SMISA Board election

Since our AGM in April two of our Board members, Kenny Lang and George Adam, have chosen to step down. Rather than waiting until our next AGM in the spring, we are looking for candidates to fill those two vacancies now from within the SMISA membership.

Board members are expected to attend regular meetings (usually held fortnightly on Monday evenings) and make a meaningful contribution, both in terms of their time and the quality of their input.

Anybody who would like to stand should email [email protected] and request an application form.

You will need to be nominated by two other SMISA members and have been a member for at least 90 days prior to the date nominations close which is this Sunday October 23.

You will also need to submit a 500-word statement explaining why you would like to be elected and to submit a photo for the election webpage on the SMISA website.

Voting will then run from Monday October 24 until Friday October 28, with the results announced shortly afterwards.

Quarterly Members Meeting

Our latest quarterly members meeting will take place on Thursday October 27 at 7pm in the 1877 Club within the SMISA Stadium.

All members are invited to attend but must book a place in advance using this link to log in to the VeryConnect platform and going to the Events page.

SMISA Chair

Following the recent decision by George Adam to stand from the Board, the SMISA directors have chosen Kenny Docherty as the new SMISA chair. Kenny has been on the SMISA Board since 2017 and will look to continue the good work done by George over the past six years.

As many of you will have seen, Alan Wardrop has decided to stand down as a St Mirren director. Alan first joined the board in 2016 and became one of SMISA’s four representatives in July 2021 after we became majority shareholders. We are sorry to see him move on but thank him again for his service during those six years.

Alan will formally finish up on November 19 and, if possible, we would like to have his successor in post by then. We are, therefore, now starting the recruitment process and are looking for expressions of interest in the role.

The successful candidate will be expected to act as the link between the club and SMISA boards, ensure member views are considered in club decisions, and have the skills and experience to make a positive contribution to the running of the football club.

New SMISA appointments to the club board are subject to the formal recruitment process we put in place two years ago through which both John Needham and Alex White were appointed.

That will see the SMISA board invite applications, shortlist and interview those who best fit the job description, and select a preferred candidate, who the members will be asked to approve. Ideally they will already be a SMISA member but we will consider all applications.

Anyone interested should contact [email protected] and we will send you an application pack.

Given the time constraints, the closing date for applications is October 17 with interviews scheduled to take place the following week subject to availability.

Alan Wardrop, one of SMISA’s four representatives on the St Mirren board, has decided to stand down as a club director.

Alan was asked to join the board in July 2016 by then chairman Gordon Scott shortly after he concluded his takeover, in conjunction with SMISA, to buy the club.

The lifelong Buddie then got to savour the Championship-winning celebrations in 2018 when former boss Jack Ross led the team into the Premiership.

Alan’s brilliant photo of ex-captain Stephen McGinn waiting to go down the tunnel to lift the trophy quickly became a fans’ favourite.

The picture was then immortalised in stone when SMISA commissioned local artist Mark Worst to produce six murals of trophy-winning moments in the club’s history that are now dotted around the concourses of the SMISA stadium.

When SMISA then became majority shareholders of the club in July 2021, we asked Alan to remain on the St Mirren board as one of our representatives and he willingly agreed.

Alan also had the brainwave to create the 1877 Club in the void in the Main Stand and oversaw the project from start to finish. He is now the proud matchday host, welcoming in managers, coaches and players before and after each game.

Many of the items in the mini-museum inside the club come from Alan’s vast personal collection of St Mirren memorabilia.

The recently-retired financial advisor will formally step down as a director on November 19 and everyone at SMISA would like to thank him for all his time and effort on the board, both before and after he agreed to become one of our representatives. Everything he ever did was undoubtedly with the best interests of St Mirren at heart.

Alan confirmed: “After six and a half years on the board, it is with a heavy heart that I have made the very difficult decision to stand down as a St Mirren director.

“I remain and always will be a St Mirren man and will continue to support our club as best I can in the future.

“As a long time SMISA member I would like to express my sincere thanks to SMISA for their endorsement and support.

“I would also like to thank former chairman Gordon Scott for his original invitation to join the board which fulfilled a lifetime ambition and made an ordinary supporter and his family very proud.”

SMISA chair George Adam has decided to stand down from his position due to increased work commitments. 

The Paisley MSP took up the role in 2015 and played a key role in both phases of fan ownership, helping Gordon Scott take over in 2016 and then being at the forefront of SMISA becoming majority shareholder in 2021.

George has been a popular and well-kent face at SMISA events over the past seven years but felt he could not longer commit the time required. 

He said: "It has been a really difficult decision for me to take as St Mirren Football Club means so much to me.

"It has been too difficult for me to balance my work as Paisley’s MSP and now Minister for Parliamentary Business in the Scottish Government and still have the time to commit to SMISA and St Mirren.

"I have just had to admit that there is not enough hours in the day to do all of these roles and I began to think it would be better for colleagues on the SMISA board to get someone who could make that commitment.

"The trusts board members asked me to continue as they appreciated all the work I was doing but I felt I was not doing as much as I had been previously.

"It was difficult enough balancing the time as Paisley’s MSP but adding the responsibility of becoming a Scottish Government Minister just made it impossible for me to find the time.

"I tried for at least a year to make it work but I’ve had to now admit it is now time for another fan to move forward with SMISA.

"The SMISA fans' trust is in good hands at the moment as there are many people I have worked with over the years who I trust and believe in.

"I am happy that during my tenure as chair of the fans' trust, St Mirren FC has moved from the bottom of the Championship to sitting in third place in our country’s top tier.”

West Stand project

Marching On is a group of like-minded Buddies who want to make the whole St Mirren stadium experience better, with the aim of attracting and retaining fans and ultimately trying to make a positive impact on the players on the park.

The group has an array of plans to make the stadium and surrounding area a real St Mirren fortress. Their initial phase involves adding colour and character to the concourses of the stands, starting with the West Stand. The group hope that fans will be able to see the difference this initial phase has made.

This project is 100% volunteer-led and funded and has received support from Sanctuary Housing Group who have provided two days’ worth of free labour and £500 for materials. Marching On is now asking SMISA members to match that funding of £500 to enable the work in the West Stand to be completed before the group moves on to the rest of the stadium.

Members can now vote via Very Connect on whether to support this proposal or not, with the poll closing on Friday September 16 at 5pm to give the group time to start the next phase next week. The funds would be taken from the Club Pot that currently sits at around £20,000.

Cast your vote HERE

Community Season Tickets

SMISA’s Community Season Ticket scheme is proving so far to be very well received. Thanks to the support of our members we were able to buy 30 season tickets for the Tony Fitzpatrick Family Stand which allows us to support the club financially while also providing tickets to matches to those who may not otherwise be able to attend, especially during this cost of living crisis.

Our community liaison officer Jim Cumming has been working closely with Engage Renfrewshire and other local groups to dispense the tickets and the feedback has been terrific.

Home Start Renfrewshire and Inverclyde were able to provide tickets to a family to attend their first match together and meet Paisley Panda and they were very grateful.

“It was great to be able to take our kids out to watch our local football team we support and bond as a family. My kids are so excited to go again. They have been telling everyone. Thanks so much to Homestart and SMISA for our great day out.”

Another Renfrewshire charitable organisation, Pachedu, took tickets for the Hibs match and their operations manager Johannes Gonani wrote to us to say: "Most of the people we took had never been to a football match of that magnitude and they were highly appreciative. As a direct result of this event, we now have one young person who attended who has signed up for the St Mirren junior teams and two more who are in the process of seeking opportunities."

It's great to see so many people from our community and beyond taking the chance to get along to a game at the SMISA Stadium and it’s all down to the members’ willingness to support this scheme.

Quarterly Members Meeting

A reminder that we will hold our next quarterly members meeting on Thursday October 27 at the SMISA Stadium at 7pm.

We will send details on how to register nearer the time. Members are also asked to log in to Very Connect to ensure their contact information and other details are all up to date.

Kiltwalk

While the first team are playing Celtic at home this Sunday, the St Mirren Kiltwalk team will be taking on the streets of Edinburgh, walking 24 miles to raise money for St Mirren FC Charitable Foundation.

Anyone not attending the match who would like to join them still has time to do so – and those who can’t can still donate to a very worthy cause!

To donate to the Saints Come Marching in Team, please follow this link here.

To join the Saints Come Marching In Team free of charge, please follow this link here.

Gayle Brannigan, the foundation’s Chief Executive Officer, said: “The Kiltwalk is one of the most impactful fundraising events that anyone can take part in!

“The fact that the Hunter Foundation adds 50% to our total fundraising amount makes a huge difference, particularly within this financial climate.

“Everyone looks forward to the day because of the camaraderie. The atmosphere is brilliant and it’s so well organised.”

SMISA members recently voted overwhelmingly in favour of reintroducing the Community Season ticket initiative to provide match tickets free of charge to those who may otherwise not be able to attend a game.

It means we now have 30 season tickets for the Tony Fitzpatrick Family Stand available for use by community groups for every home league game.

We are working in conjunction with Engage Renfrewshire to help facilitate this scheme but groups are also welcome to apply directly to use the tickets via this link: https://www.smisa.net/community-season-tickets

Anyone with any additional questions or requests should contact SMISA board member Jim Cumming on [email protected]

Summary of the SMISA members meeting held on July 21, 2022 at the SMISA Stadium

In attendance from the club: John Needham (JN), Jim Gillespie (JG), Keith Lasley (KL), Alex White (AW), and Mark Macmillan

In attendance from the SMISA committee: George Adam (GA), Alan Quinn (AQ), Kenny Docherty (KD), Janette Swanson, Dougie McMahon, Eddie Devine and Graeme Macpherson

The latest quarterly meeting – attended by 22 members – began with a welcome from host GA who pointed out that, while everything is still not perfect, vast improvements have been made at the club since the turmoil of last summer.

JN followed on a similar theme, revealing that season ticket sales to date (3339) had now exceeded last year’s total, before KL spoke about the positive start he has enjoyed in his role as chief operating officer.

Members’ Q&A section

The first question centred on increased ticket prices for the visit of Rangers and Celtic and whether this would also disadvantage the home support. JN said St Mirren supporters would be encouraged to take up the offer of a two-match package with the subsequent home game offered at a discount, thus averaging out the price. 

JN also said the long-term hope was to create a positive matchday experience so that parents who might be unwilling to take their kids to Ibrox or Parkhead would instead bring them more regularly to St Mirren matches.

The next question was about whether the team would wear the black and white stripes more often at home than has happened in recent years. KL said that the team would wear the home strip at home at all times unless there was a very good reason not to.

There was a question about the situation with Dylan Reid and how the club can either hold on to academy talent for longer or maximise the club’s earning potential. JG answered that it was a difficult situation with many variances, pointed out that Dylan is in the last year of his contract and the club have engaged with the player’s mum and agent. Celtic came in with an offer that reflected the compensation on offer that included a 30 percent sell-on clause. Dylan was allowed to speak to Celtic but was always made aware that St Mirren wanted him to stay to continue his development here. The situation will now be reassessed in November and the hope is at that time Dylan could be persuaded to sign a contract extension. What will be key is ensuring that players like him and others in the academy can see a viable pathway to first-team football. JG also admitted that as a club St Mirren needs to do more to maximise the financial returns of any young player that does move on.

There was a point raised about a supporter who had been displaced from their season ticket seat during the Covid “red zone” period and unable to get it back and also about cars making unauthorised use of the club’s car park on a Sunday morning. KL said he will look into both.

A question was asked about whether Old Firm fans would be kept behind after those matches. KL will address operational matters with the stadium manager. But he reiterated that the three-stands programme was not about denying the Old Firm supporters, but about getting as many St Mirren fans into the stadium as possible for every match.

There was another question on whether the club would be pursuing Premier Sports for the fee due after they chose not to broadcast the Airdrie game live. KL confirmed that would be the case.

One member wanted to know what the situation was with one of the sponsors following media reports about the firm reneging on deals with a number of organisations including St Mirren. KL said he has held positive meetings with the company with a view to getting them to fulfil their contractual obligations.

There was a question about whether the Ralston training ground work was now complete. KL said there had been a series of upgrades and the pitches were looking fantastic. The building construction work is also almost complete and the players will then get full use of it.

One member wanted to know about the plans to introduce additional hospitality boxes and whether that would be additional revenue or taking away from current hospitality arrangements. JN confirmed it would be the former. He revealed there’s a capacity requirement as hospitality regularly sells out plus the club doesn’t have a private box offering. There has been a lot of interest in it so far. The cost will be paid back in just over a year after which point it will be generating profit.

There was then a lengthy discussion about the club’s finances and cashflow position. JN revealed the board get management accounts every month from the club accountant and examine them at board meetings and take action where needed. JG explained that there is an audit committee and a finance committee and the club now has the necessary financial and fiscal policies in place. He added that the club is in a better position today than this time last year but that, along with cutting their cloth, the club also has to scale the business to try to generate income. So alongside looking at what happened last year in terms of finances, the club is also continually looking at different ways to also grow the business. AQ added that a lot of recommendations have been made from the finance committee to the board on how to tighten up and improve procedures and that matters are being addressed.

There was a suggestion of providing quarterly or interim financial updates and the board members agreed this was something they may be able to do but would have to look into the best way to do that.

There was a follow-up question about SMISA’s representatives to the club board and their suitability. GA revealed that KD has drafted a paper on behalf of the SMISA board looking at all of that in detail that will now be considered by the club directors at their next board meeting. JN added he is a supporter of a rotation policy so directors don’t outstay their welcome. He felt it was good governance to bring in fresh names every so often.

A member asked about why the club has never looked into the viability of running car boot sales within the stadium car park. AW said the club was looking at ways of maximising the use of the facilities, including the possibility of an outdoor cinema, and would take this idea into account too.

The meeting was concluded with one member thanking the St Mirren and SMISA committee, and other club staff, for being willing to meet face-to-face with supporters on a regular basis to discuss these issues, something that doesn’t happen at too many other clubs.

The next meeting will be held on October 27.

Community Season Tickets 

As a board we are fully supportive of the club’s ongoing efforts to make the SMISA Stadium as full as possible with St Mirren supporters for every game and are keen to play our part in making that a reality.

With that in mind, after a gap of two seasons we are delighted to have the opportunity to re-introduce the Community Season ticket initiative. In the past we have worked with Engage Renfrewshire to reach out to social enterprises, community development trusts, charitable groups and mutual aid groups in and around Renfrewshire to provide match tickets free of charge to those who may otherwise not be able to attend a game.

With the club retaining three stands going forward, getting more home fans to every game and also supporting the club financially through these difficult times is really a WIN-WIN-WIN situation for SMISA, the football club and the local community.

The price for 30 season tickets, that will give access to all home league games this season, is £5000 and we are asking SMISA members to vote on whether to approve this or not via the Very Connect portal. The deadline for casting your vote is Friday July 1.

St Mirren women’s team ballot 

We recently provided members with the opportunity to vote on whether to support the St Mirren women’s team who are heading to Germany next month to take part in a tournament as part of their pre-season preparations. They had asked if SMISA members could help cover the cost of their flights which, for 15 players and coaches, amounts to around £2700.

The ballot was approved by a majority of those who voted, with 373 members in favour and 57 against.  

We would also like to take the opportunity to pass on our congratulations to the St Mirren under-16s girls team who defeated Pollok United recently to lift the League Cup. Well done girls!