The Next Chapter Begins.Thank the stars, Falkirk Saturdays will soon be back.
It feels like both yesterday and a lifetime ago since that magical evening at the Bairnabeu when we lifted the Championship trophy. Scenes that will live with us forever.
Breathtaking drone footage of Bairns flooding onto the pitch after one of the tensest but ultimately joyful season finales is seared into our collective memory.
Our Invincibles and back-to-back champions partied with Falkirk fans all weekend, having chosen Ibiza and Pina Coladas over FK2 and play-offs.
Was it ever in doubt? When Hamilton went one goal up, it felt like we were looking over a cliff, but this squad showed an undaunted spirit.
Back in action
Time, however, waits for nobody. Players are back in training on Friday 13th June.
John and Paul will take a settled squad into the Premiership, with 25 signed players, including apprentices, on our books and Scott Bain brings experience between the sticks alongside competition for Nicky.
The much-awaited Premiership fixtures will be announced on Friday 20th June, immediately followed by The Stirlingshire Cup in its new format on 21st June (sorry Portonians for interrupting the Gala Day) where we’ll play two group games of 60-minutes each on the same day at TFS, with the final taking place on Tuesday 24th June.
We’ll host friendlies the subsequent two Saturdays, before the League Cup section carries us through July and into our first Premiership season since 2009/10, the first weekend in August.
Shopping Saturdays can come to an end and Bairns can get back to what we love doing most.
Together in our thousands
Marketing slogans, especially in football, can draw derision for their hubris or cheesiness. We chose Together As One for our season campaign for good reason.
Togetherness is why we’re back in the Premiership. It’s why we need a bigger trophy cabinet as well as a bigger stadium.
Some 5,600 of you have bought season tickets so far, a record for this football club. Thank you all.
Our togetherness will be more vital than ever in the Premiership. Falkirk fans knew promotion from League 1 to the Championship would be challenging, but this next transition is of a much greater magnitude.
Having more Bairns in our stadium than ever is an opportunity to keep lifting our players, especially when the going gets tougher, as it doubtlessly will. The change in atmosphere since the Invincible season has been transformational and we know it gives our players belief.
We’ve received some constructive criticism for setting our ticket prices as we did, the argument being we’re not taking full financial advantage of the club’s success. Indeed, we’re seeing some competitors charging significantly more.
We of course take that on board. Our decision was to set tickets as among the most affordable in Premiership this season, so we could continue to grow our fanbase and ensure Falkirk fans, who stuck by us in the very leanest of years, could afford their tickets.
The one pre-requisite for supporting a football team is being able to attend games, so we decided not to leave anyone behind.
To mitigate, we again launched the Manager’s Fund, where every penny donated goes into John and Paul’s budget. Please, if you can afford to, consider donating to the Manager’s Fund here.
Away tickets will be at a premium next season – both cost and availability – so it’s all the more important we make sure as many Bairns as possible can attend our home games.
That’s also why we maintained the under-12 season ticket offer, which has supported families in the toughest economic times. The scheme was modified slightly having reviewed data showing a gap between tickets issued and attendance, allowing us to free up some seats as a result.
We are delighted to see the rapid growth in young fans and families attending Falkirk games, which will set the club in good stead for years to come.
Despite the record sales, there will still be provision for a few hundred walk-ups, tickets for schools, kids playing at half-time, and other events, like veterans on Remembrance Day and other charity partners.
It’s a tough balance, but we can’t forget where we came from.
That means we will allocate away fans to less than half of the North Stand, a decision not taken lightly and certainly not to engineer any artificial advantage.
We value away fans – they bring atmosphere to matches and follow their team up and down the country at great expense, but it is right to put Falkirk fans first. Walk-up tickets, however, will be set at an affordable rate and will not be inflated when the larger-supported clubs visit.
At the same time, we’re not a charity, and need to compete. John and Paul have been given what we believe is a competitive budget, but is bound to be one of the smallest in the Premiership.
Please therefore if you can, give to the Manager’s Fund or join FSS here. Both are vital not only to putting a team on the park but also, in FSS’s case, rebuilding the Academy and helping us shape the overall season ticket offer by consulting members.
The Rebuild Continues
Our target of reaching the top tier and restarting the Falkirk Academy by 2026 was set when fan ownership came into place in 2021.
We had no divine right to achieve this ahead of any other club so the recent news that the Falkirk Academy was being re-established after a seven-year hiatus would have been a boost to many.
It has been said that this event is an “act of faith”, that bringing back the Academy rights a historical wrong and that coinciding with the return of Scott Arfield was poetic.
That’s all true, but the decision is hard-nosed and based on our club’s long-term and best interests.
Every football club in Scotland should produce players not only for our first-team but to deepen the pool of talent in our country. Young players increase the possibility of transfer income, bringing much-needed finance to the club but also opportunities for these players to thrive and make a life for themselves in the game. Plus, we need to have an Academy in order to access UEFA solidarity payments.
This all comes at a cost – over £300,000 a year to be precise. We need to be confident that we can afford to run the Academy long-term, not just while we’re in the Premiership. We cannot afford to scale back yet again.
Tony Begg will update soon on his frenetic summer of hiring coaches and players across the various age groups, from 11 to 19. In the meantime, contact our commercial team for opportunities to support the rebirth of the Falkirk Academy – commercial@falkirkfc.co.uk
Looking ahead
There are some big moments coming up off the park. Our new strips will be launched imminently – keep a close eye on club socials for what we hope will capture everyone’s imaginatation, with our partners at O’Neill’s.
Hospitality and match sponsorship will go on sale soon after the fixtures are announced on 20th June. We expect high demand so will protect availability for Falkirk fans. That means a “pre-sale” window for sponsors, previous hospitality guests, season ticket-holders and others on our database.
The offer is changing too, with a third tier of hospitality this season in the Westfield Lounge – Club 1876 – which will provide a more casual, buffet-style experience, and enhanced with entertainment from some well-kent faces.
While this might displace some Bairns who used the Lounge on matchdays, plans are at an advanced stage to expand capacity with a fan zone on the east side of the stadium where, alongside the Brockville Bar, home fans have the opportunity to eat and drink with each other before and after the match.
All of course subject to necessary permissions from Falkirk Council but we hope this makes the Falkirk Stadium a better place on matchdays.
The club is also thinking about how we manage away games. Ticket allocations for travelling Bairns is likely to be tight, with some allocations well under 1000, significantly below what we carried to most games last season.
For matches where Falkirk FC has the responsibility to distribute tickets – some home clubs will sell directly – we will try to find the fairest and most accessible system possible. This is likely to include first options going to season-ticket holders as a minimum.
We won’t be able to please everyone at every match but will be transparent in our decision-making. Please feed in views to the Board email address, or via FSS.
Next season also sees the departure of our friends from East Stirlingshire who announced that after seven years, they will return to Ochilview. We’ll see them back at the stadium for the Stirlingshire Cup but in the meantime, Ease Up, Shirey Pirey!
Getting it right
With thanks to FSS, we’ve now managed to collate all the responses to this year’s Bairns’ Survey. Lots of feedback to comb through, but some clear themes around how we communicate with you and the matchday experience. We’ll work with FSS to do what we can to make the improvements you seek and communicate progress.
We should also hold our hands up to a couple of things that went wrong. First, the season ticket user experience wasn’t as straightforward as it should have been at launch, be that selecting free U12 seats or easy navigability for the Manager’s Fund. We’ll work with our partners at Total Tickets to improve things, but thank everyone for their patience. If anyone still has issues, please contact supporterservices@falkirkfc.co.uk
And we know that the recently released commercial brochure caused concern that we would have replaced the “Brockville Spirit” murals in the KM7 Stand. Please be assured that this would never have happened or, indeed, had been planned. We thank fans and FSS for their representations which helped us spot and correct the error quickly, but we’re sorry for any upset caused.
We’ll say more about the pitch debate once we have news from our partners at the SPFL and SFA. The club’s position remains that we oppose the artificial pitch ban in its current form and we reserve the right to take seek arbitration under the applicable regulations, should we not reach an acceptable compromise.
And we were disappointed that recent discussions about league reconstruction came to nought. We know that fans want a larger top division and an end to teams playing each other four times a season. We want that too, so we will continue to make the case.
Directors will speak on the club podcast before the new season begins, so please send any questions or issues you would like discussed to board@falkirkfc.co.uk
Here we go
These are exciting times to be a Bairn. The last couple of seasons have been remarkable, and we’ll all remember them forever.
Is the best yet to come? Who knows, and you’ll get no rash predictions from us that opposing managers can stick to the dressing-room wall. But Falkirk fans have earned the right to be here, back in the Premiership after 15 years.
You have all hauled us from the depths of 6th in League One to the top table with your hard work, sacrifices, hope and energy, so let’s keep at it.
As one, together.
