boughtthebuds

• Congratulations St Mirren fans. You just #BoughtTheBuds

  Congratulations, you just #BoughtTheBuds
  
  We are delighted to announce that the legal formalities around SMISA’s joint offer for a majority shareholding in the club with Gordon Scott were concluded earlier today, meaning the trust is now the proud part-owner of St Mirren FC.
  
  This means 21 July 2016 can go down as a landmark moment in St Mirren’s long and proud history – today saw the right to decide what happens with our club pass into the hands of the people who care about it most...you.
  
  For those of us on the committee, the past year has involved an incredible amount of work and we are both proud and delighted to have finally seen the deal over the line.

  Again, we want to thank the 1,300 of you who signed up to #BuyTheBuds, as without that show of support we would not have been able to make history today.
  
  We appreciate there will be few questions about what will happen next, and hopefully these will be answered below...
  
  With the deal completed, Gordon now owns a 50.1% stake in the club, while SMISA own 28%. Crucially, SMISA now has the option to buy the shares Gordon buys now at the price he pays now within the next ten years, and thus achieve majority fan ownership of the club.
  
  Five of the six members of the current board will now step down and we want to pay tribute to them for all they have done for the club over the years, as they can be justifiably proud of their legacy.
  
  Four new directors will be appointed and the new board will include Gordon (as the new chairman), club chief exec Tony Fitzpatrick, and financial advisor Alan Wardrop, while current club director and company secretary Chris Stewart will stay in place.

  Gordon has also asked SMISA board member David Nicol to join him as the temporary trust representative on the St Mirren board for the next few months.
  
  The SMISA committee will use that time to finalise a procedure for members to elect one of their own to serve as their voice in the St Mirren boardroom.

  At the same time, we have already started work on a procedure through which our members can vote to choose how the £2 portion of their monthly membership will be spent on the club. Once we have firmed up arrangements for both of these issues, we will put the details before members.
  
  We are also working on plans for a fan party to take place in a town centre venue after the Morton game on Saturday 6 August to help usher in the new era, with details of that to be announced soon.
  
  Once again, thank you all for your support and we look forward to writing the next chapter in the history of our club together.
  
  SMiSA Committee

• Fan Party - Sat 6th August

  Saturday, August 6, 2016 from 5:00 PM - 8:30 PM
   

  St Mirren fans just became part-owners of their club - and we're having a party! The SMISA team is marking last week's takeover by hosting a fan party at the University of the West of Scotland after the Morton game on Saturday 6 August.
  
  We are hoping new club chairman Gordon Scott, chief executive Tony Fitzpatrick and team boss Alex Rae will all be there on the day to welcome fans to the event. There will be a bottle bar, and hot food for sale, while Saints fan and DJ Billy Gray will be providing the tunes until the event closes.
  
  The event will be in the cafe at the library in the Paisley Campus of the University of the West of Scotland. Enter via the pedestrianised section of Storie Street, beside the student flats. Entry is FREE but be aware capacity is limited to 250 so it is essential anybody who wishes to come along register here to get their ticket - please bring your ticket on the night either as a print-out or on your phone.
  
  You don't need to be a SMISA member to attend - the event is open to all Saints fans. Due to the venue's license, the event is open to over 18s only. Doors will open at 5pm with the event to start around 5.30pm. We hope to see as many of you as possible there, hopefully after another Renfrewshire derby win! If you need more info, drop us a line at [email protected]

   

   

• One-year anniversary of #BuyTheBuds

  This week marked the one-year anniversary of the #BuyTheBuds campaign being concluded, meaning the future ownership of St Mirren will lie in the hands of the people who will care for it most – you.

  In that time the SMISA committee have been busy. Sometimes it’s easy to forget what has been achieved, so we thought it was worth recapping on what SMISA has done in that time.

  - created a process where member vote on where to spend the £2 portions of your membership, a scheme unlike anything else we know of at other Scottish clubs;

  - part-funded the club’s wheelchair platform, helping bring back gold status to the Paisley 2021 Stadium, and giving St MIrren disabled facilities rated among the best in the country;

  - made additional funds available to the manager when the club was teetering on the brink of relegation in January, helping fuel an incredible last three months of the season;

  - had the first-ever election for a SMISA member to sit on the St Mirren board. David Nicol has done a great job over the last year as the link between the club and SMISA, while making sure fan issues are considered in club decision-making. He can be reached via [email protected];

  - held events including a party for the fans to celebrate the buyout, a Millennium champions night with Tom Hendrie and the 1999/2000 squad, and a quiz night with Jack Ross and some of his players.

  - helped set up a volunteer squad which has cleaned every seat in the stadium ahead of the new season;

  - loaned the club money to repair the undersoil heating;

  - helped get an issue of The Saint newspaper up and running and distributed it to fans;

  - purchased 24 season tickets to invite local community groups along to games free of charge;

  - sponsored a local youth football team (Renfrew Juniors 2005s) for a year, and donated money to Renfrewshire Foodbank;

  - set a series of objectives for the next year which include increasing our member numbers, creating a regular place for members to meet the committee, setting up more regular meetings with club directors, and increasing the diversity of the committee to include more female members.

  There is still much to be done but we start our second year in a strong position and have high hopes for the future of SMISA and St Mirren, on and off the park.

  Of course to see through the long-term goal of fan ownership we need as many members as possible.

  If you have Saints-supporting friends or relatives who haven’t yet signed up, tell them what we have achieved and be proud of your role in making it happen.

  You can check out our video of our social media highlights from 2016/7 which tells the story of #BuyTheBuds, at the top of the article.