Iain Thomson - Killie Fan

On Friday 21st March Iain Thomson, chairman, secretary, bus convener and general mainstay of Killie's Ayr & Prestwick Supporters Club suddenly passed away. He was 46 and is survived by his wife Karen and sons Craig and Graeme. I knew Iain for over 20 years both as a Killie supporter and as a colleague. The thoughts of all of his family, friends, workmates and fellow supporters are with Karen and her sons at this time. When Baz and Hippo asked me to put together this short obituary I was hesitant and particularly concerned not to intrude on his family's grief. After much reflection and talks with many of his friends I knew that the purpose of this piece was simply to remember Iain, as I knew him best, as a Killie SUPPORTER.

Iain however, was no ordinary supporter. Many of us can claim to have followed our beloved team home and away for decades. A large percentage have followed Killie in Europe and most of us delighted in being present when Ray Montgomerie lifted the Scottish Cup in 1997. Few supporters offer the club the type of support that Iain did. In 1989, before Bobby Fleeting brought his revolution to Rugby Park, Iain was a central part of a group of fans who approached the board with an offer to provide time and effort, voluntarily, to boost the club's poor commercial income of the time. The group was successful in bringing in considerable new advertising and sponsorship revenue, as anyone comparing a programme from the 1989/90 season with the previous season will see. Even more significant was that immediately after Fleetings board took over, an idea that had been put to the old board, recommending that they establish a daily draw which was rejected as too costly to establish, was introduced within a matter of weeks. It grew as the Killie Top Ten, now the Killie Bond, to raise millions for Killie.

Not content with helping Killie financially, after being transferred by his employers to a job in Dumfries, Iain began to spread the word by being heavily involved in efforts to launch the Dumfries branch of the Kilmarnock Supporters Association, and continued to follow Killie at every opportunity. Iain used this experience when his work returned him to Ayrshire, by forming a Supporters Club in the heart of South Ayrshire, not what many consider fertile territory. He took great pride in the number of members the club was to recruit.

Iain supported the club in every way he knew how. He was a regular on the clubs European expeditions in recent years, not only enjoying visiting foreign lands to follow Killie but making many new friends along the way. In particular he corresponded with supporters of Sigma Olomouc, whom he met when the Blue and White Army visited the Czech republic, and was delighted when these true friends visited him when their national team played Scotland at Hampden Park a year or two back. Iain will be missed by many. The extraordinary attendance at his funeral is testimony to that. He would have been proud that Ray Montgomerie was among those present.  Bob Wallace

Season Ticket Update

Prior to the Hibs game we spoke to both David Heath and Sir John Orr regarding season ticket sales. Both were very pleased with the early figures and although there is a long way to go, DH was confident that we were on track. Thanks to everyone who has been in touch with us and we are maintaining the database on a regular basis. There must be hundreds of adults, senior citizens and kids out there who don't currently have a ticket so why not call me on the number below and I'll get you sorted out. The sooner you get signed up, the better seat you'll be able to choose. Call Sandy after 6pm on 07747 718754.

Stats All Folks!

Our glorious 6-2 win over Hibs on Saturday made a mockery of Bobby Williamson's claims about Hibs being a 'big' club compared to Killie. It also started some lively discussion in the pubs and clubs about when we last scored six, who last scored four etc so here's some stats courtesy of our friends at killiefc.com -

We last scored six in a home league game when we beat Clydebank 6-0 in April 1993. Strangely enough that victory was also on Grand National day! More recently we scored six away to Dunfermline in 1999 and the last player to score four goals in a league game was Killie hero Willie Watters who scored five on that infamous day at Palmerston in May 1989 when we were relegated. The last time someone scored four in a league match at Rugby Park was Brian McIlroy when we beat Falkirk 9-2 in February 1964. Of course we may be wrong, so if anyone knows anything different let us know.

In Killie We Trust

The first question that people normally ask is - what is a trust? There are various football related trusts, the most common is and Industrial & Provident Society (IPS). This trust is a democratically run non-profit making organization, which offers limited liability for members. It also gives defined responsibility guidelines for directors, who in turn have freedom to delegate responsibility. The funds generated are not invested or floated on the stock market therefore there are no financial risks involved. It also has a constitutional requirement to operate for the benefit of the community and at all times it will be democratically run by all members.

Supporter's Direct Scotland is a UK government backed initiative, which is funded by the Scottish Executive. They will provide help in the means of caseworkers offering support and also financial help to trust schemes that meet their criteria for eligibility. To qualifying for assistance Trust ventures must be shown to be: - Democratic in their structures and in the way they run their affairs. Open to all fans to join at an affordable cost and broadly representative of the club's fan base. We have now met these requirements.

The objective of the Trust is fourfold - to give supporter's a voice, to help finance Kilmarnock FC, to become community orientated and to promote the name of the club within Ayrshire. A model rules pack has been set up and there are 124 rules that have to be agreed upon. The cost to register as a Trust will be met by Supporter's Direct as we have qualified for assistance.

The first step in setting up a Trust is an open forum (held on Thursday 3rd April) from which a working party will be set up. This group will work to convene to constitute the rules and the open meeting will reconvene on Tuesday 29th of April at the KFCSA meeting to pass said rules which will then be sent to be legalised. The working group will consist of a broad range of skills. Public relations, information technology, financial, secretarial & legal and just as important, people with passion for the club are a major requirement.

The interim period will be a time for a lot of background work by the working group such as setting up the committee positions as well as the setting up of bank accounts, banking mandates, signatories etc. Publicity will also be important at this juncture and we will be targeting local and national radio and newspapers, the match programme, stadium announcements, the Internet sites, the fanzine, local business etc. Word of mouth is also paramount as this is our chance to make a difference so tell everyone you know, and then we will be ready for the launch!

The launch will be at Rugby Park at the start of the new season and membership will be open to everyone, there will possibly be a junior membership to get kids involved as well. It will be a one-man one-vote system but the junior members are not allowed to have a vote. The cost over the year should be no more than the price of a match ticket and we will be asking supporters for £12 a year to be a trust member. On the other hand you can put in as much as you like, this will buy you a share in the Trust and give you a say in it's running. The working group will run the Trust until the first AGM, which will be held within the first six months of the constitution being passed. Then you will have the right as a member to vote for the first committee.

The Trust members will decide the ultimate use of any funds garnered with everyone having their say. The funds could go towards an accumulation of club shares, a place on the Youth Academy board, a directorship within the Club, community-based charities or indeed all the fore mentioned. However, it should be noted well that the club does not have any say in what will happen to the funds. That will be decided entirely by the trust members. The Trust founders and the Club have had an open relationship from the beginning, which should always be the case, and they will work in unison to achieve their aims, but that is as far as it goes. The requirement for us all to continue supporting the Trust, and in turn the Club, will be the key to its success. We have a voice at last, let's make sure we use it!

On the 24th May 1997 the streets of East and North Ayrshire were heaving with Killie fans. If you are still reading this, then you were probably there. If you no longer go to the football, I urge you to come back and support the Trust as it will be of great benefit to both the Club and the Communities that we all care about so much. We know that many thousands of Killie fans are out there, we just have to find them again. If you would like to be a part of the working group then contact me, Colin Hargreaves, on 01294 469578 or 07968 615140 or you can e-mail me direct to colin@killiefc.com. Thank you for your continued support.

Read the B&H column in the Kilmarnock Standard every week