SMiSA News

Sponsored Shirt Raffle Winners

Last season SMiSA sponsored four youth players kits and at the end of the season we were given each of their jerseys, we then picked four members names out the hat to receive these jerseys.

This years winners were Gareth Toop, Eric Balfour, Ian McLaren (pictured) and Barry Johnston.

This is something the Trust has been doing for a number of years now as it provides income for St.Mirren and at the same time gives the members of The Trust an opportunity to gain something in return. 

The club's commercial department are currently taking orders for next seasons sponsored kits.

http://www.saintmirren.net/pages/?p=55942

Deposit for #BuyTheBuds now paid

SMISA took another small step towards fan ownership for St Mirren earlier today when ourselves and Gordon Scott deposited a £100,000 deposit with lawyers - who will now secure a one-month exclusivity period as sole bidders for the majority shareholding in the club held by the selling consortium. That gives time for due diligence and for us to complete the legal formalities, and - while the deal is not yet done - we are still on track for Gordon to have a new board in place for the start of the new season and the start of a new era for the club. SMISA chair George Adam is pictured outside TSB in Paisley High Street after arranging for SMISA's £20,000 share of the deposit to be transferred.

#BuyTheBuds Target Reached

Congratulations St Mirren fans, you did it – your club can now be yours. Today is a landmark day in the history of our club – the people who care about it most now have the chance to help shape its future, and make sure St Mirren stays where it belongs – at the heart of the Paisley and Renfrewshire community.

With 1,000+ members, SMISA has now met our own target to finalise our joint offer for the majority shareholding in the club with Gordon Scott, and – subject to due diligence – the sale should be concluded in the next few weeks. If all goes to plan, the new season will see Gordon put a new board in place and kick off a new era for our club.

We would like to pay tribute to the current board for everything they have done for St Mirren over the past two decades – they can walk away with their heads held high in the knowledge they left the club in a far better position than they found it, and to know that it will be in safe hands.

But we won’t stop at 1,000 members – we want as many St Mirren fans as possible to sign up and be part of this new era, so if you haven’t yet, please do so at smisa.net any time. There is no upper ceiling on membership – the more paying members we have, the less financial risk on the trust, the greater the pool of talent we can draw on, and the more money we can spend on the club and community, while working towards the long-term goal of majority fan ownership.

Of course, new challenges will lie ahead and SMISA has a lot of work to do behind the scenes to put new structures and procedures in place for our vastly-expanded membership. We are sure you understand this won’t happen overnight and appreciate your patience. But today is one for every Saints fan to celebrate. You did it. You ‪#‎BoughtTheBuds‬.

Final Push for #BuyTheBuds Campaign as Deadline Nears

The team behind plans to make St Mirren the latest fan-owned club in Scottish football are urging Buddies not to miss out on the chance to make history as the deadline for sign-ups closes in.

The St Mirren Independent Supporters Association (SMISA) has teamed up with former club director Gordon Scott on a joint offer accepted by the consortium selling a majority shareholding in the club.

But the #BuyTheBuds campaign will only go ahead if 1,000 fans sign up to pay £12 per month – with another 150 sign-ups needed before Sunday’s fundraising deadline falls.

If it goes through, Gordon would become chairman this summer under a similar model to Ann Budge and the Foundation of Hearts – with SMISA getting a fan on the board and the exclusive option to buy Gordon’s shares and achieve majority fan ownership within the next ten years.

Gordon and SMISA chairman George Adam both met the media at the Paisley 2021 Stadium to help lead the final push for sign-ups.

Both will also be out tonight during the last in a series of public meetings allowing fans to pose their questions directly to the team behind the deal.

And construction boss Gordon – who masterminded the building of the stadium during his previous stint on the board – said: “We have had a phenomenal reaction from fans in the two months of fundraising – and we want to thank all those who have signed up for their support.

“I would be honoured to become the chairman of the club I have supported all my life. If the deal goes through I will look to bring on to the board people who have what it takes to help me move the club forward and take it back into the top league where it belongs.

“I plan to do that by working with the community and local businesses to make the most of the great facilities and location we have here – and working with SMISA to give the fans a greater influence on what happens with St Mirren than they have ever had before.”

SMISA chair George Adam added: “We have been working away behind the scenes on this deal for more than a year now – and it all comes down to what happens in the next few days.

“This week could be a momentous one in the history of the club – but the opportunity St Mirren fans have in their hands over the next few days is one they might not ever have again.

“If we take it, we control the future of our club and can safeguard it and everything it means to the Renfrewshire community forever.”

For more information and to sign up, visit smisa.net

Former Saints Players Signup to Help #BuyTheBuds

The bid to take St Mirren into fan ownership has signed up two legends of the club’s recent past.

Barry McLaughlin and Ricky Gillies have thrown their weight behind the joint offer by the St Mirren Independent Supporters Association and ex-Saints director Gordon Scott to buy a majority shareholding in the club.

The #BuyTheBuds campaign has signed up 750 people in just six weeks and is now sitting around 250 people short of the 1,000-person target needed by 19 June for the deal to go through.

Should it be successful, Gordon would become chairman and SMISA would have a seat on the board, and would continue fundraising in order to buy Gordon’s shares over the long term.

And Barry and Ricky – local boys who starred for the club throughout the 1990s and 2000s, including the First Division title-winning side of 1999/2000 – have urged their fellow fans to help get the deal over the line.

Former club captain Barry – now a business advisor with Satander – said: “St Mirren is a community club, and most of the fans are from the local area.

“Going forward you want to see the club being run by people who care for the club and are not looking to profit from it.

“Gordon Scott has St Mirren at heart and I am looking forward to seeing what he and the new board can bring to the club.

“The club has been going for 140 years, we want to see it going for another 140 years and to be kept alive for generations to come.”

 And one-time midfield maestro Ricky – who now works with PFA Scotland as a football agent – added:

“I think all football clubs at St Mirren’s level should be run by the fans. They are the ones that will be there until doomsday

“I’ve got a great interest in St Mirren - my wife and family are fans and they are a great club, the best I was ever at.

“You do not want people who are only there to make money, who just want to bring players in and move them on to other clubs, as St Mirren won’t see that money. If the club was sold to foreign agents it could be a disaster.

“The perfect solution is for the club to have business people on board but for the fans to have a real democracy and be represented in the boardroom and work together on what is best for the club.

“So what is being proposed is perfect. I have met Gordon Scott a few times in the past few years and obviously knew him from my own days at St Mirren. He loves the club and I think he would be a great chairman.”

#BuyTheBuds Q&A - 13th of June

As you will no doubt be aware, the deadline for sign-ups is in just over two weeks – Sunday 19 June.
We have said from the start we need to hit our target of 1,000 sign-ups for us to be satisfied the deal is viable and that remains the case.

To help with that final push we are calling a third and final public meeting on Monday 13 June at 7pm in the hospitality suite at The Paisley 2021 Stadium.
That will give fans a chance to put any remaining questions directly to Gordon and members of the SMISA committee before the deadline.

Right now we are standing on the verge of a huge moment in the 139-year existence of our football club – and we need your help to take that final step.
Although we have worked hard to reach as many St Mirren fans as we can over the past few weeks, there will still be some who may not know a lot about the deal, or who haven’t yet been convinced to sign up.

There is no more powerful tool at our disposal than word of mouth – so we are asking you to help us spread the word and convince your fellow fans to do this for the same reasons you have.

We appreciate the detail surrounding the bid is complex but also that it can be boiled down to three very simple points – feel free to use them.

1) The club needs fresh ideas and energy; this deal means new chairman will be a Saints fan with experience to take the club forward and a sustainable transition to fan ownership.
2) Your £12p/m contribution gives you a vote on big issues affecting St Mirren and the chance to elect a director and decide how member cash helps the club.
3) We won’t get another chance to do this; our club is precious and it will be sold but this way we keep it in the hands of the people who will care about it most...you.

Of course we appreciate some people may want to hear things directly from Gordon and the SMISA committee – in which case please ask them to come along to the meeting on Monday 13th.

As we say, this is the final push to make sure we and only we can control what happens with an institution which means so much to every one of us.
Together we can write the next chapter in the history of our football club together.

#BuyTheBuds Pin Badges

Whilst in the closed season we’ll be partnering up with local businesses in the Renfrewshire area to keep some stock of the #BuyTheBuds pin badges. We’ll keep this article updated with availability over the next few weeks. So far they are available at.
 
Saporito Coffee – 27 Gauze Street, Paisley
https://www.facebook.com/saporitopaisley / https://twitter.com/saporito_coffee
 
The Court Bar – 7 St James’ Street, Paisley
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Court-Bar / https://twitter.com/courtbarpaisley

St Mirren Club Shop - Paisley 2021 Stadium, Paisley
https://www.facebook.com/StMirrenShop / https://twitter.com/StMirrenShop

#BuyTheBuds Deadline of 19th June Announced

St Mirren fans have one month left to sign up to a scheme which could see them become the latest Scottish club to move into fan ownership, after a fundraising deadline was called.
 
The St Mirren Independent Suppoorters’ Association (SMISA) has teamed up with former club director Gordon Scott with a joint offer already accepted in principle by the consortium selling a majority shareholding.
 
The trust needs to sign up 1,000 members at a minimum of £12 per month for the deal to be viable – and are more than halfway there, having managed almost 600 since fundraising started in April.
 
But with other bidders on the scene the deal needs to be completed this summer – and SMISA have now called an end date of Thursday 19 June to hit the target.
 
The announcement was made last night at a public meeting at The Paisley 2021 Stadium attended by hundreds, at which Gordon and SMISA chair George Adam MSP answered questions from fans.
 
The joint SMISA/Gordon offer is loosely based on the successful model run by Ann Budge and the Foundation of Hearts.
 
Gordon is putting up the bulk of the money needed to fund the deal, which would see him become majority shareholder and chairman, while the fans would get a director on the board and a legal agreement giving them exclusive right to buy the shares Gordon buys now within 10 years.
 
Membership starts at £12 per month, with a £25 per month option, and a premium package offering ten years of membership and other exclusive benefits for a one-off payment of £2,500. For more information, visit www.smisa.net
 
SMISA chair George Adam MSP said: “We have had a fantastic reaction from fans, with hundreds signing up the first couple of weeks of fundraising, and we want to thank all of those who have done so to date.
 
“A team of us have been working hard behind the scenes on this bid for a year now – but its success now rests on what happens in the next month.
“We have one month in which to get the numbers we need to make this deal viable. If we don’t we won’t get the chance again.
 
“For the price of a pint a week, St Mirren fans have it in their hands to take control of the future of their club and everything it means to this community, and preserve it for future generations.”
 
Gordon Scott said: “The current board deserve a lot of credit for all they have done over the years – but one way or another they are going to sell up and move on.
 
“St Mirren fans have a simple choice – either be part of what are doing and build the future of our club together, or leave that future entirely to chance.
 
“It would be a life-defining achievement for me to become chairman of the club I have supported since I was a boy.
 
“My aim is simple – work with the fans and the community to give St Mirren the fresh ideas it needs, get the club back into the top league where it belongs, and hand it over to the fans to safeguard forever.”

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