As many of you know, I have taken the difficult decision
to move away from Perth and begin a new life in the South of England. Aside
from my leaving my family, there were two major wrenches in this decision;
leaving behind my motor racing family at Knockhill and putting myself on the
sidelines of supporting the football club I love.
I only have vague recollections of my first Saints game, which
is perhaps a good thing! I went, with my grandad to watch my Aberdeen team play his
St Johnstone team. Aberdeen won, I returned to Colonsay Street a St Johnstone
fan for life!
Work, university and financial struggles have caused my
attendance to be pretty skimpy throughout the last 27 years. As I move my
things down South, it’s clear that my attendance record will not improve in
near future. I will continue to back the club financially by renewing my season
ticket and I will also make every effort to ensure that my ticket is used by
those who will vocally support my team. I will continue to defend the club using
social media outlets and I will work hard to raise the profile of both
McDiarmid Park as a facility and the club as a community based function.
The season ticket packs are very late in being sent this
year and with good reason. The club are struggling to agree on a budget for the
coming year due to several outside factors. The revenue we can generate over
this coming year is affected by several external factors such as; Rangers
survival, European football and correct receipt of monies due by other clubs.
The double dip recession may not have affected the gates, but has dramatically
impinged upon the success of our corporate income. Further complicating the
issue is the strategic discussion on how best to snare the four and five year
olds who, like me, could easily become fans for life – supporting the club long
after the current board shuffle off the planet.
Our manager is clearly exasperated by the state of flux
and has upset many with his clumsy tone. His honesty and passion for our club
are to be admired, but perhaps he needs to be more stoical in order to
facilitate a stronger working relationship with our board, his employer. Our
budget has been strong for several seasons, far higher than I would allow were I
in charge. Some will argue the gamble paid off, especially as we received money
for Del and Doc as well as extra pennies for our top six finish. With some
perversity, we may even qualify for Europe, albeit undeservedly. Were I setting
the budget, we’d have no Enckleman, Morris, Davidson et al. That said, Fran
Sandaza is hardly on big money and it could be decades before we are privileged
to watch such a great player ply his trade in our strip.
This is a big summer for our club. Strong leaders like
Cal Davidson will be essential to our success next season. The Dunblane boy is
not only a super player, he is central to our youth development. The U20s give
more for him than they do for the others. He is easy to respect, thanks to
enormous amounts of experience, professionalism and skill.
Looking at our form following the split it’s very easy to
see what went wrong. Marbella was a disaster. My great friend, @HannahElizabeth,
was the first to raise the issue. Steve Lomas will learn from that mistake. He
is a very new manager and is not perfect.
The game against Dundee United was pivotal. Put simply,
if we had won that game we’d have qualified for Europe on merit. We started
well and were undone by some cruel fortune. Sandaza lost the plot, Lomas
responded by readying Haber to replace him. Incredibly, the player got sent off
after an unpleasant altercation with Sean Dillon. There was fault on both sides
but the end result was that we were denied the services of our best striker for
three critical games.
We started well against both Motherwell and Celtic;
comfortably being the better team. On both occasions we let our collective
heads drop, following the loss of goals which were dubious at best. With your
best striker out, and with little to genuinely play for, that is perfectly
understandable especially with big players (Midge, Morris, Sheridan et al)
realising their futures lay elsewhere.
In the final game against a strong Rangers side we played
some of the best football since the days of Sturrock/Clark. We dominated the
opening spell, were undone by a beautiful goal and lost a second chasing an
equaliser. It went all wrong after that. It was cruel beyond words.
The players and management were rounded on for not coming
over to applaud the fans following that defeat. Put yourself in their boots,
our players were gutted and simply wanted the ground to swallow them up. I can
understand that.
There is more than enough evidence to suggest this club
will remain in the SPL for several years to come. The club are trialling new
initiatives and Paul Smith should be given huge credit for his role in making
the Tay Play days a vibrant success. Yes, they run at a loss – but they may
well have a long term benefit which could prove to be immeasurable.
Our groundsman, Chris Smith, is working miracles on a tight
budget. If any Saints philanthropist is reading this, they might want to
consider donating £2500 to him in order to allow him to purchase some
additional equipment which he feels would bring great benefit to the club.
The general maintenance standards of the stadium are
good, but on-going costs will only rise for as long as we remain based at PH1
2SJ. A new stadium must have good transport links. Unforeseen costs, which
could cripple another club, will generally go unnoticed at Saints thanks to
Geoff’s prudence. We have contingencies for rainy days.
We have great staff. All areas of McDiarmid are full of
enthusiastic, professional folks from a wide range of demographics. The ticket
office girls are a constant pleasure to deal with and front desk work hard to
make visitors and guests feel welcome. The Muirton Suite is inviting and wee
Stuart can be seen doing the rounds pre-match. Paul Smith should be honoured in
due course for his service which goes above and beyond the job requirement at
all times.
Our board are ready, willing and excited for the
challenges to come. Geoff’s shoes are large ones to step into and mistakes will
occur at all levels – that is normal in any business. I trust our leaders, I
love this club. I urge you all, please dig deep, please buy a season ticket and
please be true supporter of this great and proud club.
Please don’t run the club into the ground. Promote the
club, promote our games, enthuse others through general conversation. We have
all enjoyed great times as Saints fans. Let’s make sure that younger
generations get that same thrill as we did when Kano scored against the Dee or
when the final whistle blew and we won at Parkhead.
This is a golden era in our history. We are stable and
solid in the SPL. New and exciting players will arrive to make our team strong.
We’ll compete against the best and we’ll beat them on our day. Those days are
priceless memories.
Stand strong in support of Saints. Renew or buy a season
ticket. Please.
