More Thoughts From The AGM

WE received the following letter from Killie fan Alan Brown who has been the convener of the Irvine Valley bus since it's inception back in the 80's. Alan also played a major role in the Supporter's Association, being chairman at one stage, so it was interesting to hear his thoughts on the recent AGM. Here's what he had to say:

"Sir John Orr was at pains to point out that financially things are okay for Killie and that within a couple of years break even will have been achieved. Ignoring the fact that the same message has been banded about for the last couple of years, I think it may be more beneficial to actually state that things are really grim. Admitting that much more money is required to stop the club

As has been witnessed at Dundee, Airdrie, Falkirk and Partick in Scotland and numerous clubs down south, an awful lot of money can be raised by those fans who fear that the love of their life is going to disappear. No one wants Killie to ever get to the stage where such campaigns are necessary; hence the earlier action is taken the better.

For example, I know a Sheffield Wednesday supporter who was called to a meeting whereby the club announced that they were looking for supporters to stump up £100 each to stave off liquidation. And so those committed fans duly stood in queue to handover their £100 cheques. Not that I advocate Killie adopting such a begging policy, but it reinforces that when some people fear the worst, then they are more likely to increase their financial commitment to the club.

Similarly a Clyde fan at my work was invited to a meeting where it was laid on the line how bad things were becoming for the club. As a result he is now a Clyde lottery agent, and is actively promoting their lottery within the workplace. Clearly he is not alone in having been stirred into action amongst the Clyde fans either.

In a nutshell I think the club has to lay it on the line, that without more money coming in we are in trouble. Presumably this was the idea of the Big Match launch, which was of course a disaster due to the cock up with the late issue of the letters. (Although given the apparent "large" turnout at this event, which if true, means that had the letters been issued on time to everyone, you would have to wonder if they could have accommodated all those who may otherwise have attended). Perhaps this is what will happen with the intended re-launch of the Big Match.

On the Big Match, which has been criticised a fair bit - I don't think the philosophy can be argued with. If £500k more income is generated, then Jamie Moffat writes off/capitalises £500k of debt. Whichever way the additional £500k from Mr Moffat is viewed, it will be £500k of debt written off from the accounts. And while he may then hold more shares, given the state of the club I would argue that any fee that someone is willing to pay won't generate more money for Moffat on account of his increased number of shares. i.e. there will be a top line paid (which can be broken down to a price/per share), as opposed to a bid based on individual share prices. In short, if the additional money is raised, then I think the offer is more than generous from Jamie Moffat, since I don't think he will ultimately make any gain even if he increases his shareholding.

So how does the club go forward? As stated earlier, I think the idea of the Big Match is good enough in principle. However, there is still a lot of apathy out there to overcome. At least by galvanising the more committed fans, then perhaps some others may follow suit. I personally have let my Killie Bond membership lapse, and know several others who have done likewise, and so in the New Year, intend to remedy this. I would urge others to do so likewise, and think along the lines of share investments; Killie bricks for presents etc. (Although anyone willing to buy a debenture seat in the current climate I would suggest has more money than sense).

In summary the club should tell us how it is and be open with the money that is needed. A quick calculation shows that even with 1000 new bond members, then this will only generate £144,000 over three years, still leaving a long way to go in the Big Match target, and not making a dent in the £10m overall debt. If the club won't say it then I will. We need action now to stop the slide towards a Dundee or Partick.

Footnote: Jamie Moffat's assertion that our £10m debt was okay in the bank's view, due to the hotel and the fact that the ground is situated in prime housing area, while trying to be realistic may not hold up. Partick went into administration with £2.5m of debt, and lower annual losses than those suffered by Killie at present. While we can joke about Maryhill slums, the real estate of the land there is still substantial, as it is close to the city centre. So relying on the value of the land may not save us from administration."

A few interesting points there from our Newmilns chum and not all negative either. We are as guilty as anyone of late (if not more apparently) of being very negative about things and we made the conscious decision a few weeks ago to concentrate more on how to help the club out than pointing out where they were going wrong. That is not to say of course that we intend to ignore things we don't think are right, just that we are preparing to go back on the campaign trail again!

Last season's 125 campaign was not only a major success but gave us a sense of achievement in that we had actively done something to make things better. It is now our intention to start the ball rolling with another campaign to generate some much-needed cash for the club. We have been throwing about a few ideas of late including the possibility of an end of season gala ball or possibly a whole Killie weekend where among a few functions we would try and break the attendance record for a non old firm match. Nothing is set in stone as yet and we are open to suggestion; the bottom line will be however, that every penny we raise will go directly to the club. We know that prevention is better than cure but applying the medicine direct to the wound is sometimes called for.

Just The Ticket

AS mentioned above, last year's 125 campaign has been hailed as a tremendous success by the club and resulted in around 5300 Killie fans taking up the season ticket offer. We were always of the opinion that the club had to look long term to try and ensure the new fans who came on board did not return to the comfort of their armchair on a Saturday afternoon and the club are well aware of this too. We have been invited along to Rugby Park, along with representatives of other Killie organizations, to discuss what the club should do for 2004-05.

With this in mind we are currently planning to put some ideas and proposals to the board that they may wish to consider for next year's ticket prices. Jamie Moffat has stated the board are delighted with the success of this season's deal therefore we're hopeful that Killie fans will have the chance of cut price tickets again next season. Of course we'd love to hear the views of as many fans as possible so why not drop us a line - send any letters for our attention to the Kilmarnock Standard office or e-mail B&H@killiefc.com. Failing that contact Davie Mackinnon direct with your thoughts, he's always ready to listen to what the fans have to say.

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