potty trained Posted August 28, 2015 Report Share Posted August 28, 2015 http://m.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/34079631?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter "Interesting" article on the BBC website from our esteemed Chair. Once you wipe away the tears after discovering he's marooned in Spain with a broken ankle. Poor soul. Have a wee read and see what jumps out. I'll give you a clue. The accounts must be due out soon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hankey Posted August 29, 2015 Report Share Posted August 29, 2015 Loss of 400k I've heard. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the saint Posted August 29, 2015 Report Share Posted August 29, 2015 Don't think he can be criticised for anything in the article Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jagfox Posted August 29, 2015 Report Share Posted August 29, 2015 He talks a good game... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
javeajag Posted August 29, 2015 Report Share Posted August 29, 2015 He's been good for us Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jagfox Posted August 29, 2015 Report Share Posted August 29, 2015 Been? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lady-isobel-barnett Posted August 29, 2015 Report Share Posted August 29, 2015 Been? Reading too much into that methinks, jagfox. Now if someone had said "he was". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jagfox Posted August 29, 2015 Report Share Posted August 29, 2015 So far he's done okay overall but it hasn't been plain sailing. I'm slightly concerned that under such an austere regime we could have lost such a large amount on the books. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fawlty Towers Posted August 29, 2015 Report Share Posted August 29, 2015 http://m.bbc.co.uk/s..._medium=twitter "Interesting" article on the BBC website from our esteemed Chair. Once you wipe away the tears after discovering he's marooned in Spain with a broken ankle. Poor soul. Have a wee read and see what jumps out. I'll give you a clue. The accounts must be due out soon. Over the last few years the accounts have been out by the end of October. When they do come out we will see how much the loss for that period was and it will show the impact that those who decided not to attend when we were scoring more goals, conceding fewer and winning more games whilst achieving our highest league position in years has had. It also has had a knock on effect this season already as budgets would be based on what level of support we could expect so the club would have to be conservative based on last year. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Firhillista Posted August 29, 2015 Report Share Posted August 29, 2015 Two things I'm confident about as far as football goes: winning teams increase support and the most effective way to create a winning team is with money. And we don't have any. As long as I can remember as a Thistle fan (about 50 years) we've been underfunded. I'm not blaming anyone for that, it's just how it is. But until the level of financial support for the club increases, we're going to struggle as a top flight team. Nothing against fan ownership, but I believe we need a major financial backer if we're going to establish ourselves at the level we want to be. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Norgethistle Posted August 29, 2015 Report Share Posted August 29, 2015 When does the club need to pay back "Firhill developments" for the bing and main stand? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GinolasBald Posted August 29, 2015 Report Share Posted August 29, 2015 I know nothing about this sort of stuff, so excuse me if this is a daft question, but will this set of accounts be inclusive of the sponsorship money we received from Kingsford? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the saint Posted August 29, 2015 Report Share Posted August 29, 2015 Firhillsta, when you say we've been underfunded, what do you mean by that? I'm not necessarily saying this is what you meant but i don't get why football fans feel that wealthy individuals should come in and throw away their hard earned cash (which I reckon we'd all agree is not an investment) yet at the same time whine about 'fan involvement', 'it's our club', 'we should have a say' etc etc Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
potty trained Posted August 29, 2015 Author Report Share Posted August 29, 2015 Over the last few years the accounts have been out by the end of October. When they do come out we will see how much the loss for that period was and it will show the impact that those who decided not to attend when we were scoring more goals, conceding fewer and winning more games whilst achieving our highest league position in years has had. It also has had a knock on effect this season already as budgets would be based on what level of support we could expect so the club would have to be conservative based on last year. So what you're saying is, if a company is selling a product that's not attractive, and customers don't buy that product. It's the customers fault when that company goes bust? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lenziejag Posted August 29, 2015 Report Share Posted August 29, 2015 Interested to know what bit of the article jumped out at you PT. The bit that I got was that he had a 4 year plan to get the 3M debt eliminated and to get Thistle as an established Premiership club. With 1 year to go and the Debt at 650K, that bit looks to be on plan ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
La Scimmia Rossa Posted August 29, 2015 Report Share Posted August 29, 2015 The product has limited appeal. It's always going to appeal to a very small niche and the company seem to be losing money selling it. Sales can't be increased greatly. Price can't be increased significantly. Costs therefore need to be reduced. The company may get lucky in selling one of their other products-a young player- but this is a lottery and can't be relied upon. It's a very difficult business to make successful because the loyal customers are very difficult to please. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Firhillista Posted August 29, 2015 Report Share Posted August 29, 2015 Firhillsta, when you say we've been underfunded, what do you mean by that? I'm not necessarily saying this is what you meant but i don't get why football fans feel that wealthy individuals should come in and throw away their hard earned cash (which I reckon we'd all agree is not an investment) yet at the same time whine about 'fan involvement', 'it's our club', 'we should have a say' etc etc ' Underfunded' is pretty much as it says. We've never had the money to retain our best players or to go out and get better than we have. I'm a bit sceptical about wealthy patrons having' hard earned' money - don't we all work hard? My view is that 'from each according to their means to each according to their needs' so ' investing money in Thistle is just the right thing to do! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Norgethistle Posted August 29, 2015 Report Share Posted August 29, 2015 The product has limited appeal. It's always going to appeal to a very small niche and the company seem to be losing money selling it. Sales can't be increased greatly. Price can't be increased significantly. Costs therefore need to be reduced. The company may get lucky in selling one of their other products-a young player- but this is a lottery and can't be relied upon. It's a very difficult business to make successful because the loyal customers are very difficult to please. Ask yourself the following questions:- -Are we maximizing on that limited appeal (Customer Base) retaining them, offering them viable products (not just winning teams) that they will fork out their hard earned cash for? -Do we make maximum use of our facilities on the other 6 days of the week to generate other income? -Do we use the internet revolution to generate cash with folk paying for a slick web based content, that covers absolutely everything it says on the tin? -Do we engage with our current and lapsed customers regularly to find out what works and what doesn't and act accordingly? -Do we make our customers feel business partners and look to grow with them? If the answer to any of the above is "No" then as a business the club has more to do, the more "No" answers the more opportunities it has to improve Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Bunny Posted August 29, 2015 Report Share Posted August 29, 2015 So what you're saying is, if a company is selling a product that's not attractive, and customers don't buy that product. It's the customers fault when that company goes bust? You know fine well football -especially at the level of our club - doesn't work like that. Most of the folk who go are those with some commitment to the club and will go regardless. It's not like selling a movie - unless you're really wealthy you can' guarantee any kind of results. You can only build slow and steady and hope for the bit of luck that takes you to another level. Having said that, as a previous posters said last year was a good year for our club yet we lost supporters. That seems to contradict your product on the park argument. Possibly some supporters are all that committed and will only turn out on the rare occasions when when we win a (lower) league. If true that's bad news for the future of the club. We will end up a lower division club no matter what we do with crowds of much less than we get currently. So those missing fans should have been enjoying last season because it could be the best we see in a long time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fawlty Towers Posted August 29, 2015 Report Share Posted August 29, 2015 So what you're saying is, if a company is selling a product that's not attractive, and customers don't buy that product. It's the customers fault when that company goes bust? What I am saying is that we have been told over many years by many different posters that winning games increases crowds - in fact it has been stated on this thread. Last season we were winning games yet crowds decreased so there were some fans who made a decision based on something else, what that was will depend on the individuals but it has had an impact. I am not putting the blame on anyone just stating facts. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jlsarmy Posted August 29, 2015 Report Share Posted August 29, 2015 Interested to know what bit of the article jumped out at you PT. The bit that I got was that he had a 4 year plan to get the 3M debt eliminated and to get Thistle as an established Premiership club. With 1 year to go and the Debt at 650K, that bit looks to be on plan ? We did get the debt down as you rightly say but unfortunately we sold half of the stadium to actually do it, not sure long term that was for the best.We've always had a small fan base so we have to maximise everything we do whether that's the Lottery, Sponsorships etc .and IMO we don't do that well enough. The stadium should be utilised more whether that's for events or even concerts , boxing matches etc , there is no reason why you wouldn't explore any of these revenue streams to maximise income . We've now got a communications expert on the board but she seems to be keeping a low profile. Is that being harsh ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
potty trained Posted August 29, 2015 Author Report Share Posted August 29, 2015 Interested to know what bit of the article jumped out at you PT. The bit that I got was that he had a 4 year plan to get the 3M debt eliminated and to get Thistle as an established Premiership club. With 1 year to go and the Debt at 650K, that bit looks to be on plan ? The first thing was that we will be publishing a loss in the accounts. That's it been drip fed out. If the 400k figure is correct, then we will be £1m in debt. What's the value of our assets? £1.5m? If we have another financially calamitous season, we're fckd. it's as simple as that. At the AGM shareholders should be asking serious questions of this board. None more so than, why should they remain at the helm of a sinking ship? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fawlty Towers Posted August 29, 2015 Report Share Posted August 29, 2015 The first thing was that we will be publishing a loss in the accounts. That's it been drip fed out. If the 400k figure is correct, then we will be £1m in debt. What's the value of our assets? £1.5m? If we have another financially calamitous season, we're fckd. it's as simple as that. At the AGM shareholders should be asking serious questions of this board. None more so than, why should they remain at the helm of a sinking ship? The last set of accounts showed Net Assets as just over £4.5M but not being an accountant I never fully grasp all the figures given - I look at what income and expenditure are. Also the loss for the last period is going to be down to the Board budgeting for crowds at the same level as the first season back up and they were much lower. The budget for this season has been set for crowds at more of last season's level which should be achievable and not result in another big loss. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
potty trained Posted August 29, 2015 Author Report Share Posted August 29, 2015 The last set of accounts showed Net Assets as just over £4.5M but not being an accountant I never fully grasp all the figures given - I look at what income and expenditure are. Also the loss for the last period is going to be down to the Board budgeting for crowds at the same level as the first season back up and they were much lower. The budget for this season has been set for crowds at more of last season's level which should be achievable and not result in another big loss. Has it been stated how this season's budget has been calculated? I've not seen it anywhere. if the 400k figure is accurate and the boards finger of blame lies squarely at Thistle fans not attending for the reason we made a loss. That's 1100 fans per game at £20 per head over 18 games they budgeted for, but didn't attend. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fawlty Towers Posted August 29, 2015 Report Share Posted August 29, 2015 Has it been stated how this season's budget has been calculated? I've not seen it anywhere. if the 400k figure is accurate and the boards finger of blame lies squarely at Thistle fans not attending for the reason we made a loss. That's 1100 fans per game at £20 per head over 18 games they budgeted for, but didn't attend. In regards to the budget there was an article with Ian Maxwell in the Evening Times at the end of the last season and around the time of the new sponsorship deal Archie was on Radio Scotland and stated this as well. I don't know if this £400K figure is accurate but whilst I was trying to find the article with Maxi I did come across one in which a drop of 600 in home crowds was mentioned. Also it is I who stated that people not attending would have had an impact on the figures - I was not laying the blame on anyone and I don't speak on behalf of the Board. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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