Pittodrie was a much-needed boost. A couple of tough games, losing at Livi and Celtic, and the stop-start nature of Premiership football can be discombobulating after the past couple of seasons’ experience. But taking four points from six from two of Scotland’s European representatives isn’t to be sniffed at.

The end of the transfer window was notable too. John and Paul, ably and supported by chief scout Allan Fraser’s expert eye, did what they said they would and brought in some exciting talent from down south to complement the strength already in place.

John said he wanted players who would improve the squad, even if that meant going to the wire. Yes, it was nail-biting, and we know that tested some fans’ patience, but our management team deserves our trust and support.

Kyrell’s goal saw the bustling, noisy Falkirk support at Pittodrie explode – a support described by an Aberdeen director as “the best and loudest away support we’ve seen in years.” Trey looks like a real talent, and rumours that Man Utd’s Ethan Williams chose Falkirk over a championship-winning side from a strong European nation – which we can neither confirm nor deny – would put a smile on any Bairn’s face. Latterly, Filip and Sam bring competition to the back line. Fresh talent is here and hungry.

You’ve given them all a warm welcome – thank you. And Falkirk fans have started the season as they left off last: boisterous, positive, and as one with the team, which your energy fuels. We know this season will bring still greater challenges so we must keep our collective nerve while savouring the big wins, like Pittodrie.

We wish our goalkeeper Owen Hayward the very best of luck as he leaves the club to pursue a career in medicine.

We’ve been busy off the park too, mending the roof while the sun shines. Quite literally in the case of the North Stand, where we’re about to undertake some major repairs following earlier storm damage. Work will begin on 18 September.

As well as funding the first-team and the Academy, FSS members have chosen to help improve fellow fans’ matchday experience – another evidence point of the togetherness at our club – by part-funding the improved safety barriers in the KM7 Stand so our ultras don’t take a tumble as a result of their welcome exuberance.

Which is just as well as, following feedback from the Bairns Survey, we’ve improved the disabled shelters at both ends of the stadium.

The Falkirk Fanzone has been an instant success – though we know queues got too long at the Dundee United game, so we’ll look to resolve that with a new bar with extra pumps being installed in time for the Rangers match.

Plans are afoot to make the most of that huge facility, including beer festivals, dinners, Academy fundraisers, and end of season parties for fans. We recently launched the Falkirk Events brand to capture the series of parties, dinners, festivals, golf days, speakers’ nights, and other occasions the club will organise to help fund our Academy.

There’s obviously immense potential, so if you have an idea for the space or, indeed, for the Brockville Bar, let the commercial team know.

We’re glad that the Fanzone hasn’t had a detrimental impact on the Brockville Bar, which has still been busy, with a loyal following. And sales are ticking along nicely for the new hospitality in the 1876 Lounge, ably hosted by our friends from Falkirk Daft.

Another important improvement has been the upgrade of our home changing room. The stadium has been around for over 20 years now and some areas are becoming a bit jaded. It’s not “new” anymore. Anyone on stadium tours from next week will get an early glimpse, and some new sponsorship opportunities will be available. Anyone fancy sitting next to Brad Spencer?!

We are continuing work on our search for investors and planning for a new East Stand. The thinking we’ve had to put into both of these major projects has been enlightening, highlighting the potential this club has, its increasing value, and the journey we’ve been on.

We now own a fair amount of real estate at the stadium – KM7 and North Stands, the lease for areas of the Main Stand, and the “arena” – which brings value in itself, before we even think about the future East Stand footprint.

We don’t want to build a small, breeze-block structure just to fill the “Grangemouth Gap”. A new stand needs to have tangible commercial and community benefits that add value to our club and town’s economy. We want something that will bring income to the club, facilities for our fans, and jobs for our community and pride — a new home for our fans and our town.

These aspirations are linked: an investor will want to buy into our plans. We’re an increasingly attractive proposition as an exciting, growing football club and as a business with major growth potential.

You’ve smashed it with this season’s kit sales—home, our eye catching away, three goalkeeper styles, and training variations all flying off the shelves. Keep your eyes peeled for the next Heritage kit dropping soon.

The club also launched our new “Shirt off the back” draw, where one lucky winner can select a match worn top from each home game.

That on-pitch growth can only be enhanced by the return of the Falkirk Academy. Tony Begg and his cohort of coaches have successfully recruited and launched their squads, who are playing regularly. Watch out for new social media channels to follow the teams’ fortunes and, please, if you can, get along to the games to see our stars of the future and keep an eye out for fundraising events, such as the Heritage Series, which will help us ensure the Academy is sustainable long-term.

Our Gold Frame auction is also ongoing until Wednesday the 10th, allowing supporters the opportunity to own a one of a kind piece of history, whilst also supporting the Academy. Click here to access the auction.

Recent weeks have seen the passing of three of our own. Bobby Wilson, a Falkirk Bairn through-and-through and kitman for many years; Douglas McIntyre, the first chairman in 1998 after the consortium took charge of our club following near liquidation; and Joe Wallace, our former groundsman who was a real character and remembered fondly by many.

All played a major part in Falkirk FC’s story, we send our affection and condolences to their families.

Fans saw we reached a tough but necessary agreement with the SPFL that will see us choose to return to grass if we establish ourselves in the Premiership. This was a difficult compromise for the club to make, but also for the SPFL, who was at pains to make it clear they understood the predicament that Premiership clubs’ decision had put the club in. We’d like to thank Neil Doncaster and Callum Beattie for their cooperation and creativity, and will work closely with them as this story progresses.

A package of funding and exemptions was negotiated that will see the transition, should we remain in the Premiership beyond next season, come with a smoother financial landing. The club will still need to raise significant funding which, again, we will need to be creative about.

A “pitch-fund” has been mooted to help raise the estimated £1.2 million, so again, all ideas are welcome from our fans. Even with the flexibility and advances from the SPFL, it’s still a significant sum we’ll have to raise, which we want to do without impacting on the all-important football budgets.

We hope similar flexibility is shown to other clubs in a comparable situation to Falkirk. Scottish football is not well-served by placing further barriers in front of aspirational, community clubs. We were disturbed to hear that grant funding was being choked to Championship clubs seeking to install high-quality artificial surfaces for use not only by their first team, but also their communities.

So while we thank the SPFL for their efforts to find a compromise that, in its absence, would have seen great disruption to our league competitions, there remains wider governance issues that need to be addressed.

That’s why – as a fan-owned, fan-funded, and fan-led club – we are happy to support the Scottish Supporters’ Collective initiative. This new effort – which includes our own Gate 20 group – brings together active supporters’ groups from across the country who want to improve conditions for supporters who bring colour, energy and atmosphere to our stadiums.

They are campaigning against ever-increasing ticket prices and indifference from clubs’ leadership, but also to improve disabled facilities, and facilitate “atmosphere enhancement” materials (drums, tifos etc). Their agenda largely aligns with Falkirk FC’s fans-first ethos, so we are delighted to host the Collective’s next gathering at The Falkirk Stadium to listen to their views and discuss the progress we’ve made at Falkirk.

Football is, or should be, the fans’ game and not the plaything of corporations. And let’s remember – we were all young fans once.

In closing, we can’t thank fans enough for turning up in such numbers. Nearly every home game will be a sell-out or near as dammit. The stadium was bouncing on Flag Day, and we know there’s extremely high demand for away games. We’ve done our best to ensure a fair distribution for fans at the most restricted away fixtures but ring-fencing a small number of tickets for pre-existing supporters’ clubs so they can maintain their buses, while ensuring season tickets have access. We can’t please everyone – we wish we could – but thanks to fans for their understanding and advice, which has been vital in developing this policy.

So happy new season, Bairns. It’s going to be thrilling. It’s going to be loud. Let’s make it unforgettable.