St Mirren FC’s Annual Accounts for the period ended 30 June 2020 show the impact the Covid-19 pandemic has had on the club, however, due to the prudence and commitment of the board and thanks to the support of our fans over the past number of years, the club remains in a robust position.
A copy of the club’s Annual Accounts can be found at Companies House.
The Board of Directors were extremely concerned by the ill-informed and inaccurate headlines that appeared in the Press on 1 December 2020. The following information seeks to clarify the position and is intended to reassure shareholders with regard to the club’s financial strength.
To provide some context, in October we asked our auditors (Azets) to review a number of our business operations. This was part of our strategy to review all operations and enhance governance across the Club. One area which we asked them to consider was the status of a number of staff that we had hitherto classified as self-employed. Azets prepared a report for the Board which was received in November and concluded that, on balance, some of our staff ought to be treated as employees who would be subject to PAYE. The report makes it clear that the question of whether or not someone is self-employed or employed is a complex one in any business. In our case there are a number of factors which point either way.
Following on from this report, and in an attempt to gain clarity, we decided to self-refer the matter to HMRC for their view. HMRC were contacted by telephone on Friday 20 November and have since confirmed verbally that we should make the necessary changes to the status of the relevant employees going forward. Action is underway to make these changes. We have acted on a proactive basis and co-operated fully with HMRC.
Understandably we wanted to have their definitive view on this before we held the AGM.
The Azets report also highlighted a number of risks within the Club’s operations. It was decided to engage an independent firm of Accountants to check that none of these risks had resulted in loss. We appointed Gerber Landa & Gee (GLG), a firm highly experienced in professional football club finances, and are delighted to confirm that no evidence of any loss was found. GLG have further confirmed that the changes in process implemented should ensure that the risks previously highlighted have been addressed.
The Board of Directors trusts that the foregoing corrects any misunderstanding caused by ill-informed and inaccurate press reports.
Disorderly Conduct means;
(i) Conduct which stirs up or sustains, or is likely or designed to stir up or sustain, hatred or ill will against or towards a group or persons based on their membership or presumed membership of a group defined by reference to a Category or against an individual who is or is presumed to be of the following categories:
by the person or persons engaged in the Conduct to be a member of such group.
(ii) Using threatening, abusive or insulting words or conduct
(iii) Displaying any writing or other thing which is threatening, abusive or insulting, or
(iv) Using words or conduct or displaying wiring or other thing which indicates support for, or affiliation to, or celebration of, or opposition to an organisation or group proscribed in terms of the Terrorism Act 2000, and any successive or replacement legislation thereto:
Sanctions;
Any Person committing Disorderly conduct and/or any person who assists another or others to commit Disorderly conduct, may be subject to any, or a combination of the following;
Reference:
St Mirren Football Club endorses the principle of Equality and is committed to ensure that everyone who wishes to be involved with St Mirren Football Club, regardless of their role, current or potential:
The Board of St Mirren Football Club and Chief Executive are accountable for Equality and Diversity and will receive regular updates on the activities and practices of the Club including the implementation of the Equality Policy. It is the role of the Board and Chief Executive to address any concerns relating to Equality and Diversity within the Club.
Reference
St Mirren Football Club can today confirm that it will be appealing the decision of the SPFL tribunal on Thursday December 3rd 2020.
The club is unable to make any further comment on this matter until the proceedings are complete, at which point we will update our supporters.
In our goal to make Paisley proud of its local team, we want St Mirren Football Club to have a strong, recognised presence within the community. We want to mark the gravitas St Mirren plays in the town’s history and celebrate the overwhelming support loyal fans show the club. The 2020/21 season is like no other, yet the fan support is unwavering.
One great way to showcase St Mirren far and wide across Paisley has been to launch large traditional billboard placements across key Paisley locations. Loyal St Mirren fans will feel a sense of pride as the familiar black and white stripes capture their attention; locals who are football fanatics will be reminded of their homegrown team and be encouraged to show their support.
Be inspired to follow the Paisley football club and their youth development that has produced the talent of Lewis Morgan, Cammy MacPherson and Ethan Erhahon.
It takes time to decide on what to visually promote. What do we want to communicate to our fans?
Recent times have been challenging for everyone, therefore during the summer when we heard the positive update that football matches could resume, we immediately sprang into action to spread the news.
The announcement of football returning after covid-19, albeit behind closed doors, was a momentous occasion. The business operations at the club could resume with staff at the helm, players would be able to focus on the season ahead and fans could finally watch their team on the pitch, albeit virtually.
The ideal way to celebrate with our fans was to takeover Paisley with standout billboards.
Due to social distancing measures, our photographs for billboards were limited. The transfer window period and a delay in the shipment of our 2020/21 football kit all contributed to drastically reducing our options for imagery.
Our graphic designer set to work. It was a challenge she was determined to overcome. Existing action shots would be examined to identify images that would fit into our messaging perfectly. The images would be cropped, cut out and photoshopped to life-size. The thrill of being a St Mirren Football Club supporter would be conveyed on screen.
Graphic designer hard at work
Manager Jim Goodwin was positioned at great height. He had the task to lead us into the unknown and motivate the town to Be In That Number and march alongside the saints.
Stoic Jim made an appearance
“Football Is Back!” appeared in bold letters alongside first team player Jon Obika.
Obika billboard in progress
There was a sense of sheer delight once the return of football was announced. Obika’s celebratory pose matched with the bold headline conveyed the buzz of the football community.
The photo had to be methodically cut out and optimised perfectly
As football returned without fans filling the stands, the club was humbled by the unwavering fan support shown despite the adversity. As season ticket sales surpassed the same level as previous years, the wider marketing team knew the fans had to be a focal point in the communications.
The club thought about shouting from the rooftops about how fantastic their fans were. It was a resounding decision that fans would star in our billboard placements.
Fans photos in all shapes and sizes were sent to the club and photoshopped into position
Where will our billboard pop-up? The decision on which advert placement will give us the greatest visibility for our fans, especially as people are leaving the house less, is vital to the marketing strategy.
Fortunately, fans have expressed their delight in spotting our adverts.
Fans doing their best Obika impression
Our fan billboards had a huge impact on the players. The players were blown away by the creative and commented it was refreshing to see as they had a newfound appreciation for the supportive faces in the crowd.
Sam Foley expressed his delight in seeing the fan photos sky high and spotting the club across Paisley:
“It really gave us all an appreciation of what this club means to the people of Paisley. We can’t wait for them to be allowed to return to football."
The player response inspired marketing and graphic design to arrange an upload to the pitch side screens to motivate the players. Again, our graphic designer set to work and spent time carefully editing the important fan moments many of you shared with us.
Fan photos providing support on the pitch
The creation of pay-per-view billboards were produced to drum up excitement for match days. The creative featured both St Mirren and the opposing team. It was produced internally for St Mirren to have full ownership of the illustration and strongly convey the club’s brand and traditional colour scheme. We put the task of promoting St Mirren while subtly featuring the opposition in our own hands.
The graphics were adapted for social media. Overall, the images were recognisable and complimentary of one another. The attention-grabbing advert would demand a second look as your eye would be drawn to the familiar sight. Driving by Linwood Road you would notice an upcoming St Mirren match was available to watch live. Later, whilst online, recognition will kick-in as you notice a similar advert again and are reminded to support your local team.
Socialising online only
Now more than ever it is important to stand by your local football club and St Mirren want to do what we can to be at the forefront of the minds of local football fans as the club continues business operations under uncertain circumstances.
Together the club, marketing personnel and Kibble Communications are doing their best to share news and support the team in any way we can. Our aim is to share news about our players; keep the community updated about staff who are doing their part to ensure the running of the club goes as smoothly as possible through the transition into our new normal while seizing any opportunity to raise the fans' spirits. We have exciting future plans and hope to share them with you as we move forward.
Look out for St Mirren billboards across Abercorn Street, Renfrew Street and Linwood Road.
A great deal happens at the club, behind the saints marching onto the pitch ahead of kick-off on match day. Operations to keep St Mirren running as effectively as possible do not ever stop.
The entire staff team at the club contribute significantly to ensuring the first team are fully prepared for game day and that team spirit is high amongst fans, players, staff and the wider community. We wanted to share with you some of the goings-on within the club over the past 6 months.
The club has begun working with award-winning master chef Donald Munro to create brand new catering options for St Mirren players. Nutritious meals fully support the players’ development as professional athletes. Chef Donald and his team – including a number of kids from Kibble who possess a flair for cooking – have worked alongside our Head of Sports Science Junior Mendes to produce menus needed to fuel Scottish Premiership footballers.
Maintenance improvements have continued around our stadium ready for the return of our supporters. Our dugouts have been noticeably branded with new ‘Be In That Number’ and ‘Come on You Saints’ signage, whilst the Tony Fitzpatrick Family Stand and the North Stand have been given ‘Be In That Number’ and ‘Saints In That Number’ branding. There has been extensive paintwork carried out across the stadium including the vomitories, which have been painted and branded with St Mirren badges along with the installation of new safety railings.
Extensive refurbishment work has been carried out at the St Mirren Training Ground and Academy to enhance quality and standards. The gym within the first-team building has been completely renovated, with new flooring being fitted throughout. The youth academy has seen significant changes with new changing rooms and shower facilities fitted as well as the creation of an office/learning area to aid the development of academy coaches and players.
The high quality maintenance standards wouldn’t be possible without the support of our Head Green Keeper Tommy Docherty, Green Keeper Alan Michie, The Skills Academy at Kibble along with the trainers, kids and the long-standing contractors who have continued to work with us during these difficult times.
We teamed up with The Football Company to give supporters an opportunity to have their own recyclable, waterproof cut-out displayed proudly in the stands. The cut-outs have been placed behind the goal in the Tony Fitzpatrick Family Stand.
We launched SMTV, a brand-new platform for hosting all Club media. This has presented both challenges and opportunities for Head of Media, James Hunter to create some of his own concepts. The platform will continue to be developed over the coming months to support fan engagement with input from a variety of sources including our own Paisley Panda and the SLO’s and fans groups. Sign-up now to SMTV for match coverage, exclusive interviews and behind the scenes footage.
St Mirren have worked closely with Kibble Communications for design and marketing support. The creation of consistent brand guidelines and creative, advertising opportunities, stadium-wide signage and more are a result of the consultations. Our partnership with Kibble has strengthened brand recognition for St Mirren.
Look out for the club sharing insights about club operations through out #BehindTheSaints features.
St Mirren Football Club can confirm that the SPFL’s disciplinary hearing against the club has now concluded.
The club has defended its position robustly and will be advised of the outcome which is expected at the end of this month.
Whilst we await the outcome the club will make no further comment on this matter.
St Mirren’s home is being renamed The SMISA Stadium in a show of recognition for the club’s fans as they start the final countdown to becoming its majority owners in the summer.
The club is gifting the naming rights for St Mirren Park to the St Mirren Independent Supporters Association (SMISA) for the rest of season 2020/21.
After that, the fans group will take its shareholding in the club to 51% by buying the club chairman Gordon Scott’s remaining shares.
The purchase had been due to complete by the end of 2021, but it has now been agreed this will happen sooner than planned – on a date to be decided in the summer.
And the club board has agreed the stadium-naming gesture to thank SMISA’s 1,150-plus members – whose monthly membership fees have been saved towards the share purchase since 2016 – for making that possible.
SMISA chair George Adam MSP said: "Our aim has always been the same – to see St Mirren stay forever at the heart of the Paisley community and in the hands of those who will care for it most.
"What better way to mark the ownership of the club moving into the hands of the fans than to put their name above the door?
"When we started off on the journey towards fan ownership five years ago we never expected to be in this position so soon – but the incredible commitment of our members made this possible. We are thrilled the club board have chosen to recognise SMISA members in this way."
The #BuyTheBuds deal had initially been expected to take ten years to complete but will be delivered in just five thanks to SMISA and St Mirren’s partnership with leading social enterprise and social care charity Kibble.
That partnership was overwhelmingly approved by SMISA’s members during a vote in February and is believed to be unique in Europe by making a charity the part-owners of a top-flight football club.
Kibble provide support services and commercial expertise to the club, while working with the club to creating job and training opportunities for the young people in their care.
Their purchase of some of Gordon’s shares reduced the sum SMISA needed to raise and means SMISA now expect by the summer to have banked the share purchase money plus a substantial cash reserve, which will help offer financial security to the club in future.
St Mirren chairman Gordon Scott added: "I always wanted to know I was handing over the ownership of the club to the fans when the time was right, and with the set-up we now have in place we believe that time will be in the summer.
"I and the rest of the board are delighted to be able to recognise the commitment of SMISA’s members over the past five years for making all of this possible.
"Sadly our fans can’t be in the stadium at the moment but we hope having SMISA’s name on the ground for the rest of the season shows how much we value them as the lifeblood and future of the club."
Kibble chief executive and St Mirren director Jim Gillespie, added: "With Kibble having been in Paisley for the best part of 200 years, our involvement with St Mirren helps bring together two of the town’s oldest institutions.
"But with SMISA taking on the majority shareholding, St Mirren’s future will be a fan-owned one. Kibble are delighted to be supporting that, and helping keep this club at heart of the community.
"SMISA’s members are the ones who made this happen and the stadium renaming is a great gesture to recognise them for their fantastic achievement."
For more information, see www.smisa.net
St Mirren Football Club can confirm it has been issued with a fast track notice of complaint for midfielder Greg Tansey by the Scottish Football Association for the incident involving Hearts player Clevid Dikamona in last weekend’s game at Tynecastle.
Greg has been offered a two match suspension for an alleged breach of Disciplinary Rule 200 - A1 Serious Foul Play.
The club intends to appeal this decision and a hearing will take place tomorrow afternoon where an outcome will be reached.
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