killienice Posted May 11, 2019 Report Share Posted May 11, 2019 Not read the article perhaps someone can download? 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wee_Eck1979 Posted May 11, 2019 Report Share Posted May 11, 2019 Let’s you start reading then blocks the article unless you subscribe 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wrangodog Posted May 11, 2019 Report Share Posted May 11, 2019 1 minute ago, Wee_Eck1979 said: Let’s you start reading then blocks the article unless you subscribe Aye, just noticed that, sorry. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wee_Eck1979 Posted May 11, 2019 Report Share Posted May 11, 2019 Worth a shot 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Frontera Posted May 11, 2019 Popular Post Report Share Posted May 11, 2019 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?” 34 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wrangodog Posted May 11, 2019 Report Share Posted May 11, 2019 What a change from MJ. 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrewWylie Posted May 11, 2019 Report Share Posted May 11, 2019 And she's put her money in which is superb, unlike other women on the board -36 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GrazyKillie Posted May 11, 2019 Report Share Posted May 11, 2019 39 minutes ago, Frontera said: 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. What a difference from the leach of MJ. People who care for the club 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ayrshire Killie Posted May 11, 2019 Report Share Posted May 11, 2019 Brilliant article, and she comes across really well. Another example of the fact that the club is in good hands for the longer term. SSC is magnificent, but there will be a positive future after he goes. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Mcilroy56 Posted May 11, 2019 Popular Post Report Share Posted May 11, 2019 49 minutes ago, DrewWylie said: And she's put her money in which is superb, unlike other women on the board 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. 41 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fmcc Posted May 11, 2019 Report Share Posted May 11, 2019 59 minutes ago, DrewWylie said: And she's put her money in which is superb, unlike other women on the board 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
S SMITH Posted May 11, 2019 Report Share Posted May 11, 2019 so lucky to have people like her running our club 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dillinger Posted May 11, 2019 Report Share Posted May 11, 2019 Superb reading 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charlie's Dad Posted May 11, 2019 Report Share Posted May 11, 2019 Wonderful article. Our beloved club moving in the right direction both on and off the field. Long may it continue. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bigdaw Posted May 11, 2019 Report Share Posted May 11, 2019 Great article. Nice to see the Ladies on the board more than pulling their weight. Every thing is positive from Killie these day's. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hawkeye the Gnu Posted May 11, 2019 Report Share Posted May 11, 2019 FFS Dont mention 'ladies' and 'weight' in the same sentence. The last time I did that Mrs Gnu absolutely battered me. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skygod Posted May 11, 2019 Report Share Posted May 11, 2019 3 hours ago, DrewWylie said: …. unlike other women on the board Quite a lot of us willingly put the money in for her. 8 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robert Posted May 12, 2019 Report Share Posted May 12, 2019 Very poor negative comment. Think it’s from the past and the way we viewed our club. Give us a chance and look to a bright future Drew 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trojan76 Posted May 12, 2019 Report Share Posted May 12, 2019 Graham Speirs has been fair champoning our club, have to give credit to him too. Much as it grates 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mogwai Posted May 12, 2019 Report Share Posted May 12, 2019 Spoke to Spiers on the way in yesterday and he mentioned that he would prefer Clarke to remain at Killie. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bullitt Posted May 12, 2019 Report Share Posted May 12, 2019 22 minutes ago, Mogwai said: Spoke to Spiers on the way in yesterday and he mentioned that he would prefer Clarke to remain at Killie. Course he would. Spiers is now KTID 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
historyman Posted May 12, 2019 Report Share Posted May 12, 2019 Currently we have the best board in Scottish football. What they have done so far and what they are trying to achieve, both within the club and beyond, is remarkable. The fans are taken into consideration with every decision - which is the exact opposite of the previous regime. Im sure the fans all recognise what an enormous difference they have made. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
C4mmy31 Posted May 12, 2019 Report Share Posted May 12, 2019 53 minutes ago, Trojan76 said: Graham Speirs has been fair champoning our club, have to give credit to him too. Much as it grates Are you aware that Graham Speirs is at Rugby Park on a regular basis, living close by, with both his sons, in his own words, being brought up as Killie fans..... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trojan76 Posted May 12, 2019 Report Share Posted May 12, 2019 38 minutes ago, C4mmy31 said: Are you aware that Graham Speirs is at Rugby Park on a regular basis, living close by, with both his sons, in his own words, being brought up as Killie fans..... Yes, he posts on twitter, regularly and i even gave him a kids ticket so he could get his son's pal in with him at a game this season, your point is? 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
C4mmy31 Posted May 12, 2019 Report Share Posted May 12, 2019 My point being on quite a few occasions he has went against the grain of his MSM collegues by disagreeing with their general consensus on various story's, as you say championing Killies cause. I think secretly he, himself, has a wee bit of a feeling maybe even an affection for our club...... 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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