Leaderboard

Most know someone who used to go to the games, who supports but can't go to the games on a regular basis, or who just likes the club and follows the results, they are all part of the Killie family. This YouTube video is to try and get them along next week, send it on to the ones you know. lets prove BB right.

Get your arses there. No excuses for this team.

Coming up from Sussex. Flights and tickets booked. Can’t wait

Phyllis McLeish has put around £600,000 of her own cash into Kilmarnock FC, with, she says, “a promise of some more”. Nor does this former accountant and finance director with QTS care about the old business rule that says you only lose money in football, you don’t make any. “I’m not involved in Kilmarnock as a money-making exercise,” McLeish says. “I could take the money I’ve put into this club and go out and buy two sports cars but they wouldn’t give me the enjoyment and passion I feel in being involved here.” McLeish’s story is one of a number of factors behind the thrilling revival of Kilmarnock, triggered by the emergence of Billy Bowie as a Rugby Park mover and shaker. Bowie, a tough Ayrshireman who found success in the industrial cleaning sector, certainly doesn’t mind giving women their place in football. In gender terms he has made himself a minority on the Kilmarnock board alongside his two other directors, McLeish and Cathy Jamieson. Along with chief executive Kirsten Callaghan, all four are continually making bold decisions that have made Kilmarnock a revelation in Scottish football, the catalyst being the appointment of Steve Clarke. Last season the club finished fifth in the Ladbrokes Premiership and this season, with two games to go, are vying with Aberdeen for a third-place finish. How did McLeish come to be a Kilmarnock director? She helped run QTS with her husband and its founder, Alan, when a whole new vista opened up. “I’ve got three sons, and two of them are very keen footballers, so there has always been football in my life,” she says. “But I’d never been a particular fan of anyone prior to developing a real affection for Killie. Back in 2010 at QTS we were rebranding. We were an Ayrshire-based company, with a lot of Kilmarnock fans in our core workforce, so we thought, ‘why not get involved in Kilmarnock FC?’ That was when QTS became the shirt sponsor.” McLeish finally became a club director last year, once the sale of QTS to Renew Holdings in a deal worth £80 million was completed. “It had often been mooted that maybe I should join the board, but the timing of it never really seemed right until after we sold QTS. As well as the financial and commercial aspects of running Kilmarnock, I’m involved in the charity and community aspects of the club, which I feel very strongly about.” McLeish works most days on behalf of Kilmarnock but draws no salary. Nor does she have much clue about what her personal stake in the club is, in terms of percentage, despite the money she has put in. “I’ve no idea what my stake is — there are millions of little shares. To be honest, that is not a concern for me. I’ve never actually calculated what it is. My stake might be between 12 and 15 per cent, but I don’t know. I know that sounds odd. I’m a business person, so you might think, ‘she should know what she’s got.’ But it is not why I am here at the club. “This is something I want to do. I love being involved in this football club and I hope a lot of good can come from that. If we can get more families and young people in and get that community feel back here again — and we are getting there — then it would be brilliant for Kilmarnock. I’ve seen old footage of big crowds in the past making their way to Rugby Park. We might not get back to that, but it would be nice to see our stadium more full for matches.” To this end McLeish has been party to a bold decision at Kilmarnock to halve the number of tickets sold to Rangers and Celtic fans when coming to Rugby Park. Traditionally, both stands behind either goal have been given over to the Old Firm — that is 8,000 seats — but Bowie, McLeish and Jamieson have adopted the strategy of making only the Chadwick Stand behind one goal available to Rangers or Celtic supporters, in the hope of more Kilmarnock fans coming back to games. The plan will start next Sunday at home to Rangers, much to the pique of the Ibrox club and its supporters. “We made the decision — and it’s not any slight against Rangers — that we wanted to encourage more of our own fans to come to matches,” says McLeish. “At the moment we have families who come to the Moffat Stand with their season tickets, but these tickets exclude Old Firm games. “It just didn’t seem right that we would do this, and invest in our family strategy, but then say to them, ‘when the Old Firm come to town, you’re not actually that important to us, so we are going to move you [from your seats].’ So our season tickets that are now going on sale for next season will include the Old Firm games for that stand. This is a commitment we want to make to our fans. “Maybe we are being a bit bold, but nothing ventured, nothing gained. If we continued to chuck our fans out of that stand every time the Old Firm come here, what does that tell them? It tells them they are not important to us, that they are not our priority. So we’ve changed it.” In truth, Kilmarnock will still be offering around 23 per cent of their stadium’s capacity to Rangers or Celtic fans. But McLeish admits that, as at a number of provincial clubs, the new strategy also factors in the atmosphere often found when facing one of the Glasgow big two. <img class="Media-img" src="//www.thetimes.co.uk/imageserver/image/methode%2Ftimes%2Fprod%2Fweb%2Fbin%2Fa2e86714-736d-11e9-a5e9-48f686bb2833.jpg?crop=1712%2C1141%2C0%2C0" alt="McLeish is hoping that Clarke will remain with Kilmarnock">“In our fan feedback some families told us they didn’t want to bring their children into that [Old Firm] atmosphere. I wouldn’t have wanted to bring my children to an Old Firm game when they were younger, especially with them being at both ends of the stadium. You can’t get away from them then, and it’s not a nice atmosphere sometimes.“We don’t want our fans to feel intimidated. Plus, some people in the town feel harassed when there are so many away supporters here. So there are loads of different arguments for what we’ve done. The only argument against it is: we might lose a bit of money. We’ll see.” As for the big question — will Steve Clarke stay or go at Kilmarnock? — McLeish is praying like most other Killie supporters, but she leaves the question hanging. “I will feel immensely grateful for every other day we get with Steve. He came with a good CV, but did we think it was going to be as marvellous as it has been? Maybe not, but I’m really glad that it has turned out as it has. “Steve is under contract to us and will remain so. But I think he is a very pragmatic person. You couldn’t ask any manager or player, when receiving an unrefusable offer, ‘what are you going to do?’ If anyone gets an offer five times his salary, what would you expect them to do? “But I think Steve is happy here and committed here. We certainly want him to stay, and the fans want him to stay. But no one has a crystal ball. I’d like to think he’ll still be with us next season, but who knows?”

Drew, if you are suggesting about Cathy Jamieson she was and will be in future backed by Trust money. She was the best candidate for the job and continues to do a fantastic job for both the club and the Trust members. She has all the attributes that we would look for in our representative, not only for the Trust but the whole fan base, and has dovetailed well with BB and PM. The club is moving forward and with those three driving us on, I’m confident we will enjoy many years with Killie being a top 6 club. Let’s give them all our backing.

I've been coming up all season from West Yorkshire, only missed 2 gamesfirst game of the season as I was away on holiday and Hibs yesterday as I was away with my girlfriend for ger birthday. Also wont be there next week due to already arranged pre-paid plans on the Saturday making it impossible to get to Killie on Sunday for 3pm. Hope that's a good enough excuse for the great squirrelhumper and his demand of no excuses.

It's not about matching the tickets we could have sold to Rangers, ticket for ticket, on Sunday. If you go down that road, you are walking right into the way of thinking that belongs in Follow Follow or (sadly) our mainstream media. It's about setting the foundation for making a home game against the Old Firm, a home game. Enjoyable and with reduced threat of aggravation from them. Much more important that people take up the excellent season ticket offers in the Moffat Stand for the season and increase crowds over the longer term.

Steve Clarke on his humble beginnings that led him to Jose Mourinho, Kenny Dalglish and Manager of the Year prize Kilmarnock boss has backed the Sunday Mail’s Grassroots award because he knows just how important coaches are to kids. Steve Clarke got his football upbringing in 1970s Ayrshire, where men were men and coaches were posh buses. “I suppose these days they’d call it old school,” he says, “but we just called it school.” It taught him things he carried with him for life, though. That respect and standards always matter. And that football for kids was, and always should be, fun. A message that, no matter how far up the ladder he has been, he still drills into every youth coach he meets. Scottish football’s Manager of the Year has stood beside Jose Mourinho , Ruud Gullit, Gianfranco Zola and Sir Kenny Dalglish in dugouts as their trusted lieutenant. He has lived most of his football career in the rarefied atmosphere at the top end of English football but he has never forgotten the lessons he learned from the people who put him on the first rung. Because without names such as JJ McCann, Alex Tulloch, Tam Connor and particularly his dad Eddie laying the path, handing out some tough love along the way, he’d never have graced the shirts of St Mirren, Chelsea and Scotland, never have graced the dugouts of great football theatres like Wembley, Stamford Bridge, Anfield or St James’ Park. Clarke with Mourinho at Chelsea That’s why the 55-year-old has thrown his weight behind the Sunday Mail , the SFA and McDonald’s annual quest to recognise and reward the game’s unsung heroes, the long servants, the volunteers at the beating heart of their communities, the dedicated souls fuelled only by a desire to give, never to crave the credit in return. Because the Kilmarnock manager knows that without them, there’s no professional game. Without its foundations at the bottom, through family, schools and youth teams, there’s no pathway to the top. In a revealing interview officially launching this year’s Grassroots Awards, the quietly-spoken Clarke has provided a rare insight into the upbringing which not only formed him as a manager but also as a man. Clarke admitted: “I was no different to any other kid of my generation. I played with my mates in the park every day, every spare minute I could. “Two-a-side, three-a-side, 15-a-side, didn’t matter, we just went and played. “We had nothing else. We had a black and white telly in the corner of the room that had three channels. There was nothing to keep you around the house. It was a different time. “It certainly wasn’t utopia but we had a lot more freedom than the kids get now. “I had a few people who taught me a lot in my early years. “My father was my No.1 influence, long before him actually being involved with my youth team. “By all accounts he was a decent player himself, got a really bad injury in an accident when he was young and never reached the heights he maybe should have. “He was a top amateur player in Ayrshire though, so my earliest memories are going down the local park, Auchenharvie. “When I was little I got to dribble the ball around while my older brother Paul, who played for a long time for Kilmarnock, my dad and my uncle Jimmy – who was at Celtic as a kid and played with Morton and Cambridge City – kicked it hard and I got punted out the way. But gradually I got allowed into the game.” Like most kids of his generation, Clarke’s first introduction to organised games came at school. But his dad’s influence and smarts still played a key role at a point which could have been make or break for the gifted full-back. (Image: Jamie Williamson) Clarke said: “I went to St Mary’s and we had a headmaster called JJ McCann. He had a great reputation as a hard-taskmaster, a disciplinarian. He ran the school team and if you did something wrong you were a ‘fathead’. “I don’t remember being on the receiving end of that insult too often so I must have done alright. “When he retired, a female teacher took the team – Miss Maroney – which was incredibly unusual in those days. She looked after us, though, made sure we went out and played. “Secondary school was St Andrew’s Academy and it was a decent sporting school. I always played a year down there, with the first years when I was in second year and so on. “My dad asked if I could do that because I was so small. It was smart because I’d maybe have got lost playing against the bigger boys. These days people are desperate to get kids playing up the way rather than down but it worked well for me.” It wasn’t until Clarke got involved with his local boys’ club – Saltcoats Star – that he first encountered Alex Tulloch, who founded the team to get his son Paul a game. Incredibly, five decades on, he is STILL making sure the kids around Ardrossan, Saltcoats and Stevenston are getting their football fix as the chairman of TASS Thistle. It’s a devotion to duty which earned him our Merit Award for Services to Grassroots Football back in 2014 and Clarke insisted: “He more than deserves that recognition. “Alex set the team up to keep the local kids off the street, stop us hanging about. “My dad went and helped – but they weren’t coaches in those days. They just ran the team. “They took the boys to the game, picked the team, gave you a position, gave you a jersey and you went and played. “There was no coaching. Training, you’d maybe do a wee bit of running and then you played with the ball. All I can remember from any of our training nights were games. We just played football, which I still advocate all the time to youth team coaches. “There’s a ball, go and play. “Football is the simplest game in the world, complicated by coaches, as someone wiser than me once said! “I remember playing a game down at Largs when Alex squeezed six of us into his car, put six more on the train, then tried to beat the train to Largs station so he could get all 12 of us there on time. That was a hairy journey – I wished I’d been on the train! But that was what these guys did. They gave up their time, so much of it, to get a team on the pitch for the local kids. It wasn’t easy. They didn’t all have cars or the communications we’ve got now. If someone didn’t turn up it wasn’t a quick text or phone call to a mobile. “But for the volunteers it was all for the love of the game and the kids.” Without a full age-group pathway, Clarke and future Kilmarnock and Falkirk striker Sammy McGivern moved on to Springside Colts, where another major influence kicked in. “Tam Connor,” he said. “A wonderful man. He used to take us to his house after games or after training while we were waiting on the bus, he’d give us a cup of tea and we’d watch the football scores coming in then make sure we were safely on the bus home. “Tam passed away, sadly, but he was terrific for kids in the area, another one who was so committed.” Clarke’s journey in the professional game with St Mirren and on to a decade-long career with Chelsea is well documented. But not before a few more life lessons along the way. He said: “I signed a schoolboy form for St Mirren, played for their Under-16s. I did pretty well and they offered me a deal on a provisional form, which was the step before being pro. My dad requested to St Mirren they sent me out to junior football and I went back to Beith Juniors where my uncle was and played men’s football. I was still a little one at the time – but I was fiery little one! “I learned how to look after myself in junior football and that was a great education. “But even when I went back to St Mirren my dad wouldn’t let me sign full-time. “I served my time as an apprentice instrument artificer at Beechams Pharmaceuticals in Irvine, did my four years, then Rikki McFarlane took me under his wing at St Mirren.” Clarke is the first to acknowledge the youth game has changed beyond recognition at the professional level. What will never change, however, is his admiration for those who give their time so willingly for no reward other than the smile on a kid’s face. He added: “The thing is, there are still hundreds of volunteers out there giving kids what guys like Alex Tulloch did for me. “They’re not in it to see how many professionals come out the other end of the process, they’re in it for the satisfaction of watching young people enjoy themselves, have fun and flourish. “And it wasn’t just about football for us. There are values attached to it as well. Respect for others. “My father was strict on the language used, he didn’t let the boys swear at all or he was on top of you. “He encouraged a good standard of behaviour and that was a big part of it, getting a group of wee scallies together and, even if it was only for a couple of hours, making sure they behaved well as a team. “And we did. That kind of thing is important at that stage in your life and still should be now.” *Welcome to the 16th year of the McDonald's/Sunday Mail Grassroots Awards - your chance to give football's unsung heroes the credit they’re due. Since 2003, we’ve been giving recognition to the men and women who are the beating heart of our national sport. They are the volunteers who keep Scottish football alive in every city, town and village, every corner of every community throughout Scotland, yet ask for nothing in return. The roll of honour we've established is a source of huge pride to us - but despite the hundreds we’ve put on stage at Hampden over the years, we know there are thousands more out there who deserve our applause and our thanks. The more we recognise, the happier we’ll be. So let’s hear about your club's longest or most dedicated servant, the secretary buried beneath a pile of admin, the mum or dad who washes the strips or drives the minibus home and away, the boss who keeps the village pub team going against all odds. We need YOU to tell us why the local heroes in your area deserve recognition. https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/steve-clarke-humble-beginnings-led-15400600

There are plenty on here that have commented on the lack of class *anger* fans have yet are happy to display a different lack of class regarding one of our own players. I look forward to applauding him next week, not because he's going to rival club or his tweet or his dip in form, but for his excellent contribution to the team over the past few seasons. Be like them if you must but surely you are better than them.

I’m 97 and have been at every home and away game since 1943.

8000 home fans is not a realistic target in my opinion. We usually get about 3000 in the home end for these games. If we get 5000 that’s decent. 5900 in the home end today is an indication of our top end at the moment. I’m not a ST and I’m going, bringing 2 but I feel a bit of realism is needed when setting the ‘s**te’ bar. I couldn’t give one single f**k about Keevins, Sevco, Radio Clyde, the Daily Record, Andy Cameron, Chic Young, Colin Hendry or anyone else. Killie is our club and reacting to these clickbaters and Sevco sympathisers is pointless.

People have to turn up next week, to support the team of course but also to support the chairman who has taken a very brave and also costly decision to help the team and please the fans. We have to show him he was right.

It's pathetic how commentators will apologise if you might have overheard someone in the crowd even think of saying "f**k", but say nothing if 50,000 neanderthal are belting out sectarian pish.

Thought the same. Queues outside the shop. Hotel and bus had steady crowds well over and hour before kick off. Where I sit in the east there was loads of empty rows that are normally full. Not sure if some regulars are away their holidays or what, but with those regulars back we could start breaking into the 8k plus at home games. In less than two years our support could have doubled... That's incredible! Was pleased to see Moffat so full too. I know it was a lot of free tickets, but in my opinion that's what we should be using it for. Open the gates and let anyone under 16 in for a quid. Let's encourage the next generation to come to Rugby Park and they'll drag their parents along too at some stage.

Jones is a hun c**t. End of story. Move on and forget about him, fed up hearing about him on here - we don't miss him.

This is a cup final at home. We do not get into many but at home hardly ever. The old place was rocking today but that was only the rehearsal. Next week is the main event. Let’s go and get this job finished, no excuses just be there.

To be honest I don’t care how good or bad he is anymore. He’s a prick who treated our club like s**t. SSC stood by him and protected the boy when others would have hung him out to dry. He was rewarded with one good performance before the player downed tools for Killie. A series of rotten performances for us made worse by the fact he showed up for his national team. I’m by wasting time on the rat.

This!! Imo this man has been fantastic the past few games for someone who has barely kicked a ball all year! Deserves another year 100% for me

I made the mistake of clicking on that tweet and reading some of the comments. The usual whataboutary from Rangers fans and utter outrage from the always innocent Celtic fans but some of the abuse aimed at English was shocking. He’s far from my favourite pundit but he’s paid to give an opinion. He made a very valid point and ends up subjected to the same abuse he highlighted. If I was the SFA I’d ask the broadcasters to highlight it everytime they turn the crowd noise down. There were numerous occasions today when it was obviously turned down but no acknowledgement of it. Yet a player misses a sitter and screams “f**k sake” and on some occasions they stop just short of issuing each viewer a written apology. The authorities will continue to do f**k all though. McInnes gets punished for the semi final but Celtic don’t. Rangers are at it today but nothing will come from it. No doubt SSC will get it next week and there will be the usual tension between Celtic and Hearts. All the while the blazers will have their heads buried in the sand.

KBP that's made my day. Just one stent but still s**tting it but my heart will be with all you lads and lasses and our beloved Killie led by SSC on Saturday. What an amazing memorable season and I urge everyone who is able to go to do so and take as many pals as possible to show what our treasured club means to us. I should add KBP 4 Stents? Crikey! Best regards to you too! Mon the Killie. Blue and White in our souls!

Shame we can’t give them no stands.

He wasn't unlucky he should have burst the net. Awful finish

Well done on the video. A lot of work has gone into that. The wee MGM bit at the start was very funny. The rest of it is very emotive. Great work.

To have us saying that he will have to improve dramatically even from where you think he is as a player. For him to be held in really high regard he needs goals, assists and the ability to dictate games even from a wide area. Fair play to you for standing by him but I don’t think he’s got all that in him. Playing on the constant front foot for Rangers against teams who will be compact and most likely defensive is completely different from playing for us. As you say though time will tell. Had he not been a complete fud I’m sure we’d all hope he went on to be a huge star but he’s a wank and he can rot.

Because I thought there was more than 7400 people there today. Not that difficult to understand, really.

Good. I don’t want them to be successful in any way. I don’t want them to go out of business but I in no way want them in the top division. They can rot with Albion Rovers and Brechin etc forevermore. f**k them and the horse they rode in on. WFAANW

Can someone take the laptop off their da for the night, cheers.

Came up today from Yorkshire and got my ticket for next Sunday, bringing some more Englanders for a football lesson.

Three goals conceded in the last ten matches. Championship form...if we had more of a cutting edge at the other end. Turn a couple of goal-less draws (Well home and Hibs away) into wins.

Aye. Right ye are Pep. Think Steve Clarke knows better than you

Quite a lot of us willingly put the money in for her.

You'll be delighted to know that the season ticket sales are up on the same time last year.

While I admire your post, I think its very much out of touch with the feeling of the vast majority of our support towards Jones. Myself included. As for his contribution it has been what I would expect, it falls very far short of excellent though.

The Torquay strip looks like a T-Shirt you’d sell to commemorate the occasion rather than a decent strip to mark it.

Thought the full defence was class yesterday. Wouldn't change it.

Ooohhhh because you are a trust member means you are better than everyone else give yourself a shake stewarty

I don’t care. Not my circus - not my monkeys.

There were some good performances today (Burke, McKenzie, Taylor especially for me) but what impressed me the most was the work rate, the pressing, and the overall desire of the players. Granted, Hibs had nothing to play for, but we harried them into errors and simply didn't give up on chasing all the way through the game. There was some tension in the stands but I don't think there was on the pitch. They clearly really want - and believe - they can get third. It's naive to think of footballers in 2019 'playing for the jersey' but they are certainly playing for their manager. I think we will beat the Huns next week and get our best league finish in over half a century. 18 months isn't quite an era, but it's a golden time to be a Killie fan.

Utterly Disgusting, F@@K THE SFA ! and Doncaster GTF !

So what? Are you a Trust member? Do you sit in your allocated seat at away games? DO YOU EVEN HAVE A PIN BADGE?

I don't understand this JJ gets us up the park idea. Invariably he did, however there was rarely any end product. His shooting, passing and decision making are woeful. FFS Ikpeazu gets Hearts up the park because they punt high balls to him. Brutal to watch but he holds the ball up well, wins headers and is a handful for defenders. More end product than Jones IMO.

We’ve changed our system since January as SSC realised he couldn’t replace Stewart. We’re playing to our defensive strengths instead, with the three midfielders and McKenzie, and we’ve become a nightmare to play against for other sides.

My nieces often ask for Disney songs in the car when I'm ferrying them about. They're too young to know why I belt this one out louder than the rest, but they're probably wondering why it's overtaken the Bare Necessities (classic) in terms of plays in recent weeks.

Football is a team game. Pro football is all about winning. Jones might have been flashy and eye-catching with his dribbles and he was a fans' favourite. Anyone who disputes that isn't being honest. But when the chips are down and you need 90 minutes graft, concentration and game management, give me an Ally Mitchell or Chris Burke every time. I really don't know why we are still discussing him when we've seen the last of him. He would have loved to have played next week and I doubt he will show his face. His loss.

Works his socks off every week. At times left isolated up front, especially since Stewart left in the winter. A bit greedy for my liking at times but will improve with experience. One of our most important players.

Poor man’s Rory McKenzie

The club just tweeted that over 260 community groups, girl guides & boys clubs were in the Moffat today, more proof of us all pulling in the one direction.....

Don’t think we ever looked in danger of losing that. We were wasteful at times with our passing and should have killed the game off but for missed chances and bad decision making. Towards the end it got a bit nervous and it was a little concerning some of the areas we gave the ball away in. I didn’t see anything in the penalty. Would have been raging if it happened in our box. It’s nice to be on the positive side of it though. I thought Bachmann and the back four were excellent. None of the Hibs strikers got a sniff and the few efforts from distance were handled by the keeper. Taylor was targeted at high balls but didn’t lose a thing. Bruce absolutely strolled through the game. Thought Brophy led the line well. Puts his all in every time. Didn’t get much help from Dallas as McGregor got away with a few. He did well at the pen. I wouldn’t have fancied stepping up against a keeper who’d just made two cracking saves moments before. Really thought he’d burst the net second half but it wasn’t to be.

The 2019 version