KFCSA Meeting

LAST Thursday night saw the latest Supporters’ Association meeting in the Park Suite. As per usual it was not very well attended as despite being well advertised apathy seems to reign apparent these days. As it turned out the meeting proved to be lengthy and interesting as the club chairman himself took centre stage for the majority of the proceeding to answer a host of questions from the fans. Here are a few snippets on the subjects broached…

Sale of the Club – The club been in discussions with various parties regarding Jamie’s wish to relinquish control but due to confidentiality agreements, which work in both directions, he could not reveal who the parties were. He said that he would “prefer” if someone took over outright rather than have to stay at the club but that he would retain a love for Killie and still support the team whenever he could. When asked if it was true that there were some ‘shady’ characters whom had declared an interest Jamie reiterated that he could not divulge any names but that vetting prospective investors was high on his list of priorities. The club has not advertised the fact that the majority shareholding is up for grabs anywhere beyond the original press conference as they feel that the initial announcement would be adequate. There has been no time constraints placed on any negotiations.

Open Letter from the Trust – Jamie conceded that he had not been able to address most of the points brought up in the recent open letter to him from the Trust but that the reason for this was again the confidentiality agreement. It was put to Jamie that such an agreement may hinder the sale of the club; after all, who would take on a football club millions of pounds in debt with many more guarantees outstanding without seeing the books? Jamie insisted that it was common business practice and that things might look better come the Annual General Meeting. The reason for his optimism being that the stadium has been re-valued for the first time since 1997 and that it was good news. The chairman also stated that it was for personal reasons and not due to the money situation that he was leaving the club.

Alleged Racism Incident – Mr Moffat was taking no prisoners and named the individual concerned, but we won’t in case there are any legal proceedings to follow! He told the punters present that the guest of one of the sponsors had “said things that were wrong” and he was dealt with accordingly in a low key manor. The club had a meeting with said individual and they were under the impression that they had clarified their position with him, until someone went to the press with the story and it all went pear-shaped. The club apparently named no names and did not make any comments as quoted by the newspaper, but Jamie did not explain why they were not going to pursue the matter. Possibly a case of least said soonest mended. We’re skint, if they are lying sue them!

New Sports Bar – The new sports bar should be ready for opening the doors by mid-November. The club has already hired the new manageress who is currently working in the Park Hotel and are actively looking for bar staff. The pub has a full license and will be open during normal pub hours apart from on a match day. Last orders will be called at 2:40pm and there will be no further drinks sold until after the match at 5:00pm. The door policy on match days will be the same as the hotel regards wearing colours etc. but there is a chance that there could be doormen in place to prevent any ‘misunderstandings’. Jamie told us that the numerous TV screens would be relaying a variety of sports, not just football, and the club were keen for the establishment not to be seen as just a Killie orientated bar…hence the imaginatively named ‘The Sports Bar’ moniker. That won’t be easy when it’s built under a Rugby Park Stand! A Pound to a penny it will still get called the Killie Club, by the fans.

SPL Meeting – Jamie had attended an SPL meeting that morning and there were a variety of subjects that were in the ‘ongoing discussion’ category. Unfortunately for us all they seem to do is talk about things and not much ever gets done…maybe we should send out a search party for Ernie Walker’s Think Tank! The over zealousness of the Tayside Police was a topic of conversation, as was the relaxation of the alcohol ban in stadiums. Pricing policy is a big gripe of ours and we moaned that if Killie can charge our own fans different prices for different stands then surely we could charge the fans of visiting fans the same as we have to pay when we travel…apparently not. Jamie says that they are talking about trying to make things more consistent and looking into more reciprocal arrangements like we already have with three of the other clubs. When asked if there were any plans mooted regards the old firm opting out of the SPL, he said that for the Glasgow teams it was all about finance and that the other clubs were looking at ways to accommodate them to keep them on board. So glad to know the SPL board is concentrating so much time on generating cash for Celtic and Rangers!

New Year Game – The club have been successful in petitioning the SPL to move the Saturday, January 1 fixture to Monday, January 3. As well as the many hangovers to be contended with there is no public transport available on the earlier date; so with Monday still being a public holiday the attendance may be slightly higher than first expected. However, do not be surprised if a record low for the SPL is recorded, we should really have been playing Motherwell.

Good Luck Nicola

WE WERE sorry to hear that Nicola McCulloch was paid off by the club a few weeks ago. Nicola appears to be the latest victim of cutbacks at Rugby Park where she worked in the Commercial Department for three years. We spoke to Nicola a lot during the ‘125 campaign’ where she was always helpful and willing to assist fans whenever possible. We met up with Nicola last week at the Inverness game - she's always been a big Killie fan and will continue attending all home games. Thankfully Nicola has found a new job so we would just like to wish her all the best for the future.

Mohammed Comes to the Mountain?

JAMIE Moffat told the Supporters’ Association that he was talking to some interested parties regarding the potential takeover but we didn't get the impression a deal was imminent. One problem, from a fan's viewpoint, is that all talks are confidential therefore no names are mentioned until a deal is actually signed and sealed. Invariably this leads to some wild rumours and last weekend we were given the daddy of them all. We won't reveal our ‘source’ however the well-known Killie fan told us that Mohamed Al Fayed could be interested in taking charge at the Theatre of Pies!

Our mole assures us the information is 100% correct (as ever) however, just as we went to press, we had it confirmed as a load of baloney! Ironically there is already a Killie connection at Fulham FC where the eccentric Egyptian millionaire is currently in charge. Kilmarnock man Jim Hone, who previously worked with Celtic and David Heath. When we spoke to the man himself on Tuesday he assured us that although he found the rumour amusing, not to mention interesting, it was definitely not true. So much for our source eh! Never mind, we couldn't see caviar pies taking off at half-time anyway.

Free Kids Tickets

MANY thanks to all the schools, boys’ clubs etc. who have contacted us asking for free Moffat Stand tickets for the kids. The club has agreed to continue the scheme throughout the season and we will continue to act as go-between. If you run a boys club, school team or youth organization, why not treat the kids to a day out at Rugby Park? All you have to do is select a game you would like to attend as long as it is not an old firm or cup game for obvious reasons. We need to know your name and a contact number, the name of your club/school/organization and the number of tickets and game you wish to attend. Send the details to Killiehippo@aol.com and we will sort it out with Debbie at Rugby Park. If you need more information give us a call on 0774 771 8754 and ask for Sandy.
 

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