We can now update SMISA members on our plans for who will represent them on the club board once the majority shareholding in the club has been bought.

It’s now only two months until SMISA completes its purchase of the majority shareholding in St Mirren, meaning we can forever keep our club in the hands of those who care for it most – you, the fans.

One of the key questions we need to resolve between now and then is who will represent SMISA on the club board from the summer.

Currently, SMISA has two reps on the eight-person SMFC board. As of the summer we will be entitled to four of the eight.

We this year defined SMISA’s future role (you can see it here), based on your feedback, and one of our key responsibilities is to help the club remain a well-run business. 

As we’ve said before, fan-owned does not mean fan-run – the club board will oversee the running of the club. SMISA’s job is to make sure the people doing that on our behalf are the people we judge best qualified for the job.

So with that in mind we have asked two of the current club board – Gordon Scott and Alan Wardrop – to become the additional two SMISA reps from the summer.

In doing so we considered a number of issues. We have always said continuity and stability would be key and that we won’t make change for the sake of change if things were going well at the point of takeover.

St Mirren has made a profit in each of the past four seasons, while improving its league position year-on-year.

With the additional skills and expertise available to the club through our partnership with Kibble, we believe the club has the right people and structure already in place to build on that in the new fan-owned era.

While SMISA members will in future have the right to approve or reject new SMISA appointments to a vacancy on the club board, those already on the board are not new appointments.

The SMISA committee interviewed both Gordon and Alan against the existing job description for a SMISA-appointed club director, to ensure all parties were comfortable with the extra responsibilities this would involve for them.

Both are successful businesspeople who have played key roles in St Mirren’s recent successes, as well as long-standing SMISA members and lifelong fans with the club’s best interests at heart.

We are confident both will continue to provide good leadership and oversight of the club on SMISA’s behalf, while also ensuring our members’ views are considered in club decisions.

What happens next

SMISA will complete the purchase of Gordon’s remaining shares on July 27. From then, we will own 51% of the club (Kibble will be the only other major shareholder, with 27.5%).

The shareholders agreement – which requires the club to refer certain issues to the major shareholders – will only apply to SMISA and Kibble (Gordon will no longer be party to this).

Gordon and Alan will join David Riley and John Needham as the four SMISA reps on the club board from the summer. The rest of the club board – Tony Fitzpatrick (chief executive), Chris Stewart (club secretary), plus Kibble representatives Jim Gillespie (club vice chair) and Mark Macmillan, will all continue in their current roles.

Who fills the role of club chair is for the board to decide, but they have agreed Gordon will remain as club chair for the time being to help aid the transition to the new era.

However the future set-up will be different from in recent years, when Gordon was also the club’s owner. While the chair remains a key role, no one individual will be in charge – the board as a collective will be responsible for club operations.

Our website has a guide to how fan ownership will work outlining the roles of the various parties.

It has been a long road to get to this point but the journey to fan ownership is nearly complete. We are excited for what the future holds for our club and hope you are too. We thank you again for everything you have done to make that possible.

The following annual report is a summary of the updates provided at the AGM of the 1877 Society Ltd (SMISA) which took place on Monday 26 April.

The AGM saw us look back over the past year and ahead to the next one, which will see us take over the majority ownership of the club in the summer. You can view a recording of the full meeting on our YouTube channel here.

Results of AGM voting

The slide below shows the results of the formal business, as voted on by members in the run-up to this year’s meeting:

Highlights of the year

Despite a challenging year with the ongoing pandemic, we have had a successful year thanks to your continued support. Highlights include:

- reaching the amount required to purchase Gordon Scott’s remaining shares (£331k), meaning fan ownership can be delivered this summer;

- the ground was renamed The SMISA Stadium for the season which helped increase our profile in the run-up to fan ownership;

- John Needham was recruited to join David Riley as one of our two representatives on the club board, replacing David Nicol;

- we hosted two well attended Meet The Manager evenings via Zoom – with members from across the world joining in;

- for the first time members voted for next season’s home and away kits, with the result to be revealed at the new kit launch in the summer.

Also, thanks to your continued support the £2 spend made possible the following projects: 

- £14.8k to the club’s youth academy, to help support their ongoing work during the pandemic;

- £3.6k to St Mirren’s women’s team for new equipment and kits;

- £3.4k to SMTV to buy better equipment and a new camera to improve match-day coverage;

- £6k for much-needed maintenance and upgrades to the first-team training centre at Ralston, delivered in partnership with Kibble;

- £1.5k for a new Panda costume, for use on match days and for other club and community events.

Finance and membership

Key points relating to finance and membership include:

- SMISA’s cash is currently spread across a number of different bank accounts to help maximise the level of interest earned, each with deposits of no more than £85,000, the FSCS guarantee limit.

- we expect to have a cash reserve left of around £140,000 once the share purchase has been completed in July;

- member numbers (currently 1,181) gradually fell from a peak of more than 1,300 in 2016 but have been stable since 2019;

- we believe most who have left have done so for financial reasons. While we expected the pandemic may have a negative impact on member numbers, that hasn’t happened. Since last November, 12 have left and 28 joined;

- our Very Connect membership system allows members to set their age and location. Members are spread not just throughout Scotland and the UK, but from Europe, the USA, Asia and Australia too;

- however the vast majority of our members are aged over 40, and we are looking at how we can attract more younger members in future;

Annual objectives

Our objectives for 2020/21 – and how we performed against them, were as follows:

1) Formalise the process for recruiting SMISA representatives to the SMFC board, and appoint our next representative by summer 2020 (this was completed, with John Needham selected and appointed in August).

2) Continue to develop our membership strategy (this is still ongoing, having been disrupted by the pandemic).

3) Help the club to further reduce its carbon footprint (this was put on hold as the pandemic prevented fans from visiting the stadium, and will be looked at again once we return to normal).

4) Produce a revised structure of membership fees and benefits, to be ready when SMISA secures the majority stake in the club (this is being finalised and we will be introducing a new membership structure and benefits package very soon).

The objectives we have set for 2021/22 are:

1) Complete the shares buyout from Gordon Scott by July 27 2021.

2) Work closely with our partners Kibble and demonstrate to our members how the partnership has brought benefits to the club and the wider community.

3) We would like SMISA to be more inclusive and available to more supporters.

Future planning

We’ve already laid out the key points of how fan ownership will work elsewhere on the website. The single most important thing is that St Mirren continues to be a well-run business. So we would reiterate that fan-owned won’t mean fan-run.

The club’s day-to-day business will still be done by the professionals in the club’s management and staff, overseen by the club board, of which SMISA will appoint at least half. While we will demand the club board consider the views of our members and the wider fanbase, we will trust them to make business decisions they believe best for St Mirren.

SMISA role - We spent time over the past year firming up the definition of this. Based on the results of the members survey we did in summer 2020, we created a mission, vision and role for SMISA, which can be viewed here.

Beyond that a lot of work is being done around SMISA operations post-takeover:

Members fees – In future we’ll still need an income - we have running costs and we want to be able to invest in the club once we own it.

But being inclusive is now one of our values and we know cost has a been a barrier to people joining in the past. So we plan to introduce a new membership tier – at £5 per month, as well as the current £12 and £25 pm tiers.

Benefits – each membership tier need a different offer. As it stands the £25pm members get added benefits. We will extend that to give new benefits to the £12pm members, with some even better ones for the £25pm members. Any £5pm membership would be a basic one with no added benefits.

This new benefits package is still a work in progress but we hope to reveal details soon. We are also looking into creating a junior membership category.

Future finance – we previously asked our members if they were happy for SMISA money to continue being invested in the club once the shares are bought. 89% said they were and only 2% weren’t (the rest were maybes).

We estimate after the summer SMISA will have a six-figure annual sum after costs which could be used as members see fit. We are working on a set of proposals just now over how we think that money could be best used, and hope to put that to a member vote in the coming weeks.

We recently emailed members with details of the £2 spend ballot for April in which members were asked to vote on two projects. 

The first is to provide a financial contribution towards the cost of materials for the refurbishment of the first-team facilities at the club’s training ground at Ralston.

The second is to support the purchase of a professionally-designed Paisley Panda costume to be used for matchday, entertainment and charity appearances.

We are aware some members have endured intermittent technical problems when trying to cast their votes on their phones.

We have been in regular dialogue with our platform host to see if they could provide a temporary fix but unfortunately that isn’t going to be possible before the end of the voting period. 

Some members have told us they have been able to get around the issue by turning their phones onto landscape (horizontal) mode and hopefully that will work for many of you. 

We also know that those who have accessed the vote via an iPad, tablet, laptop or desktop PC have not encountered any problems, and so we would ask any members who are yet to cast their vote to use one of those devices if they have access to any of them. 

If that isn’t possible, we would ask members to email [email protected] with their preferences and we will record each email and combine it with the system votes to make sure every member’s opinion is counted. The voting will remain open until this Friday, April 23. 

Mercifully, the issue only appears to be affecting a small minority of mobile phone users and those who have already voted should be assured that their votes have been safely recorded.

We apologise for any inconvenience this issue may have caused some of you and remain confident it will be resolved ahead of the next member vote. 

Anyone with any ongoing difficulties or questions can contact us via the above email address at any time. 

OUR two SMISA-appointed St Mirren directors, David Riley (DR) and John Needham (JN), provide an update to members on what’s been happening at the club over the last few months and what lies ahead.

Q: It’s been three months since our last directors’ Q&A – can you update the members on the main things that have been keeping the St Mirren board busy during that period please?

DR: Sure. It has been great to see the team come together and climb the league, despite falling just short of claiming a place in the top six. We are all confident they will continue to push hard to finish in seventh spot and hopefully enjoy a run in the Scottish Cup, too.

Behind the scenes we have been working on the plans for getting fans safely back into the stadium. No one knows how that will happen or what it will look like but our fans can rest assured that we will do everything possible and meet every requirement to ensure as many as possible are able to attend matches next season.

If restrictions on numbers are still in place, we will be looking to ensure that live streaming continues to be available for those who can’t be accommodated. This isn’t guaranteed but we will ensure our voice is heard in any discussions.

As always, we are monitoring the budget and planning for season 2021/22 to provide the manager with the funds, facilities and resources he needs to ensure the team keeps improving.

As advised in a previous update, we are constantly looking to improve the matchday experience for our fans and to that end we are making very good progress. More on those next time.

Q: One of the major recent developments was, of course, the decision to hand manager Jim Goodwin an extended contract. Can you give a little background as to how that decision was reached and the reasons behind it?

DR: Jim is recognised throughout the game as one of the top young managers in the country. From the first interview it was clear that he has the desire and skill set to succeed and ambitions that matched those of the Board.

He has navigated his way through one of the most difficult seasons any manager will ever go through – just look at some of the managerial casualties – and only just missed out on a top six finish.

Jim is committed to taking the club as far as possible and it was only right that the Board made the same commitment to him by offering a contract extension which we are all very happy has been signed. We will support Jim every step of the way to help bring future success to the club.

Q: How has the relative certainty over knowing what division the club will likely be in next season helped with forward planning? Has the club been able to put plans in place for next season in terms of enhancing the playing squad?

JN: It certainly has been a help. However, the club had embarked on a strategy last summer to sign players on longer-term deals to reduce the churn of players every close season. As a result, around 15 of the squad are already signed up for next year and that solid platform will hopefully allow us to attract better quality players to strengthen the squad further.

Targets have already been identified and we all hope that Jim and Tony’s success in the transfer market will continue.

That said, the most important thing in terms of future planning is financial stability. The Board’s financial strategy at the club in recent years has meant we are well placed to continue improving the squad without over-stretching the finances.

Q: It now sadly looks like supporters won’t be able to attend matches at the SMISA Stadium this season. What’s the latest guidance in terms of getting fans back into grounds next season?

DR: Unfortunately, we are at the mercy of the pandemic like everyone else. As the First Minister and Chief Medical Officer have said, we will be guided by data, not dates, so we need to have plans in place to cover all possible scenarios and be ready to adapt to changes at very short notice…and we will.

The vaccination programme is progressing well so by summer I hope we will be well placed as a country to get back to something very close to normal.

Those of us on the Board have been fortunate to be able to attend matches this season but I can say with absolute certainty – and I know I speak for all of my fellow Directors – that football is nothing without fans. We truly can’t wait to get everyone back inside the stadium roaring the team on. That first day back will be hugely emotional for everyone; fans, players, management, staff and maybe even the polis!

Q: Have there been any new commercial developments taking place behind the scenes that members might be keen to learn about?

JN: The Directors are constantly looking at ways to improve the returns from our commercial activities, albeit this year efforts have been focused on ensuring losses from COVID were mitigated.

We do have plans for increasing the use of the stadium (once it’s safe to do so) and driving up income and hope to make announcements on these initiatives in the coming months.

Whilst COVID restrictions have had adverse impacts they have also forced us into developing things like SMTV to enable streaming games in greater numbers which has generated significant income.

We are also seeing the benefits of sharing skills and resources from Kibble in the likes of marketing where the “Be in that Number” campaign was a huge success. Also, the eye-catching billboard advertising that continues around the area.

Q: Supporters were excited to see 16 year-old Dylan Reid make his first-team debut recently. Are the board encouraged by the signs coming out of Ralston in terms of youth development?

JN: Our Academy is a real source of justifiable pride and the work done by Allan McManus and his team is greatly appreciated by the Board. It’s essential their good work continues and investment in the Academy is a central part of our strategy.

Dylan will hopefully become the latest in a long line of talented young players we’ve been able to enjoy seeing in the stripes.

This season we’ve also seen Kyle, Ethan and Cammy further establish themselves as regulars with Lewis and Jay knocking at the door too. It’s great to see these guys getting a chance to gain experience and improve.

An added bonus has been the successful recruitment of young talent from elsewhere such as Conor McCarthy and Jamie McGrath to augment our homegrown Academy graduates.

At St Mirren we’ve a great reputation for giving youth an opportunity to flourish and I’m sure that will continue.

We recently emailed members with a February update:

Meet-the-manager Zoom event

The new year is only a few weeks old but it’s already thrown up plenty of St Mirren-related talking points. And we are delighted to be able to give our members the chance to talk about them with Jim Goodwin, from the comfort of your own home, with our latest virtual manager Q&A.

Jim will be joined on the call by club chief exec Tony Fitzpatrick and SMISA’s two reps on the club board – David Riley and John Needham – to help answer any questions on off-field matters.

The call will take place on Monday 15 February at 7pm. As our Zoom account limits capacity to 100 we’d ask anyone who wants to join the call to book your place by logging in to Very Connect and going to the Events page.

We’ll send joining instructions and a meeting link to all confirmed attendees on the day itself. Please don’t book a place unless you plan to use it (or if you do book and can’t use it, let us know)

January £2 ballot results

Last month we put forward two possible projects for members to vote on in the latest £2 Spend ballot.

One was to provide new training kit for the St Mirren Women and Girls Academy at a cost of £3600, a figure that will include incorporating SMISA branding.

Those members who voted chose to support this overwhelmingly, with 522 (87%) voting in favour and 76 (13%) voting against. That financial support will now help provide tracksuits and training kit for around 60 players in their under-13 to under-17 squads.

The second project was to help provide the club with new camera and microphone equipment to help improve the quality of St Mirren TV at a total cost of £3400. Again, this proved popular with those members who voted, with 520 (87%) in favour and 78 (13%) voting against.

The next ballot will take place in April and anyone with any suggestions for potential projects should email [email protected]

The SMISA committee

We recently emailed our members with the latest SMISA update below: 

January £2 Spend 

 This month we have two potential projects to vote on with a total cost of £7000.

 The first is to provide new training kit for the St Mirren Women’s and Girls Academy. The academy has been severely impacted by the pandemic in terms of their finances and ability to play and train but has still managed to keep the players and volunteers engaged through a number of different activities. 

 They operate with the following age groups – Adults, U17, U15, U13, U11, and U9s - and currently have around 140 women and girls playing and representing St Mirren in the community.

 With their own fundraising efforts hampered by the pandemic, Kate Cooper and her team are looking for financial support to help provide tracksuits and training kit for around 60 players in their under-13 to under-17 squads, the performance arm of the academy. 

 The total cost of providing that kit would be £3600, which would include the cost of adding SMISA branding. 

 The second option is to support the development of St Mirren TV. With so many supporters tuning in every weekend to watch the team, we asked the club if there was anything our members could do to help deliver an enhanced product for them to watch. 

 They have come back to say that new equipment would allow them to provide better footage, less complex editing and free up the media team to develop additional content ideas for the platform. 

 To that end, the club would like to purchase a Canon Mark IV 5D camera (£2,500), two Go-Pro Hero 9 cameras (total £700) and a Canon stereo microphone DM-E100 (£200) at a total cost of £3400.

 Members can choose to support one, both or neither of these projects, with any unspent sums retained in the bank for possible future use. Voting closes February 5. 

Changes to SMISA website 

 With the transition to fan ownership set to be complete by the summer, we are keen to make sure our members are clear on how things will work once SMISA has bought the majority shareholding.

We've now created a new How It Will Work page on our website offering a handy summary of the respective roles of the club board, SMISA's committee and members, and our partners Kibble, as well as how club info will be communicated. 

 You can read that HERE.

 For anyone looking for more detail, the Q&A page we originally created last year when you were asked to vote on the Kibble partnership has now been rewritten and updated. You can see that HERE

 Prospective members can also still sign up online, while we also have a new page dedicated to the SMISA Stadium.

 Member contributions and donations pass the £1m mark

 Since the Buy The Buds campaign was launched in 2016, your contributions have helped SMISA to purchase our initial stake in the club from the former owners and, subsequently, to raise the amount needed to buy out chairman Gordon Scott – a deal we are on course to complete later this year. 

We calculate that you have raised more than £1m in subscriptions and donations in that four-and-a-half year period, an incredible effort. Without your regular financial support none of this would have been possible so we would like to thank every member who has helped us along the journey of ensuring our club stays in the hands of the people who care for it the most – the fans. 

 If you have any questions about this or anything else you can get in touch via [email protected].

We emailed our members with the following update - including the latest from our men on the club board, and a message to members from the club youth academy

Directors’ Update

SMISA’s two appointees to the St Mirren club board, David Riley and John Needham, are playing a key role in the running of the club while also acting as the link between SMISA and St Mirren’s board and management. In the first of what will be a series of regular updates for SMISA members, the pair explain in more detail what they have been involved in.

It covers how they ensure SMISA member views are considered in club decisions, the contribution our partners Kibble have made to the club to date, and how the club board are responding to what has been a turbulent year on and off the park. You can read that on our website here.

Choosing next season’s kit

We recently gave members the chance to choose next season’s home and away kits from a series of options created by the club’s strip manufacturer, Joma. We want to thank everyone who took the time to vote for their favourites – and debate it on social media too!

Voting has now closed and Joma and the club will unveil the two winning designs later in the season. We hope this will now become an annual event, with fans also hopefully getting the opportunity to submit their own designs for consideration.

Allan McManus thank you

Earlier in the year we asked members to consider supporting the St Mirren youth academy during a difficult period by pledging the funds from both the July and the October £2 spend ballots in one go.

Members voted in large numbers to back that proposal and a sum of almost £15,000 has since been paid to help with the running and upkeep of the Ralston facility.

Head of Youth Allan McManus has always been grateful to the SMISA members for their ongoing support of the academy and he recorded a video with the club’s head of media James Hunter where he explained how that money has been spent while also thanking SMISA for their ongoing backing. You can watch the video on the club’s You Tube channel here.

SMISA news

Two members of the SMISA board, Alan Quinn and Jim Cumming, have been appointed to the club’s newly-formed finance and audit sub-committees respectively. The appointments will allow Jim and Alan to ensure good governance is upheld at all times and will also give them greater insight into the workings of the club ahead of next summer’s transition to fan ownership.

And finally….

We’d like to thank all of you once again for your support throughout what has been a tough and challenging year for everyone.

We look forward to 2021 when we will complete the transition to fan ownership and supporters will - all being well - be back inside the SMISA Stadium before too long!
In the meantime, please get in touch with us at any time via [email protected].

Wishing you all a Merry Christmas – and Come On Ye Saints!

In the first of what we plan to be a regular series, SMISA's two directors on the club board provide an update for members on a range of issues...

John - you are SMISA’s newest addition to the board. Can you tell the members a bit about your own background, and how you’ve found your first few months in the job?

JOHN: Sure, I retired from full time work in 2017 after almost 40 years working for RBS, starting in the former branch in the Piazza straight from school. During that time I was lucky enough to work in a variety of roles so I have a very broad set of skills and experience.

As well as working in the branches I was a relationship manager, worked on large projects, ran a large part of the back office across the UK, worked in audit and risk management and finally ended up working alongside the Bank of England following the financial crash in 2008 ensuring RBS was made safer and more secure for the future.

Since leaving the bank I’ve spent a lot more time on the golf course but I’ve also been building up a small set of voluntary and non-executive director positions. The chance to become a director of St Mirren fits perfectly with that and was an opportunity I felt I couldn’t let pass me by. I was never good enough to be a player so this is the next best thing!

It’s been a steep learning curve with the challenges facing us on and off the field from Covid. That said, I’m loving every minute of it. My primary role is to ensure the views of SMISA members are fully considered as part of the strategy and direction agreed for the club.

Allied to that I have tried to identify a couple of areas where I can work with those employed by the club to improve things. The topics of most interest to me are our digital/online offering and fan engagement. While great strides have been made by the club in recent years, I believe these are areas we could develop further.

David - you’ve been on the board for two years now. Can you tell us a bit about how the SMISA reps (which before John joined in the summer, were yourself and David Nicol) have been involved in club decisions, and how SMISA member views have been factored in?

DAVID:, I would like to express my thanks and gratitude to David Nicol for his excellent work in representing SMISA and its members prior to my arrival. He also provided support and guidance to me in my first few weeks and months which was very much appreciated.

From my very first board meeting I have been fully involved in all decisions taken. Where SMISA members have expressed views on a particular subject or issue they were presented to the board and considered in our decision. The other board members have always been interested in the thoughts and opinions of SMISA and its members and these form an integral part of the final decision.

It’s not always easy to balance the views of the majority with the best interests of the football club as a business. There have certainly been some decisions that needed to be taken with the head at the expense of the heart.

The impact of Covid-19 on the club this year has been significant and it is thanks to the incredible support of our fans that we have been able to continue to work towards improvements in areas identified from member feedback, either individually or via the recent SMISA member survey.

Ultimately we all want to see a successful team on the pitch, playing exciting football, and a top-class academy producing the next generation of first-team talent. Every decision we make is taking us a step closer to these goals. Some changes have already been implemented but there are more to come, delayed only by existing contractual obligations and/or Covid restrictions.

The club board recently chose to offer the naming rights to the stadium to SMISA. Can you tell us how that came about and why the board wanted to thank SMISA members in this way?

JOHN: The stadium-naming was a suggestion from Jim Gillespie (one of the two Kibble board reps). The previous commercial arrangement had come to an end and, being a big advocate of fan ownership, Jim thought it would be a good way to thank the fans who’ve made such a huge contribution towards the change in ownership, and the rest of the board agreed.

The timing also fits well with the countdown to the transfer of shares which Gordon Scott has agreed will take place, ahead of schedule, next summer.

The SMISA board were asked to come up with a name and chose The SMISA Stadium, which recognise the contribution of SMISA’s members but also to maximise the publicity for the transfer of ownership that is about to take place.

The club board were also pleased to give SMISA’s members the chance to choose next season’s strips, which is something David and myself had suggested, and there was a great reaction to the recent online vote.

While the winning designs will be kept under wraps until the summer, we look forward to seeing the team running out in a design chosen by the members – and the fact the strips will be the choice of the fans means it’ll hopefully be one they’ll want to wear too!

The club saw major changes early this year with the addition of Kibble to the club’s ownership structure. How have you found working with them? What difference have they made to St Mirren so far and what else can they add in future?

DAVID: The changes have been very smooth and Kibble have brought additional skills and resources aimed at making St Mirren more professional and maximising the commercial return from all aspects of the club’s operation – ultimately providing more investment for the playing squad.

It is unfortunate Covid took hold so quickly after our deal with Kibble was approved in February. If not for that, their impact would be far more visible but the support they have offered the club has made a significant impact behind the scenes in the meantime.

Existing staff at the club now have the support of Kibble’s expertise in admin, catering, IT, marketing, graphic design, PR and more. An example of the last three in practice is the Be in That Number campaign to help promote season tickets over the summer, which had a really strong presence online and on billboards around the town.

They have also helped deliver significant improvements to the building maintenance and infrastructure of the youth academy at Ralston, through staff time and resources. These were all the type of things Kibble promised at the SMISA members' meeting in January.

One individual who has made a big difference is David Jamieson, the club’s new general manager. David brings a wealth of experience, expertise and fresh ideas in a number of areas, as well as an extra pair of hands to support Tony Fitzpatrick to run the club as chief executive.

At board level, we are working closely with Kibble’s board reps – Jim Gillespie and Mark Macmillan – to ensure a strong long-term relationship is developed that will lead us into a successful and exciting fan-owned future for our club.

Finally, there’s been a few big, and unprecedented challenges for the club in recent months...not having fans in games has impacted on income, and there’s been some well-publicised issues with Covid. What can you tell SMISA members about the work going on behind the scenes to deal with all of that and get things right on and off the pitch?

JOHN: It’s been a frustrating season so far, for various reasons. Covid has brought many restrictions to the way we do things, with additional costs and reduced income.

To mitigate that, the board acted very quickly over the summer to ensure we understood the impact on budgets and made decisions aimed at ensuring we will be able to ride out the storm in good shape, even if we don’t have fans back during the season.

However a key factor in being able to manage the financial impact was the massive contribution made by our fans who bought season tickets in such great numbers. We are really indebted to every one of you.

There was some media coverage of late around potential issues raised in the club's annual audit which myself, David and the rest of the board are looking into. We can't say any more while that remains ongoing but we expect the club will be able to give fans an update on the resolution to those issues in the near future. Members can be reassured the club remains in a healthy financial position.

Clearly the fact there was a Covid outbreak at the club earlier this year was far from ideal. As a board we looked closely at how the club’s procedures could be improved to stop that happening again. The appointments of Brian Docherty and Kevin Pollock will help ensure the risk of any further outbreaks are minimised.

The club has now appealed the severity of the sanctions imposed by the SPFL. We are unable to comment on that any further at this stage – but the club will update fans on the outcome of that when they are able to.

In terms of the team, we are all fans on the board too so we feel the same ups and downs. Form had undoubtedly faltered for a spell in the autumn but the management team worked very hard to turn that around, and results and performances have been much better of late, culminating in this week's fantastic Betfred Cup win over Rangers. We are now feeling confident the team will be able to push on up the league and reach a position that matches the quality of squad we feel we now have.