Saints Supporters Club

[Cleveland-Saint]

We don't have a formal supporters club, correct? I saw we had a special 7 for a while or is the FCU maybe a channel for this? I found my early 80s Young Saintees card the other day and I think we had a supporters club back then? (Maybe not-getting old).

As we navigate likely new ownership over next year or two perhaps now's the time to set something up?

I realise it would take someone with time of their hands to run and organise and thats no mean feet, but today we have just a loose bunch of views and perhaps pulling together could be good. Allow the supporters club to make formal statements and have people that the club can discuss and be more engaged with, cover topics like the Rangers debacle. Then new ownership for me is a huge change that I think we need to to keep close to.

Being remote to Scotland most of the year, I can't help, but I'd happily support anyway I could and perhaps others feel the same way?

 

[pezza70]

I remember a while back their was the exiled supporters club, but am not too sure what happened or how much input if any they had 

[sixties saintee]

1 hour ago, pezza70 said:

I remember a while back their was the exiled supporters club, but am not too sure what happened or how much input if any they had 

Still around,Covid put a stop tae it, wae no Potys, Was at St Mirren game wae Hoodlum and Highland Saint in Hospitality , and gave Spoony a bottle fir Poty 20, Along wae other Supporters club we have no active input wae the club, only through Bev if we need anything.

[Cagey]

Is Bev still there. Never heard much for a wee while on here or on OS.

She sometimes gave advice on things affecting supporters.

[blueheaven]

If you look under the Supporters Clubs section of this site you'll see we used to have quite a lot of different supporters clubs, but I don't know how many of them are actually still active. The club seems to consider the FCU a supporters club these days. There used to be the 208 and Dunkeld Road clubs who ran buses to away games. I've no idea if either of those two clubs actually still exist in any form.

What Saints fans could actually benefit from is a Supporters Trust, which is a bit different. It would be a proper body who would raise funds with the aim of getting an actual seat on the board for a supporters representative. If the worst came to the worst with the ownership situation it would also give the supporters a route into fan ownership. A lot of clubs have these but Saints fans have never really been motivated to do it as our ownership's been so stable for such a long time.

I'm a member of a Supporters Trust for a non-league club in England. I pay an annual membership fee and in return I get to vote on the Trust's position on major issues, which is then represented at board level (it also gives me benefits like priority for tickets for bigger games). The plan is for the whole football club's ownership to eventually be handed over to the Trust. The Trust also plays a part in raising funds for the club, selling merchandise, etc.

There's an interesting blog here by Alastair Blair about the Saints ownership situation and whether fan/community ownership might be an option.

Info on supporters trusts:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supporters'_trust

https://thefsa.org.uk/fan-resources/resource-training/supporters-trusts-training-resource/setting-up-a-new-supporters-trust/

[pezza70]

I’m guessing now is the time to try and organise something like a supporters trust as the ownership is changing hands and it would be great for any new potential owner to know that the club has a very strong supporter base that cares deeply for the club 

[slf]

Barossa street independent saints supporters club 

[slf]

Just now, slf said:

Barossa street independent saints supporters club 

Even run buses occasionally.

donations to young saints or they did when the got cash

[sixties saintee]

30 minutes ago, slf said:

Barossa street independent saints supporters club 

The home O Saints Exiles.

[THE LARK SAINT]

2 hours ago, slf said:

Barossa street independent saints supporters club 

Beat me to it

[THE LARK SAINT]

Just now, THE LARK SAINT said:

Beat me to it

Established for over 40 years, 2 minutes walk from town as sadly underused by Saints fans 

 

 

[Strawman]

Good as the FCU have been recently, they are not representative of the Saints support as a whole, nor should they be and I ll be honest, I find it slightly worrying that they were informed by Saints in advance of the ticket situation for the Rangers game recently while nobody else was. 

If I was a teenager again then yes, I d be there with them but as a bloke in his 50s who for numerous reason prefers to sit to watch football these days then I ll leave them to it. Not knocking them at all, I think they re great but I d rather watch them from a distance rather than be in the middle.

I had a chat with Ian Flaherty about this, particularly for away games where we know we have plenty room, why can’t the club or opposition club say, this part of the away section will be seated, this part will be standing, then I can make my choice, if the seated section was sold out then I can decide not to go. His answer was that every club have an obligation to find you a seat you can sit and watch the game from, I have to inform a steward if not happy, now for one I’m not going to do that and create a fuss but two, is he honestly saying that if I d bought a ticket in the East Stand on Saturday supporting Rangers where the entire stand was standing, then spoke to a steward, I d have been found a seat to watch the game from.

Saints need the FCU, but they also need all fans and a Supporters Trust is the way  forward, representative of our entire support. I think the recent “ boycott “ which as we all know wasn’t a boycott because it wasn’t organised, just individual Saints fans deciding enough was enough, but it did sow the power we could have. Obviously I know the FCU didn’t go and thought the fireworks etc in the 20th minute to show twenty’s plenty were fantastic. Most fans my age and older didn’t go either but were quieter about it but the club will have noticed the lack of revenue and hopefully taken note.

I think it needs a completely new club/trust/whatever you call it, something that represents the fans of all ages, the people who want to travel by bus, the folk who like taking cars, the fans who no longer live in Perth but will still travel both home and away under their own steam.

This is the problem though, it takes time, organisation, money, I d happily pay a monthly fee, I d have no wish personally to be the person doing the representing and sitting on the board. It will be a tough gig for whoever did do it as well as there’s no way everyone would all be happy.

During the recent Rangers Cup ticket crap, and while I think Bev is so helpful and amazing whenever I ve dealt with her, the role of SLO was very quiet during the whole time. I and many many others missed what would have been the first home game in Scottish cup for 25/30 maybe years, I ve had zero contact from the club though, I can only presume they just don’t care. I know Bev can’t phone everyone etc but when on Twitter I see her retweet how to buy tickets 2 days before the game and that s her only comment it’s clear she’s just taken the clubs stance rather than the supports. I also understand it’s the club pays her wages though and I also do things at work I don’t necessarily agree with.  A supporters trust representative though not in the employment of the club can say much more.

[slf]

6 hours ago, THE LARK SAINT said:

Established for over 40 years, 2 minutes walk from town as sadly underused by Saints fans 

 

 

You’ll find it’s longer than that .

it’s a fine club and if you want a quiet pint .it’s the place to be. 

[livi saint]

FCU were informed to advise of the steps being taken to protect the stall they have in the East concourse and painted mural.

It was out of courtesy more than anything else.

FCU are solely a voice for those who are members of the group, which may not always be aligned to the wider supports view.

[blueheaven]

13 hours ago, Strawman said:

Good as the FCU have been recently, they are not representative of the Saints support as a whole, nor should they be and I ll be honest, I find it slightly worrying that they were informed by Saints in advance of the ticket situation for the Rangers game recently while nobody else was. 

 

Completely agree with all of your post. Just on the point of the FCU being informed in advance - the club's statement said "talks have been held with some of our supporter groups". The FCU have come forward and said they were one of those groups, but who were the others? What reason would those clubs have to still say nothing? Or is their communication simply so poor that they've never thought to do so? Or were Saints lying about talking to multiple groups? There seem to be people on here associated with the Barossa Street club. Was the Barossa Street club told? 

I saw some fans on social media argue that the boycotters were just a noisy minority making a fuss. There's a misconception among some fans, that the supporters who do most of the talking online can't possibly represent a majority view. I think the home attendance at the cup game proved that's not necessarily true. The "silent majority" were just as turned off by the match arrangements as the people doing the complaining online. But there's no body to represent the views of all those fans.

Think you're totally right about the SLO role, by the way. If the club has pulled rank in some way and made it impossible for the SLO to take the fans' side or even publicly speak to fans, then that in itself is a whole other disgrace that should not be happening. The club needs to be respectful of what that role is and understand that "liaison" can't happen without communication.

 

 

[sixties saintee]

11 hours ago, slf said:

You’ll find it’s longer than that .

it’s a fine club and if you want a quiet pint .it’s the place to be. 

1971 it opened, thanks tae Sam McKenna and his team o Aid Club Supporters, the Man should be in Saints Hall o Fame but blocked by Geoff Brown. The place used tae be busy aw the time, sadly people just don't use it anymore.

Edited January 26, 2023 by sixties saintee

[Sergei]

1 hour ago, blueheaven said:

Or were Saints lying about talking to multiple groups?

If I had to take a wild guess...

[Cagey]

2 hours ago, sixties saintee said:

1971 it opened, thanks tae Sam McKenna and his team o Aid Club Supporters, the Man should be in Saints Hall o Fame but blocked by Geoff Brown. The place used tae be busy aw the time, sadly people just don't use it anymore.

Was it not taken over by Sevco fans at one time as Saints fans weren't going ?.

[blueheaven]

2 hours ago, sixties saintee said:

The place used tae be busy aw the time, sadly people just don't use it anymore.

I'm curious to know if the club/members have tried to do much about that? I've had a look at the club's social media and it's pretty rarely updated (nothing seems to have been said in around two months). In the past I've considered using the club's buses for away games but haven't been able to find any info about whether it's even running any. 

From the outside looking in I'm never even sure if clubs like that are open to the public or only to members. Have to admit I don't think I've ever been inside the place.

[glenrothes saintee]

1 hour ago, blueheaven said:

I'm curious to know if the club/members have tried to do much about that? I've had a look at the club's social media and it's pretty rarely updated (nothing seems to have been said in around two months). In the past I've considered using the club's buses for away games but haven't been able to find any info about whether it's even running any. 

From the outside looking in I'm never even sure if clubs like that are open to the public or only to members. Have to admit I don't think I've ever been inside the place.

Dan Shek posts on FB about the Barossa St buses and events in the Club. They have a "once a Saintee" event next month with several former players attending.

Edited January 26, 2023 by glenrothes saintee
Cannae spell.

[THE LARK SAINT]

1 hour ago, Cagey said:

Was it not taken over by Sevco fans at one time as Saints fans weren't going ?.

That was 5 years ago but yes.New Chairman and  stewardess then came on board with ideas about trying to get place more Saints friendly

The Place was rammed with Saints fans after the cup win in 2014

Many promised to get membership and attend regularly.sadly many never returned

They have also tried various membership initiatives 

 

 

 

 

[THE LARK SAINT]

10 minutes ago, glenrothes saintee said:

Dan Shek posts on FB about the Barossa St buses and events in the Club. They have a "once a Saintee" event next month with several former players attending.

Not  held at Saints club by Dan  he runs those events from the Bank Bar and occasionally bus.The Saints Club still run bus to most games 

 

[MySpazz]

1 hour ago, blueheaven said:

I'm curious to know if the club/members have tried to do much about that? I've had a look at the club's social media and it's pretty rarely updated (nothing seems to have been said in around two months). In the past I've considered using the club's buses for away games but haven't been able to find any info about whether it's even running any. 

From the outside looking in I'm never even sure if clubs like that are open to the public or only to members. Have to admit I don't think I've ever been inside the place.

That club was run by a rangers man for a long time, and was never exclusively a Saints bar, though it has become more of one.

Problem is they operate under "licence" from the club in terms of the use of the name and logos and association.  

The club could/should have established a town centre presence, if even a pop up bar or whatever at certain high times where it could have galvanised the following. E.g. Taking over a bar or club for a few weeks ....anything. The muirton suite is so uninspiring...and miles from ThatBar LAUGH OUT LOUD

[blueheaven]

Any time I've walked past the place I've wondered if it's even still open for business. With those big blue blocks on the outside that make it look like its windows are boarded up, it doesn't exactly seem inviting/welcoming. Maybe I'm missing the point of the place but could it not be marketed as more of a Saints-themed sports bar that also runs buses to games and maybe does some food too? Has it ever hosted fan zones before our bigger games, or events etc? I don't think I've ever seen anything like that promoted anywhere. As an outsider looking in it just seems a bit ... dead?

[sleepless]

I've used the Barossa Street buses for both away and home matches and found them really good. Agree it can seem a bit intimidating when you first walk in and you wonder whether you should be there, but I have to say I've always found it very friendly.