Accies World

So it begins. As the good ship Accies sinks the sharks are circling to snap up anyone of value. Either Accies are out there touting anything that’s not nailed down or a lot of the current under 18 squad are bailing out seeing no future in a part time lower league property development charity set up.

https://www.footballinsider247.com/sour ... -mcdonald/

If he is that good, why hasn't he been paying in the first team? McCarthy was, at that age!

He certainly wont be the last. Cant see Ryan One wanting to stay either

Of the first team squad only 3 will still be in contract come end of season. The likes of Fulton and Scott Martin will find another Championship club or English lower leagues without any issues.

I am off to buy a new bucket and spade for seaside leagues

And he is off

Exclusive - Leeds win race for Scottish 16-year-old product Josh Mcdonald from Hamilton Accies - Fee agreed and midfielder will go down to Leeds tomorrow.

This article from the Rangers News caught my eye. Claims the transfer deal for McDonald is in the region of 150k.

https://www.rangersnews.uk/news/rangers ... mmer-deal/

That's the leccy bill paid!

And another one off apparently. Mcgoofey taking in every penny before he divests himself of the club?

https://www.footballinsider247.com/sour ... l-forsyth/

Surely selling young players to go off and play at a higher level is a good thing nah? How else are we supposed to bring funds in TT? Was there any information on add-ons with these deals?

niallfraser8 wrote:Surely selling young players to go off and play at a higher level is a good thing nah? How else are we supposed to bring funds in TT? Was there any information on add-ons with these deals?

If there was a chance in hell that they were being sold for the benefit of the "football department" as that parasite insists on calling it then yes! Absoloutely! However, come on we are not as daft as he thinks we are.

To answer your question.. "how else are we supposed to bring in funds? Lets see off the top of my head based on WHAT EVERY OTHER CLUB IN WORLD FOOTBALL DOES .....

1. Promote a professional image of a club focused on football.
2. Sell a club identity based on tradition, history and the town you represent.
3. Create a fit for purpose website, with a club shop selling merchandise that the fans will be eager to buy and wear / use / display with pride
4. Employ staff to run said shop that are fit for purpose, look like the give a f@*% and maybe answer the phone once in a while , oh and actually have the shop open when they advertise it will be.
5. Operate said shop / online shop in a manner that people will trust and will risk making on line payments (recent history and general dodgy image of club puts a LOT of people off doing this! See barrage of negative social media comments regularly posted elsewhere, we are the laughing stock of scottish football)
6. Promote match tickets / season tickets / PAG to commited or potential fans. (Freebies to randoms or folk that will never invest emotionaly in the club does not count and fools no one!)
7.Engage with fans, communicate with them and try and grow said fan base instead of blaming them for the clubs incompetence.
8. Try just once, to have replica strips / new season merchandise on sale at the end of any given season and dont act as if the fact that a new season starts each year is a suprise! Kids ( and some adults) want to buy the new gear and wear during the summer hols. Its the start of the build up to the new season. New season kit, season books etc is how a lot of fans look to invest in the club for the new season. Failure to appreciate this EVERY season and making us wait to well after the new season starts breeds apathy amongst fans and perpetuates the tin pot "ach f%&* it, that will do them" image that the club has had for most of my lifetime.

That will do for starters, any one else got some sugestions to help the club out?

Sorry Niall, no atack on you intended, i agree with your point to a degree but really frustrated with our clubs inability to opperate in a fashion comparable with a reasonably competent junior club.!

Well said Beckford. Pretty much sums up what every Accies fan thinks. The entire club from top to bottom is run by a bunch of complete amatuers. FFS we were in Premier league 2 years ago and the club is run worse than a under 10 year old kids side.

Sort out the basics as mentioned by Beckford and the rest will fall into place, We have the building blocks of a great football club but McGowan and co treat the fans like shit and as such many of the fans have given up, me included

How else are we supposed to bring funds in TT?

Well you could ask Mr Morrisey of Nero Vodka to hand over the rest of his sponsorship money. Oh that’s right it’s a bit difficult from his Spanish prison cell where he’s facing charges in relation to $200 million dollars money laundering charges according to the us Justice Dept. Hey how about getting Foys to complete their 5 year sponsorship deal. Oh that’s right they are in the process of going bust. And the list goes on and on. What’s needed here is an astute businessman.

I appreciate a lot of the examples I gave could be seen as low level means of generating income and that sponsors and long term investors will be vital for any club.

However, if the commercial and corporate side of the club is a total shambles, the clubs reputation throughout football is one of dodgy dealings and piss poor management and we are known to be run for the benefit of non football related pet projects by an individual who has already almost (but for the actions of its supporters) ran a club into oblivion, how can we possibly attract serious investment?

If the clubs lifelong fans feel there is little to "buy in to" what would attract a potential investor? Many of us make personal financial sacrifices to follow our team, when ever and where ever we can, even though we get little in return. No other type of business can depend on customer loyalty when the product is so poor long term (and i dont just mean the team on the pitch)

Oh and driving tenants from the stadium, when it was specificaly designed to accomodate them, providing a revenue stream that would ensure the long term survival of the club is not exactly the actions of a commited and responsible custodian.

Reputation and brand image is everything for any business. Have a look at any social media relating to Scottish football and see how we are perceived as a club. As a wealthy outsider, would you consider investing in that?

To add to Beckford's excellent points, we now change the strip design every season. It used to be every two seasons but virtually every senior club in England and Scotland now changes every season. It was refreshing to see Brentford keep their current strip for another season and buck the trend. Anyway, by the time our top is on sale summer is almost over so fans do not get good value for something that is overpriced anyway. Just once could we could have it designed and ready for sale end of May/ start of June? If the answer is that we are way down Adidas list of priorities then ditch them and go with o'neiils or macron, both of whom make excellent tops.

Fun fact - Arsenal wore the exact same kit from 1969 to 1978. Changed days indeed.

Edit: their kit design was actually the same 1969 to 1982, the only changes being the addition of umbro logos and, for 81/82, their first shirt sponsor JVC.

Stevie Clarke wrote:To add to Beckford's excellent points, we now change the strip design every season. It used to be every two seasons but virtually every senior club in England and Scotland now changes every season. It was refreshing to see Brentford keep their current strip for another season and buck the trend. Anyway, by the time our top is on sale summer is almost over so fans do not get good value for something that is overpriced anyway. Just once could we could have it designed and ready for sale end of May/ start of June? If the answer is that we are way down Adidas list of priorities then ditch them and go with o'neiils or macron, both of whom make excellent tops.

Fun fact - Arsenal wore the exact same kit from 1969 to 1978. Changed days indeed.

Hi Stevie, keping the same kit for two seasons could actuallty be a big selling point. Could be worth doing some market research and get the fans opinions on something like this. If we advertised in advance that the strip was for two seasons, people may see greater value in them, (especially parents) and we may even sell more as a result (leaving scope for selling high volumes of more affordable merchandise)

Looking at a club like Morton, organising a fans vote for reissuing retro tops or having input into the design for new kits seems pretty straight forward. Unfortunately, my days of wearing replica kits are long gone. Still want to make sure the kids have them though!

Now being reported that a deal for Forsyth to Norwich has been done.

https://www.pinkun.com/news/23566588.no ... --reports/

Significant add-ons if he makes it. I assume the same will happen in the McDonald-Leeds deal. Seems we'll take in £300,000 then this summer plus £324,770 in prize money and TV money. Will it be invested in the team? I think we know the answer to that.

So the next rumoured young player possibly off is One.

https://www.teamtalk.com/news/sources-m ... -footsteps

More inclined to think this is agents talking their player up but we shall see.

With regards to One, I'm sure it's the usual ploy of trying to stir up interest - anything for a quick buck. He's a good player but he's not heading to the premiership in England!

He seemed to disappear towards the end of last season after playing a prominent part of the team prior to that - in fact, he was probably overplayed earlier in the season. Anyone have any ideas why he fell out of favour? Is this because he wanted to change agents or refused to sign a contract? He could have offered something a bit different in the last couple of games and Accies haven't been shy about refusing international call ups before - especially if it triggered an additional payment to the player!

He was on Scotland duty ,he played really well,games were live oniplayer

He missed far more games than the ones that clashed with Scotland.