Well unless you are planning a holiday away during the close season you can put the passport back in the drawer until next year. The fantastic effort from the team getting into the Top 6 just couldn't be maintained to finish in 5th and possibly get into Europe. We can still be proud of what the team achieved.
At the time of writing its been confirmed that Main, Shaughnessy, Tait and Dunne have finished their St Mirren careers and chose pastures new. Good luck to these guys and thanks for all you done in a Saints shirt.
Following full-time at the Rangers game SMiSA made a special presentation to Keanu Baccus in recognition of him being the first St Mirren player to play at a World Cup. SMISA member Murray Bryce won this one off opportunity to do so. It capped the end to a fantastic season for Keanu.
The end of May saw another successful St Mirren POTY dinner, and for the first time, a SMiSA member presented our player of the year trophy to Mark O'Hara. Well done to member Blair Connery for winning the opportunity.
We also hosted 2 SMiSA member tables for the POTY dinner and from the emails we have received it went down a storm. There were 100's who emailed looking for a seat at the sell out event but in the end only 20 could go. This is something we will try to do more of during next season to support the club by taking 1 or 2 tables at Hospitality and giving members the opportunity to win more places rather than taking a guest.
We do need your help in bringing on more members and we are trying to come up with different ways of achieving this. If you have any ideas on how we can actively grow our membership please email [email protected].
The POTY event brings the Commercial year to a close (before season tickets take over) and it's worth mentioning the work Campbell Kennedy and his team put in throughout the year.
Hospitality at the club on a Saturday home game is a cracking occasion put on by Campbell and his team. Many of the games sold out in advance this season and next season looks like it's going the same way already. If you are celebrating special birthdays etc then book spaces, you wont be disappointed.
The middle of May brought our SMiSA AGM. It had the highest ever attendance according to longer serving members on the board and the feedback we have received for putting online, the presentations and content as well as the participation at the Q&A sessions have been most welcome.
There was the request for more information with regards background to the RCGF application, and we are underway with this with just a couple of parties to provide information. As we said in our statement we won't comment until all parties have had opportunity to present their information and you, our members will be informed as soon as possible.
The AGM also seen the election to the Board of myself, Jack McSkeane and Stuart Chawk. We would like to thank all members who took the time to vote for us and other candidates John Allison and Alan Wardrop.
Another landmark occasion was the decision by former Chairman, Gordon Scott, to step down from the St Mirren board.
Throughout his time on the Board Gordon delivered a Championship title, fan ownership and his personal ambition of having a St Mirren team for the first time ever finishing in the Top 6.
Gordons involvement with the club and SMiSA in particular can't be over played. From his early involvement with the SMiSA trust he was integral in getting us to where we are now.
We would like to thank him for everything he achieved for the club and know we can count on his support going forward.
May is as we know awards season and we are delighted to report the achievements of the Women's team Manager Kate cooper in picking up 2 awards. 1 for the Womens Division 1 Manager of the Year, and also collecting a “Circle of Inspiration award” in the sports category. A huge amount of work is done by Kate alone in the Womens team and its something SMiSA will look to further support where possible in future.
Womens football is the fastest growing sport and in May we seen 90,000 at the Womens FA cup final. We are a way off that in Scotland but the popularity is increasing and for community clubs like St Mirren that’s an untapped source of future St Mirren fans. The more we and the club can do to encourage more girls/women attending our games the better! Well done Kate.
I'm sure you would agree May has been an action packed month for many different reasons.
We look forward for us all to have a break and holiday before the new season gets under way.
Don`t forget the “early bird” season ticket renewals and i'm hoping on the back of this years performances that we can get near to 4,500 season ticket holders, that would be great. If we got 5,000 that would be stunning.
The more income we can pull in then the better transfer kitty Stephen Robinson has. Along with Martin Foyle they have been hugely successful in the players they have brought to the club and i'm sure we cant wait to see who pulls on the famous black and white stripes (no RED in the kit please!) come August.
Keep an eye for the exclusive SMiSA competitons too over next couple of months. From a place at St Mirren summer camps to a SMiSA new season St Mirren top competiton too then if you know someone who is not a member maybe introduce them and you could win back the cost of your season ticket?.....
Enjoy your break
COYS
Alex