances have provided £x over the last 4 seasons and its just wonderful having their money. We understand this is divisive among supporters but moneymoneymoneymoney!!! So with this in mind, should we continue giving them an extra stand or would you prefer we cut our own throats? I mean, come on, think about it...don't be daft!' Is a loaded question and you know it.

 

[djchapsticks]

We are sold the extra stand situation as it being beneficial to the club but really, is it?

We still never manage to hold onto our best players at the end of contracts and they go elsewhere for little or nothing anyway. If someone could feasibly turn around and say that the money generated by the OF getting an extra stand translated into being able to offer enough to keep hold of best players like Hladky, McGrath or Alnwick for another couple of years then I'm sure we'd be seeing benefit of that. But that doesn't happen, it's not as if any of the signings we make appear to be in anyway above our station either as a result of this extra income. 

Edited March 17, 2022 by djchapsticks

[TopCat]

11 minutes ago, djchapsticks said:

We are sold the extra stand situation as it being beneficial to the club but really, is it?

We still never manage to hold onto our best players at the end of contracts and they go elsewhere for little or nothing anyway. If someone could feasibly turn around and say that the money generated by the OF getting an extra stand translated into being able to offer enough to keep hold of best players like Hladky, McGrath or Alnwick for another couple of years then I'm sure we'd be seeing benefit of that. But that doesn't happen, it's not as if any of the signings we make appear to be in anyway above our station either as a result of this extra income. 

We obviously get blown out the water financially by English clubs whenever they're interested in our players - as we should - but i think we do okay when it comes to competing with other Scottish top flight clubs. Three recent examples that come to mind are Tanser, Brophy and Jones. All three were wanted by other Scottish Premiership clubs, and all three chose us.  Also Fraser was rumoured to be attracting interest elsewhere in Scotland, but extended his contract with us. That never used to be the case.

No idea if this is anything to do with the ticket sales to away fans in the south stand of course. It seems like the fans consensus is we should only give them the North Stand, so given we are fan owned, surely that will happen...?