Dear SMISA member
Welcome to the latest SMISA member update, this one for the month of November. The committee have been as busy as ever and there’s a round-up of the latest below.
Director election
As you know, one of the most significant things we are working on is the election of the SMISA director to the St Mirren board.
The deadline has now passed for members to submit their applications to be a candidate. Each candidate must be nominated by at least ten members to get on the ballot and we are currently verifying the nominations we received.
The plan is for voting to start on Monday 7 November and run for two weeks. We will email you with details of how you can vote via secure online ballot once everything has been finalised.
All candidate statements will be posted on the SMISA website along with the job description, which lists in detail the responsibilities of the role.
It also lays out the skills and experience we feel someone will need in order to be effective as a fan representative and as the key link between the trust and the club.
The choice of SMISA representative on the board is obviously of crucial importance for the future operation of both the club and the trust, and we would encourage you to read all of that information fully before you cast your vote.
Latest membership numbers
The membership numbers at end October are 1,340, a very slight drop on September but a figure that continues to give us a healthy monthly income and keeps us on track to achieve the long-term goal of fan ownership of St Mirren.
In the last month we lost a few members and gained a few – it will be important we continue to pick up new members to offset any drop-outs.
We are working on some schemes which we think will help do that – but would also appeal to all members to keep spreading the word to any fellow fans who haven’t yet signed up to #BuyTheBuds about the benefits of membership and what we are trying to achieve.
People can sign up online and read five reasons to join SMISA on our website.
Disabled platform update
As you are already aware, SMISA plan to spend the contents of the members pot (containing the £2 proportion of your monthly membership) every three months.
We agreed for the first three months’ worth to part-fund the building of a project which featured prominently in our survey of member spending priorities – the disabled platform at the back of the main stand.
Work is already well under way and the platform is expected to open in the next couple of weeks, meaning disabled fans will be protected from the worst of the weather by the time the winter fixtures kick in.
The aim of the members pot is for your money to be spent on projects which make a visible difference to the club and community, and for you to decide where that money goes.
We are not aware of any fan group in Scotland doing anything else like this on such a regular basis, and are excited by what St Mirren fans will be able to achieve through this fund in the future.
Millennium champions event
When we launched the #BuyTheBuds campaign back in April one of the benefits offered to the Plus (£25 per month) members was an invite to an exclusive SMISA-run event every six months.
The first one will take place on Friday 2 December when we host An Evening with the Millennium Champions in the hospitality suite at the Paisley 2021 Stadium.
The night will look back on one of the most memorable seasons in St Mirren’s history – the 1999/2000 title win, in the company of Tom Hendrie and members of the squad, helped by some video highlights from key games.
Our Plus and Premium members have already been emailed with details of how to claim their free place for the night, but all remaining tickets will go on sale to all members from Monday 14 November at a cost of £10 (all money raised will go to youth development).
It is shaping up to be a great night and we would encourage you to make sure you don’t miss out.
Stadium clean-up
Over the past few weeks a hardy group of volunteers from within SMISA’s membership have been down at the Paisley 2021 Stadium cleaning up the Family Stand.
While the fronts of the seats are cleaned by the club each year, the backs are not, and our guys have blasted them with power-washers, as well as cleaning the stairs, banisters and the backs of the advertising boards.
Anybody sitting in that stand for the Dumbarton game on Saturday will be able to able to see the difference – there are some pictures on our Facebook page.
Our thanks go to volunteer squad members Bert Downie, Ian Mclaren, Ken Docherty, Gordon Black and SMISA committee member Jim Crawford for all their hard work.
The guys are keen to expand their numbers and if anybody has a few hours to spare and would like to join them, your help will be hugely appreciated.
The guys are now tackling the West Stand. If you would like more information about getting involved, email [email protected]
Youth academy dinner
The annual St Mirren youth academy dinner takes place on Friday 25 November at the stadium. Full details for the event are on the club website.
This year’s speakers include broadcasters Alan Rough and Peter Martin and as always, funds raised will go to support the club’s youth development.
As in previous years, SMISA has agreed to take a table for ten at the event and will meet half of the £500 cost of this from existing funds.
That means if any members want to come along, they will be able to buy a seat for £25, rather than the usual £50.
If you would like a seat, please contact [email protected] and we will put your name down on the list.
Next few games
The defeat at Morton on Tuesday was a particularly depressing one for us all – a poor performance by the team, and one they will know themselves they need to improve on.
Looking at the fixture list for November and December the team is heading for a season-defining run, with home games looming against the teams directly above us in the league.
Sometimes bad results breed bad results and the players are clearly lacking in confidence at the moment – so now more than ever they need your support to break that cycle.
We would encourage all fans to get down to the Paisley 2021 Stadium for the next couple of games and give Jack Ross and the team the backing they need to help turn the season around.
As always, if anybody has any questions or issues they want to raise, please do so via [email protected]
The SMISA committee