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Chairmans Blog

27th Nov

Well, the Cup is finally here and we are about to make the long trek up to Banff. Here's hoping that the drive back down the road is a happy relaxed experience. It's amazing how important one game can be for the club. The players are under no illusions that this will be an easy game, and Brian has made sure that they are well aware that professional standards have to be maintained.

There were a lot of mixed feelings about this draw when it came out of the bag (On the first attempt by the way), but as a club, we are quite happy with it. I think it's good that the Scottish Cup is open to teams outside the SPL/SFL. I know highland league and other member clubs have long been a part of the cup, but it is only recently that Junior teams have been allowed in. Auchinleck and Irvine Meadow are both playing tomorrow and hopefully they do well.

It makes the Scottish Cup more credible and a much more "Open" tournament. The only problem I have is that a lot of clubs don't have suitable grounds for larger supports or grounds suitable to host a professional game.
Last year for instance, we had our tie against Lochee postponed numerous times due to the weather which is obviously out of the control of the clubs, but the fact that they did not have floodlights meant that the postponed fixture had to be played during the day midweek when the majority of supporters work and were unable to attend.

I was also very aware that their terracing was made up of a grass knoll and a frozen one at that. Not ideal obviously. We appealed to the SFA to move the tie to Somerset or a neutral ground, but we were told that rules were rules and while the SFA was aware of the inconvenience to supporters and clubs, the game would go ahead on their ground. It is interesting to note however, that if Lochee had won that tie, their next tie against Kilmarnock would not have been allowed to have been played there.
We accepted that and asked that they change the rules going forward so that a professional standard was maintained throughout the competition. Nothing has changed so far as far as I'm aware, but I'm hoping that there will be changes to entry requirements soon. I'm not suggesting that teams shouldn't be allowed to enter, but I do think that the venue should be suitable for each tie.

That may sound a bit rich coming from a club that has a rickety old stand and three sides of terracing, but games for us don't get any better or bigger than against those from up the road and you would be hard pressed to find anyone who was here for that tie last year complaining about the facilities or suitability of the ground for that tie. The weather was horrendous that night and it was quite cold, but that tie managed to take the back pages of the papers away from the Old Firm for a few days.
The thing that has stuck with me from that game was the amount of positive press that it generated from the press and pundits as a good old fashioned game in a great atmosphere at a great old fashioned ground. They all seemed to enjoy the fact that it was in a ground that wasn't a soulless all seated ground. It makes me wonder why we are all being forced to provide all seater stadiums when clearly most supporters would prefer to stand and it obviously generates better atmosphere when supporters are closer together not to mention it's not so bloody cold when standing on a packed terracing compared to an exposed seat.


Maybe I'm naïve, but I think that the government's reaction to the Taylor report was overblown and has cost Scottish clubs millions of wasted pounds. The Taylor report concluded that the main reason for the disaster was overcrowding and no numerical accounting of the standing areas, but the government decided that the way forward is all seater stadia for the top leagues. I'm not qualified to comment on other clubs and their needs for standing or sitting, but I do feel qualified to comment on our own needs. Even if/when Ayr United makes it to the top league in Scotland, we would be much better off with the majority of the ground being standing. These standing areas can be made safer in various ways.

This doesn't mean that we can stay at Somerset in its current condition, as it is not up to our own preferred standards. We still have to move and a new site is the only way forward for us, but if at the time of our move, requirements by the top flight have changed to allow standing, if I am still here, we would take a serious look at installing terracing instead of seats.
This leads me back to NCL and I'm not suggesting that Devronvales ground is not suitable as I haven't seen it and have no idea of its quality. The reason that I am talking about this just now is that we have our own National Club Licensing audit coming up and I am reminded of the costs and challenges of attempting to achieve NCL.

The system has been around for the last five years and the idea of NCL is to improve the standards of the clubs and the stadia of those involved in football.
Standards have been set and those in membership of the SPL and SFL must abide by the criteria if they wish to be granted the license. The standards are presented in the form of criteria and are covered in five areas:

Ground Criteria
* Sporting and Medical Criteria
* Legal and Administrative Criteria
* Finance Criteria
* Codes of Practice Criteria


We as a club applaud the efforts to improve the standards of all member clubs and the game and are backers of the NCL program. There are many positives and very few negatives.
The positives are obviously improved standards and conformation to set guidelines that each club can be compared to.

The main negative is the speed that the bar keeps being raised (yearly additions to the criteria) is unrealistic for a lot of clubs to be able to comply and there is not enough representation on the NCL board by SFL member clubs. There are clubs who make decisions on NCL criteria as part of the board who are not affected because their clubs do not have to comply with the rules. This is clearly unacceptable, but steps are being taken to rectify this.
Ayr United does not have our license because we failed in one area last year. The lux levels of our floodlights are too low.
Unfortunately it is not an easy fix as the lights are very expensive and access to the bulbs has been made almost impossible by the Health and Safety department. We are no longer allowed to let someone climb up the ladders to change the bulbs and as our lights do not bend down to the ground, we must get a crane that goes all the way up to the top and is flexible enough that it can be placed in awkward positions on the ground to allow access. As you can imagine, this is very expensive and currently out of our reach, so for the near future achieving NCL is not going to happen.

We do however recognize the importance of achieving these standards and are working towards solving the floodlight problem and clearing the road for AUFC to achieve NCL.
My only issue with playing clubs outside of the SPL/SFL in the Scottish Cup is that they do not have to comply with NCL standards and to me that is unacceptable although the Highland League clubs have shown interest in compliance.

This is why it is my opinion that if a club in the SFL/SPL come up against a club whose association don't require compliance with NCL, the tie should be moved to a neutral ground if the tie is scheduled for the non-compliant club. While this may be difficult, it is important to maintain the standard of the competition. There are two audits as a part of NCL. The first is the youth audit and I am pleased to say that the Academy passed with flying colours and will be receiving the full award. The second part is non-youth and this year will be focused on the following:

Ground Criteria
Safety Certificate (including relevant amendments and a clear reference to the ground capacity).
Safety Policies and Contingency Plans.
Medical Risk Assessment and Medical Plan.
Disability Policy and evidence of promotion of this policy.
Disability Access Audit report from a third party.
Current summary of club actions following the disability access audit.


Sporting and Medical Criteria
Legal documents confirming training ground ownership or contract or service agreement that includes the full period of the season for each facility.

Legal & Admin
Club Statutes (unless provided previously).
Confirmation of Ownership/Long Term Lease (unless provided previously).
Job Description for CEO/Club Secretary (if position is full time).
Job Description for Finance Manager (if position is full time).
Job Description and Qualifications for Safety Officer.
Job Description and Qualifications/experience for Media Officer (if position is full time)
Job Description for Commercial Manager (if position is full time)
Job Description and Qualifications for Team Manager (if position is full time). His DOB should also be made available.
Job Description and Qualifications for Asst. Team Manager (if position is full time). His DOB should also be made available. Job Description for Club Doctor (if position is full time).
Job Description for Physiotherapist (if position is full time).
Job Description and Qualifications for Head of Youth Development (if position is full time). His DOB should also be made available.
Job Description and Qualifications for each youth coach (if their positions are full time). Their DOB's should also be made available. Job Description and Training Record for Child Protection Officer. Job Description for Welfare Officer (if position is full time).

Finance Criteria
Last set of club accounts.
Codes of Practice Criteria
Child and Coach Protection Policy together with evidence of its communication to personnel.
Registration number with Disclosure Scotland.
Club Register of Disclosure Checks.
Club Policy or Policies on Unacceptable Conduct together with evidence of communication.
Annual summary of actions taken to prevent and respond to

Unacceptable Conduct.
Club Customer Charter or similar such document. Together with evidence of its communication.
Club review of its customer charter/activities.


We expect to pass in all of the areas except for floodlight lux levels and even that may be achieved if we get some luck thrown our way.

I hope that gives you an idea of what NCL is and the reasons behind it. I just want to finish by saying two things.

My sympathies go out to the Irish as they were clearly robbed of the chance to qualify for the World Cup because of an incident that could quickly have been remedied by the use of technology. I also feel sorry for the ref as I thought he was having a really good game and the use of technology would only help referees. I can't imagine he feels very good about the situation. FIFA and their motto of Fair Play are laughable.

I was saddened to learn of the passing of Airdrie director John Ballantyne this morning. He was a very nice man and he will be a big loss to their Board Room. Our condolences go out to both Airdrie and the Ballantyne family.

Lachlan

4th November

Ayr United is a wonderful club.  It's been a part of my life for over twenty years and this is my fifth season at the helm.  I have been happy here doing the best that I can do for the club during that time.  It is therefore with a bit of sadness that I announce that after meeting with the board of directors to discuss the way forward for the club I am putting my majority shareholding up for sale to potential buyers. 

There are two basic reasons for this.  The Club needs to move to a new stadium or at the very least purchase the land over at Heathfield to progress and secure the future.  There is a fantastic opportunity for development over there on the twenty acres that can't be done on the five acres we have here.   

To do that, funding needs to be released and in our current format, that funding looks unlikely.  A new investor would bring that funding in or be able to get that funding from the development and be able to progress the club to the next level. 

The second reason is more of a personal one, but basically, I need to get a job.  I have been living here without a paycheck for the last five years.  I have a family and it is time to start earning one.   

When I first came here, the intention was to have a stadium up and running within two and a half years with lettable office space and the indoor training facility to provide added revenue streams to help fund the football club.  I would be able to stay here by opening a CATZ facility and earn my income that way at the same time as paying rent to the club for the privilege.  Win-Win for everybody.  

Unfortunately, it has not worked out that way so far and it is now time to look for new investment.  

I am still working on various angles to bring the development to fruition, and if that happens, I am planning on staying but if we can progress faster by bringing in outside investment, I am willing to stand aside or potentially remain if I am asked. 

On to more important things.  As you know, I have no intention of speaking about our football on the park as that is the manager's job, but we are all aware of the challenges ahead and are also aware of the position we are in at this moment. 

We are exactly two points from a position in the league that according to all and sundry would be a rousing success if the season finished in that position.  At least that was what I was told back on May 24^th 2009 in the Hospitality Suite, Cactus Jacks, West of the Moon and even in the Club De Mar while celebrating the best day we have had as a club in the last five years. 

I still believe that finishing eighth and above is a major success.  Even ninth and winning the play-offs would be acceptable.  I'm not suggesting that we are playing well right now, or that we couldn't do with better organization on the park.  What I am suggesting is that it is at this point that Brian and the team could use all the backing that you can give.  A lot of people seem to have developed a short memory when the football turned tough. 

It's a steep learning curve making this step up.  What doesn't help is letting negativity and rumours spread.  The dwindling crowds don't help either.  First Division football has been delivered to the town of Ayr.  There is no point in making the step up to a higher division with higher wages and expenses if there is very little increase in revenue through the gates. 

Survival is the goal this season, and developing and strengthening from there is the next step.  So please, get out to Somerset on Saturday and encourage others to come with you.  Queen of the South will no doubt bring a vocal backing and we need our support there in fine voice backing the team.

I hope that doesn't sound like the Hampden Tannoy guy with his cheesy "back the boys" chat at recent Scotland games, but we need the town to get behind the team now more than ever.  We don't want to go back to the second division for next season and if we are going to bring any more players in during the transfer window, we need a significant increase in crowds.

Lachlan

 

28 Oct 2009

RE: Review of Scottish Football  

Dear Henry, 

Thank you for your letter dated October 21, 2009 regarding the review of Scottish Football.  I am happy to provide you with our views on the first phase of your review and hope that it is seen as beneficial. 

You have asked us for views on seven areas specifically and I will try my best to answer them directly. 

1. The numbers and quality of young players coming through the grassroots and elite development activities.

 

I will explain the set-up of our Football Academy in area 6, but since it's formation, we have signed a total of 6 players to the first team. One in the first year of existence and he is getting regular games for the first team.  Two in the second year, one of whom was released, and the other is on loan to Stranraer and has started in goal every week so far this season.  Finally, this year, we have signed three so far based on their potential. 

A club in our position in my opinion will be reliant on developing youth to survive.  We can no longer afford to fill the team with already established players. 

2. Your own scouting set up and how you identify talent.

 

We have a head scout who is responsible for managing our scouts and coaches when looking for talent as well as liaising with local boys clubs to bring in talent. 

There are a further three scouts who each have a primary geographical area of responsibility.  Ayrshire, North Ayrshire and the south side of Glasgow.  It is general policy that for our youth teams, we don't scout or take any boys outwith a one-hour drive from Somerset. 

Below the three scouts are the individual coaches who are monitored by the head scout to coordinate their activities in conjunction with the scouts.  Individual coaches usually only scout in their age group unless asked specifically to look at a player outside their age banding.   

To identify the talent, in general we follow a basic process.  From the ages of 9-13, we scout boys clubs and we have forged a good relationship with these boys clubs.  Once a week, on Friday nights, the boys who look like they have potential come in and train with our development squad coaches.  Once a month, they will have a game as an Ayr United Football Academy Development Squad member, but the rest of the time, they are back with their boys club team.  This helps us keep a relationship with the boys club teams and it means the player can also maintain the friendships and camaraderie of boys club football. 

At this age group, we also scour the schools football and our own "community programme" to try and identify talent.  Any players in these programmes who show potential are invited into a development squad for further observation. 

We have teams who play in the SFA Youth Initiative leagues and SFL leagues from 14-19.  The bulk of the teams are made up of talent identified in the 9-13 age bands, but we are always scouting other pro youth teams for boys released etc. and we also keep monitoring the local boys clubs and the vast array of Junior teams in Ayrshire. 

3. Scottish Government and Local Council help for youth development, including finance.

 

There are two basic areas for youth development as far as we are concerned.  Development of players for the recreational game (Community Programme), and development of players for the professional game (our Talented Young Footballers Programme). 

On the community side, there is money available from the government for football.  For instance, we have a Football Development Officer here at the club who is responsible for the South Ayrshire Football Development Programme.  We have taken over from South Ayrshire Council the responsibility for providing football coaching for the children of South Ayrshire.  The post is funded by £10k from the SFA, £10k from the Council; the club house the post and other employees in that area as well as provide telephone, stationery etc.  The Academy is responsible for picking up any deficit that occurs.   

We take part in various government-funded events including but not limited to the McDonalds Programme, Soccer 1, the Night Leagues and the Food Standards Agency Programme.  We also deliver programmes in disability football that are partially funded by government agencies (our Everybody Active Programme). 

On the youth development side with regard to trying to produce professional talent, there is zero funding available that is easy or relatively easy to obtain, with the execption of the funding which the SFA allocates to youth development.  I don't know of any grants that we can apply for that we have a realistic chance of procuring  

This is a tough area for us as it is great that we can provide community football, but the game is dying as a result of us and other clubs not being able to provide potential professional athletes with the support that they need and deserve. 

4. Links with football partnerships, pathways and other youth development structures in your area.

 

We basically started our own partnerships to create youth development in the area and to provide a pathway for children in South Ayrshire. 

The Football Academy was formed by five partners including the Club, the SAC, NHS, Ayr College and THMT (a supporters association) to ring fence youth and have a separate organization to develop talent in the area.  

Out of this partnership, the Football Development Officer post was created with a partnership that includes the Club, the Council, the SFA and the Academy.  

As our FDO puts it "We provide a pathway for kids from age 3 til they're deid".  They start with us at age 3 in our mini kickers programme and progress to our soccer centres and schools as well as our holiday clinics.  From there, the kids progress to local boys/girls clubs in the West of Scotland Youth leagues.  If they don't progress to our pro youth set up, they still have the opportunity of joining the juniors or amateur teams, and the girls can progress to ladies teams. 

From the boys clubs, we select promising individuals to place in our development centres with the view to progressing them on to our pro youth set up or back into the boys clubs if they are not of sufficient standard. 

Once a player is in the pro youth set up, the target is to provide the Manager of the first team with quality players.  Unfortunately, not all or even many will make it.  We recognize this and it is why we keep an open relationship with local boys teams.  If a player leaves the Academy, he is not lost from football.  He can return to boys club football or move to the juniors or amateurs.   

We also provide a college course in conjunction with Reid Kerr College here at Ayr United that is available to any player who wants to progress both their football and their education.   

If a boy is talented, but we don't feel that he will make it with the first team, we also try to place boys in the United States on four year scholarships that provide them with four years of competitive football and they end up with a University degree. 

The ultimate end to the pathway is a move from the pro youth team to first team training and a regular spot in the reserve league cup games.  From there the pathway is signing for Ayr United as a professional and trying to fight their way into the team. 

At all times and at any point along the line, if the player is released, the Academy do their best to make sure that the player is placed with an appropriate body to continue football.  Our goal is for any boy that comes through our programme to have a life long affinity for Ayr United. 

5. Your links with the wider sports agenda in your area.

 

Through our FDO programme, we have a link with the Active Schools Network and with the Local Authority Sports Development. 

One of the Academy Directors is attempting to assist SAC with writing of their Sports Pitches Strategy.  He also sits on the South Ayrshire Sports Council, which covers all sports in South Ayrshire. 

We have tried to hook up with Ayr Rugby with varying degrees of success, but other than the above, we do not have much in the way of links with other clubs from different sports. 

It was/is our intention with the new stadium attempt to link in with local sports clubs to provide a venue where multiple sports could house their training. 

The failure to provide a stadium for use by the wider community is a topic all by itself that we could go into for days, but the basics are that the failure of the local council to provide any support and the planning departments ineptness led to the collapse of a deal with Barratt homes that would have created a platform for Ayr United to provide all of the local community with much needed sporting facilities including an indoor training facility and a sports therapy and rehab centre that is second to none. 

The deal was in the works for over three years and the planning application had been in for an unacceptable 18 months when Barrat pulled out in August 2008 citing the trending downward housing market. 

The most frustrating aspect of the entire deal was that we never asked the council for money, they actually provided roadblocks to a project that would provide a much needed venue in the area at no cost to them.  It may ultimately be the downfall of this club as our current facilities will not be able to pass certain standards in the next few years. 

6. Examples of initiatives, innovation or new ideas your club is involved in and which might deserve exposure to a wider audience of interest in Scotland.

 

Quite simply, our Football Academy is something that we are most proud of here and feel that it is already generating wider interest in Scotland. 

The Ayr United Football Academy as I mentioned before is an independent charitable organization made up of five members, each with a Director on the Academy Board of Directors.  The Academy is therefore independent of Ayr United Football club, whose influence is exerted by means of Director representation and a Service Level Agreement which governs the management by the Academy of its registered youth players. There are also three independent directors with no direct affiliation to any of the founding partners. 

Five years ago, when I arrived at Ayr United, we had recently axed our youth set up due to wildly out of control expenses and the need for all incoming money going to fund the first team.  As I come from a youth football background in America, it didn't sit right with me that Ayr United didn't have a youth set up, but to be honest there was no way to justify starting one up. 

It was then that I was approached by a former director with the idea of a ring fenced youth set up run by an independent board made up of five partners including the club. 

After initial teething problems and SFA approval, we were off and running.  The Football Academy has wide ranging goals on the community side where we provide football in the community to a wide range of abilities.  We have a three-year sustainable disability programme and work with Active Futures.  There are too many aspects of the Academy community programme to list here but in addition to football, we provide job training and education through our coaching programmes etc. 

On the Professional football side, the Academy has the ultimate goal of providing the Ayr United first team with players.  As stated before, that is the ultimate goal, but we realize that most players won't make it, but the pathway we have set up means that every child that comes into our Academy will be helped to secure football of some description if they ever leave. 

The two most important aspects that separate our Academy from all others in Scotland are that it is a completely volunteer organization and that it is completely ring fenced. 

There has been some negative response from within the pro ranks due to our stance on the Academy being all volunteer.  I have to say that we have found it easier and better to rely on volunteers rather than draining money that could be going to develop players to under pay coaches etc.  The quality of coaches that we are able to attract doesn't seem to be effected by our decision and in fact, it is my belief that we have a more dedicated core group than if they were there for the money.  What we do do is pay expenses and put all coaches through their coaching badges.   

The Academy is an independent organization separate from AUFC and therefore any money for youth must be passed down to the Academy and can't be swallowed up by the club to fill in gaps.  It is a completely transparent organization and it means that all of the money that is supposed to go towards youth development actually makes it there. 

7. In terms of youth development the effectiveness of the relationships between your club and the SFA, and either the SPL or SFL.

 

We have teams in both the SFA youth leagues and the SFL youth initiative leagues at 17's and 19's.  At both levels, we have a positive effective relationship. 

Outside of the leagues, we are always working with Ritchie Wilson (Southwest regional manager) of the SFA to improve our area for youth development etc.  We offer up our facilities for coach education and seminars etc.   

We also have a close relationship with Andy Gould and Jim Fleeting from the SFA and both of them are willing to help when needed and we are always willing to help if they need us. 

That completes the seven direct questions asked of us.  In addition, you have asked for our general views on the current state and what could be done to change it.  Instead of re-writing my personal thoughts, I have attached as an appendix an excerpt from something I put on the club website in early September. 

Please feel free to contact me if you would like any further input and I look forward to January with interest. 

Regards,  Lachlan Cameron

23 Oct 2009

16th Oct 2009

25th Sept 2009

We need higher crowds.  I tweeted it last week and I'm saying it here.  I'm sure that every club in the SFL says that exact same thing every year, so I don't think it makes us unique.  But, here we are, in the Promised Land, Shangri-La. The First Division where all past sins are forgiven and the crowds are not what we were hoping for. 

Ever since joining the board, all I have heard from fans is how important it is to get to the First Division where all the stay away fans appear again.  3000 minimum per game they say. 

Fortunately, when we put our business plan together for this year, we didn't use a number anywhere near that.  We used a number closer to last years First Division average.  But, based on the number we did go with, after three games, we are slightly behind schedule by a tiny bit.  The problem is, we are trending downward and it doesn't look like changing unless results start changing.  So, is that it?  Do we rely solely on results to determine our crowds?   

I would like to think not.  Regardless of whether the pies are awful, the bathrooms are rudimentary, the boardroom is graced with idiots incapable of running a raffle or the weather is Baltic, if you're team is winning, football fans will show up to support the team.

Surely that can't be all though.  I know results are the main factor, but what else goes into it?  At this point, I could cover old ground and keep complaining about the current set up of the leagues, playing each other 4 times a season blah blah blah, but that would do nothing short term and leave us exactly in the same position we are now. 

The difference in gate money between the first home game and the third home game was over £18,000.  Over a season that could be as much as £324,000.  That is a huge discrepancy.  I would like to get us closer to the first game numbers than we are now. So, since I was a fairly crap left back and retired anyway, I can't offer my services on the pitch to Brian to help influence results so, we have decided to go another direction. 

We simply don't have the money to fix Somerset to the standards that we would like.  We would love a clean, litter free environment with large numbers of enthusiastic fans getting behind the team each week.  A place with no foul and abusive language and wonderful catering.  This is a long way from where we are now, but it is where we are trying to go. 

Forgetting results just now, what are we doing to try and increase numbers through the gates?  Among other things, the following are at the forefront of our thoughts just now: 

• Connect more with our current fan base through improved communication via our website and news channels.  This is where the Twitter (God help us!) and blog ideas came from.  It is also where the much-improved Program came from. Making directors and staff available on match day in and around the Supporters' Club, and hosting events at the club.
• Continue the phenomenal work that the Football development department does with kids and the local community.  Last year there were 2012 kids targeted by Davie White that came through the gates via our community program.  The idea is that these kids come back and hopefully with parents and siblings in tow.
• Continue to support and be a part of the Academy and raise awareness of the club.  Currently, the Academy has 5 pro youth teams from 14-19 with 100 players on the books.  We also have a further 80 or so children under 13 involved in our developmental programs. The Academy are also responsible for a large part of our community initiatives.  Ranging from disability football to involvement at Space Place, coordinating first team players to attend school/charity events and beyond.
• Trying to attract new blood that isn't necessarily "the next generation" There are a lot of older folks out there who have either been a supporter in the past or have just never come.  This falls under the category of trying to reach out beyond our fan base to get new people on board.  This is our newest project and we are starting from scratch on this one.

 

There are many other areas that we can and will be working on.  It again comes down to resources and money.  We realize that our marketing and promotion needs some work and that we have been relying on our strengths of community coaching and working with kids too much.   

To address this problem, we have gotten involved with Paligap to help us with our promotion and marketing as well as inviting them to be part of our focus group meetings. 

Part of our plan to address some of the areas targeted are a new advertising campaign that takes us away from our normal channels.  Hopefully you will soon see more traditional advertising around the town as well as more promotions at the ground to try and attract new blood. 

.......................................... 

Questions from this week:

1.        Very disappointed about participation in Q & A with yourself, manager and fans. Considering the amount of moaning that goes on from our support about lack of contact with the club. Although having said that , I mentioned in previous e-mail about a possible lack of awareness surrounding club events. Do you believe the club does enough on the promotion of activities not just in Ayr bur surrounding areas? I appreciate that obviously has a cost implication but a simple collection of our fans E-mail address would keep this at a minimum and the entire base could be mailed as soon as an event is arranged.  ( Maybe something for a future blog ) .

No, I don't think we do enough promotion etc. As we have said above, we are starting to address that more instead of relying on traditional channels (Media etc.)  You're point on e-mail addresses is a valid one and Calum (who is finding this out by reading this) will implement it for us.   

2.        I would like to raise the issue of the Replica Strips and wonder what the chairman's view is on this. Obviously it is a shame that the club is pushing it's Centenary and the Strips have been plagued by supplier problems eg delays, dull colours, limited supply etc. I am hoping Lachlan can give us his views on this and indicate how it will be fixed for future seasons. It surely is a financial problem to the club as I am sure they would sell more if they were on sale earlier and the white actually was white. The design itself is very smart and I personally see this as a missed opportunity for the club.

This will be addressed in the blog soon.  I can't really talk about it yet for various reasons but I can assure you that it will be covered.  The one thing I can say is that if you don't like the white on the shirts, blame me.  I chose that particular white as I thought it looked the best. 

3.        Why is there not any information regarding the Reserves mentioned on the website eg. Reserve league cup teams,results,reports,fixtures(with venues)etc.

The reason for this is that as far as the club is concerned, this is a reserve league cup in name only.  We are using it strictly for training as well as development of some of our Academy boys.  Each week we are guaranteed a game as opposed to bounce games.  Bounce games are hard to find during the season against suitable opposition. 

I take the point on board though and will advertise when and where the games are in the future, but the results will not be posted on our official website. I don't know if it helps, but if I am at the game, I update via Twitter. 

4.        For future blogs would love to hear your views on.......... 
  
Government cash for Scottish football. 
The ever popular stadium issue. 
Legends involvement in centenary celebrations. 
Unofficial football forums. 
 

 The Stadium and Centenary will be part of future blogs.  I don't have a lot to say about Government cash for Scottish football other than there will never be enough made available to satisfy the needs out there and we have to combat that with private funding.

My previous existence is in California, where donors heavily fund lot of schools and sporting clubs.  These donors are made up mostly of people in the local community and parents and grandparents of those participating in the activities.

There is a real value placed on funding their activities and most people realize that if it were left to the government, the students and participants would suffer. 

I don't think we will ever get to that level of private funding here because of the cultural differences and expectations of the government by the people, but my view is that the only way to make youth clubs and schools thrive is by large private donations and funding.

Most Professional clubs walk the line between community asset and limited company.  Therefore most outside funding will be in the form of grants or by the governing body. 

The Centenary events calendar is being headed up by one of our directors and instead of me addressing individual events, I will ask him to contribute to a future blog where we can address your question.

Unofficial football forums.. Maybe some other time, when I feel like picking a fight. 

5.        There's one other point I would like to raise. From talking to supporters and others involved in the game at various levels throughout Scotland, I have concerns about the new "SFA Licensing Regime" where clubs are being asked to increase pitch size, improve facilties, infrastruture, etc.  Can you expand on where this Licensing Regime originated, eg is this something the SFA or UEFA have asked clubs to do and what are the motives behind these improvements/penalties for non-compliance?  Were member clubs consulted on the proposals for this scheme?  What are the implications for Ayr United, as I have heard that external car parks etc will have to be tarmac rather than loose chippings?

NCL is a major issue for clubs in the SFL are concerned and I will give our thoughts on it in the near future.

I promised that this weeks blog would be shorter, but that didn't work out so well.  I also would like to apologize for my American spelling.  I can't be bothered figuring out all of the words that are different, so I'm sticking with all American.  More importantly, I haven't worked out how to switch Microsoft Word to British spell check.

See you next week.  Lachlan Cameron

17th Sept 2009

First off, I would like to thank Douglas McKenzie and the other directors and volunteers for organizing and running the Open Day last weekend.  They put in a lot of work under the difficult remit put to them of having to organize it while not losing any money.  I was happy to hear back that "break even" was achieved.   

More importantly, over 200 future honest men and women under 12 or so managed to achieve most of our dreams and score at Somerset Park. 

Almost nothing outside of the football can be run without the help of volunteers and this is why we rely on volunteers so much for any event or activity done at or by the club.  Take our website for instance.  Over half of the content on there is produced by volunteers, and the same is true for the programme.  Guys like Gordon Rodie are forever fixing things around here and refusing to accept a penny.  Ronnie, Betty and Alan make up more than half of the office staff on match day.  Without dedicated people like that, clubs like ours couldn't survive. It is done for the love of the club and it is appreciated. 

It is a tough job finding and organizing good volunteers because you don't have any leverage over volunteers the way you do paid employees.  If a volunteer doesn't show up because something better came along or volunteers to help out on a committee accepts roles and then bails out, there is not a lot that can be done except to try and fix it with a patch job.  Unfortunately, this happens all the time. 

Over the last three or four years we have managed to build up a core of about 20 regular volunteers and that number is still growing.  Just this week I have had an offer by a supporter who claims to be willing to coordinate and organize volunteers for various areas.  I'm hoping that works out as finding volunteers is easy.  Organizing them and managing them is the tough part. 

At the Open Day I was there trying to keep my son from killing himself or another child on the overhead kick bouncy thing and chatting with whoever I came across.  A few people I spoke to had read the blog from September 9 and asked me to further expand on what our thoughts are on the current league structure and how it could be improved.   

Here goes, and just a reminder, the thoughts and opinions expressed by me in this blog are entirely my own opinion and are not necessarily the views shared by Ayr United. 

Before I moved here from Los Angeles, I was a skeptic of the set up of Scottish football from afar.  I knew it was ridiculous to have such a small league and play each other four times a season.  I knew it was ridiculous to have a one up one down system, and I knew it was ridiculous to have three bodies running one sport for a country of five million people.  I never gave it too much thought though as I only came over three times a season at most and usually caught about six or seven games a season.  I also wasn't in any position to do anything other than bitch about it. 

It wasn't until I moved here that I went from skeptic to a state of full blown opposition to the current system.  And, while being a director or chairman of a member club gives you some input to the process it is easier and much better to do it as an elected member of the League Management Committee.  I am fortunate enough to have landed myself on the LMC and I look forward to helping the league continue to improve.  My first meeting was at the end of July and up until last week the wheels at the SFL had to stop turning to focus on the Livingston problem, so it is from here on out that we can start looking at other things. 

It has to be said at this point that for any league structure changes to be made, the SPL would have to get involved and I believe that is going to be a tough if not impossible hurdle to get over.  Let's play pretend though and if I picture Scottish football a few years from now I see the following structure: 

Two leagues made up of a top tier of 18 and a second division made up of 24 teams. There are arguments to be made about whether it should be 20 in the top tier, but my personal preference is for 18.  I definitely don't like 16, but that seems to be the number that gets tossed about the most.  To me 16 is just slightly better than 12.  Also, some people might have a problem with a league of 24, but the championship and league one and two in England have 24 teams and the Championship is probably the most entertaining league out there. 

If you don't like 24, cut four teams out over a two year period and run with 20.  18 and 24 means that there is a seamless transition for all professional clubs to be included from the start. 

I don't think it can be understated how bad an effect that 10 or 12 team leagues can and do have on upcoming youth.  Under the current format, when would any manager who is always under scrutiny from fans and board members bleed a young player in?  It certainly wouldn't be in a relegation battle game.  Some people argue that an 18 team league will end up with some meaningless games towards the end of the season.  The only answer I can think of is "So what".  If you want every game to mean something, play more cups.  This is a league.   

Of course there will be some games with less meaning than others, but good managers will use it as an opportunity to see what the future is with some up and comers.  Protestors say that this isn't fair to other teams because every result usually has an effect elsewhere.  Get over it, that's just luck of the draw.   

Regarding relegation and promotion, I would like to suggest that we need look no further than our neighbors to the South for the answer.  Three down from the top tier automatically and two up with 3,4,5and 6 playing off for the final promotion spot. 

Why do we let the second last placed team (SFL) enter a play off to survive?  If you finish second bottom, you have failed. I'm sure the answer is probably that we can't very well ask a team in 5^th out of 10 to join in playoffs.  This of course begs the question of do playoffs make sense for leagues of 10?  I don't know nor do I have a strong view one way or the other.  I just know that letting the team second bottom of the league into it is wrong.  I know that is a strange position to take considering our current league position, but that would be a short term view and I am not a believer in short term self preservation at the expense of long term benefits. 

The SPL is even worse.  Every year I look at the bottom of the SPL table and I am reminded of the Billy Connolly joke where he talks about the two guys on the Serengeti looking at the Lion nearby.  The one guy starts tying his shoe and the other tells him that there is no need to do that, there is no way that he could outrun a lion.  His reply is "I don't need to outrun the lion, I just need to outrun you".   

This is exactly what happens at the bottom end of the table.  Teams are rewarded for failure and mediocrity by getting to stay in the league.  All they need to do is achieve the minimum to survive.  It also affects the style of play, which is a discussion for another day. 

So, now we have that sorted, let's talk about what happens at the very bottom.  In an ideal world, a pyramid system would be in effect and new teams would come into the league every year to replace those holding up the bottom of the league. 

The reality is that we can't even get the SFL/SPL/SFA situation sorted, how the hell are we going to figure out and get involved with Highland league, West of Scotland etc. plus the Juniors? Talk about a quagmire.  The Juniors are a law unto themselves and it is a problem that can wait until our own future league is figured out.  Also, the reality is that most clubs outside of the SPL/SFL in their current format have no chance of achieving National Club Licensing.  I'll come back to NCL in a future blog.  If and when we figure out how to restructure our league, we can start to look at the pyramid system then. 

Another view is that we do away with relegation and promotion altogether.  It is not an idea that I am necessarily a big fan of, but the benefits would be that clubs near the bottom don't have to be so negative on the pitch to try and squeak out results, which is obviously better for supporters, and also clubs could plan their finances much better if the possibility of relegation was taken away.  Let's face it, relegation wreaks havoc on the finances.  The negatives are of course for the teams in the lower league never having a possibility of moving up. 

At the end of the day, none of this matters if all of the parties involved can't see beyond the end of their nose.  We can have all the reviews  in the world, but if the outcome isn't a dramatic change to the current set-up, Scottish football with wither on the vine and die.  I hope that we can help stop that from happening. 

Sorry for the long winded piece, but it is a large area to cover.  I will quickly touch on e-mails received since the last blog.  The following are questions or comments received through Tuesday September 15th 

1.The key question and an issue that has been around for a very long time is to do with where the club stands in the local community and the relations with South Ayrshire Council.  Can you provide any insight into how the club works with the council and what could be done better on both sides?      

This will be another long winded effort and I will touch on in the near future. 

2.The new stadium situation - Is this new stadium still a possibility?  If not is there anyway that Somerset could get upgraded? 

Another topic that will be covered soon. 

3.On a side note, maybe in the next blog you could enlighten us who the trialists are? Worth a try.   

This is an easy one.  No, we are not allowed to.  Easily found out though with minimal effort.  

4.What is your view on getting fans in to do up the stadium a wee lick of paint here and there? 

I think that has been covered this week, but again, all the help we can get. 

5.This seasons shirts...  It seems that the new hoops style is very popular & I think it looks a cracking strip.  Would the club consider keeping this style for future years or is it just a one off?   

Yes, we would consider it, but no decision has been made yet on what will happen next year and beyond.  We usually start that process in November. 
 
6.My view is that a good design and style can result in a lot more sales & income for the club.  I also know there has been criticism about the delivery delay.  Can you give any thoughts on what happened with this? 

More than likely, this will be the topic next week. 
 
7.Your blog is absolutely fantastic and a refreshing change to what was always an iron curtain surrounding the club. 

This is more a statement than anything, but I want to quickly address the opinion of "the Iron Curtain"  surrounding the club.  I think that is a fairly harsh view.  Short of sitting in the dressing room with the manager at all times, most fans will be of the opinion that their club don't give out any information or news. 

Managers are a paranoid bunch by design and to be fair, almost no one outside of a very tight circle know about player information until that player arrives for training or a game.  Also, we can't and won't put information on our website until something actually happens.  For instance if player x is seen to be training with us and the manager indicates that he is going to sign, the papers and fans websites can run with that story.  We can't.  We have to wait until he actually signs and the registration is accepted.  Often there is a news item that is generally known by the supporters, but can't be put on our own website until a few days after it is general knowledge. 

I'm willing to bet that Ayr United have one of the most updated websites in the SFL.  Rarely a day goes by without at least one news item being placed there or updates in other areas.  I'm not saying we are perfect by any means, but please remember that we have fairly limited resources and there are other areas around here that take precedence over updating websites. 

I would also like to point out that every e-mail and letter received here with a question gets answered despite what one person likes to claim.  You might not like the answer you get, but you get an answer. If your follow up e-mail is more about the same thing, I don't feel obliged to flog a dead horse.  Asked and answered councilor. 

Myself, the Vice-Chairman, the Club Secretary and the Commercial director can be found in the Hospitality Suite before and sometimes after at every match.  We are all very approachable and are willing to chat about most things.  The only time I ever refuse to speak to anyone is if they become aggressive or if they are drunk.  If they are drunk, I simply ask them to come see me on the Monday.   

We have in the past held numerous nights with the manager or myself for Q&A.  Unfortunately, these are not normally well attended so we haven't done one in a while. 

We also have numerous sponsors events as well as club events where people can interact with the manager, the board and staff as well as players.  We may not do everything to your liking and there is more ways for us to improve communication, but I disagree that at least in the last five years there has been an "Iron Curtain" 

Thanks for reading and keep the e-mails coming. 

Lachlan Cameron

11th Sept 2009

Airdrie at home this week.  So far, 18 police and 7 extra stewards have been required for their visit.  And I wonder where the money goes. 

On the topic of policing, wait for this one.  I was at Firhill last Sunday for their game against ICT.  After the game, we went back to the car in a parking lot across from the stadium.  We were about to leave when a policeman told us we needed to wait for pedestrians to pass.   

Fair enough, so we sat there for 5 minutes as a steady stream of people walked by.  At that point we expected to get out, but he wouldn't move.  As it was a Sunday and I didn't have anything else going on, I wasn't that bothered, but people around me were starting to get anxious and impatient. 

Across the street, the same thing was happening at another parking lot.  I looked down the street and it was the same thing.  Not one person had passed in front of us for at least a couple of minutes.  Finally after a full fifteen minutes, my passenger enquired of the policeman why we were still sitting and hadn't been let out.  His reply was that going forward, this would be the way it was going to be handled at all football grounds across the country from now on because a supporter had been struck by a car and killed the previous week at Celtic. 

We pointed out that there hadn't been a soul to be seen in almost 10 minutes.  He informed us that although he realized that there was no one about, and he empathized with the situation, his hands were tied and he wasn't allowed to release us until it came from central command. 

I felt sorry for him because it was obvious how ridiculous the situation was, but he couldn't do anything about it.  Eventually, people in cars started holding down the horn and I could see the rage start to build in drivers behind the wheel.  I can't help but wonder if this policy might save one life every 50 years or so from being hit by a car as a pedestrian leaving a football match, and kill some every year from heart attacks, strokes and road rage. 

Talk about an overreaction to a tragic event.  Let's face it, Firhill and Celtic Park are slightly different situations.  The cop told me that it was going to be the way forward at every ground going forward.  Fortunately I haven't heard anything about it effecting Somerset parking lots. 

It's hard enough to get people to come to games.  I can't imagine that a policy of keeping cars penned in to the parking lots for ½ an hour after each match finishes will help attendances.

9th Sept 2009

Well, the blog is off and running.  The news I am getting back from those in the know is that the reaction to it is overwhelmingly negative.  That's too bad, I was hoping this would be a bit of light fun and maybe an entertaining way to communicate.  I'll keep it going for now though in the hopes of  success. 

Before we go any further, I would like to point out that anything in this section of the website is purely my own opinion and does not necessarily reflect the views of Ayr United or its board members. 

I have received two e-mails since the first posting and one I responded directly to because it was more suitable and the other was in regards to the seagull problem on the North Terrace.  As far as the seagulls go, we are aware of the problem and are constantly looking into ways of curtailing their activities.  They are heavily active in July and August and should settle down quite quickly here.  We have tried numerous things with varying degrees of success to try to combat the problem. 

Another financial blow for the club in that we have had to move the Dundee game from a Saturday to a midweek.  Congratulations to them for reaching the semi-final of the ALBA Challenge cup and we know it's part and parcel of the game that we have to be accommodating, but it's still a bummer. 

Speaking of finances, as has been the case as long as I have been here, they are tight.  But, we want to run other events outwith the football every week and that is why we are doing things like the Open Day this Sunday.  We have decided that all Centenary events must stand on their own two feet and not take any money out of the playing budget.  Stewards, employees and coaches cost money and hopefully we can cover the costs with a small entrance fee. 

The latest chapter in Livingston's drama filled history has finally come to an end thank goodness.  We now know that Airdrie are our opponents this Saturday and we will be playing them a further three times (yawn.) this season.  Whether you agree with the original decision or not, the fact is the SFL is a member's  organization and governs itself.  There was a decision by the League Management Committee who are made up of representatives from the three divisions.  When it was then appealed to the whole SFL, the original decision was upheld.  In my opinion, it should have ended there. 

Unfortunately, it was then taken out of SFL hands and was appealed to the SFA.  Where it was decided on by a panel of three people with no SFL affiliation.  It seems crazy to me that a decision was being made on an SFL club by a group of people who have nothing to do with the SFL.  Fortunately, the decision was made by that panel to uphold the original decision and we can finally put this circus to an end. 

My favorite part of this whole problem was after the original decision was made, John Robertson, in his article in the paper couldn't understand why Livingston had been relegated to the third division.  In his opinion they were there on football merit.  Now, again if you thought they shouldn't be sent down to the third and instead were handed a significant points deduction that would be fine.  There were arguments for both.  But to say that they were there on football merit is laughable.  Anyone can go out and sign players on wages that can't be paid without withholding payment to other creditors.  It's not purely what is done on a Saturday that makes up a football club.  

During this whole fiasco,  "football people" or "football minded people" came up an awful lot.  I hear these terms all the time and find it quite amusing that a guy is excused for all sins from those within football because he is a "football man".  In the press, Jim McInally took shots at David Longmuir and David Thomson.  They weren't up to his standard because they weren't "football people".  I've got news for him and others who think like him.  "Football People" got us into this mess that we know as Scottish football in the first place.  Just because you were once a player doesn't mean that you are capable of running an organization or being an administrator. 

"Football People" split the league into four divisions with 42 teams run by two organizations and had us play each other four times a season.  The top tier play each other three times and then split into two groups.  At that point some teams may end up being the home or away team three times instead of twice.  Also, a team from the lower tier may end up higher than a team from the top tier.  It must have been a committee that thought that one up.  No one person could possibly come up with that hare-brained scheme. 

I'm always wary of anyone who is introduced to me as a real "football man" and football has been run for too long by people with attitudes like that.  David Longmuir has come into a struggling organization and made an immediate impact by signing IRN BRU up to a three year sponsorship deal.  What a perfect partnership.  I can't think of another company that could be a better fit.   

I hope that the good work that he has done to improve the organization so far hasn't been completely undone by the actions of one club.  I also hope that the massive amounts of money that had to be spent by the SFL on lawyers to defend against Livingston's appeal can be recovered back from Livingston, so that when the finances are done at the end of this season and each club receives their share, it is not at a large decrease because one club refused to play by the rules.

 

1st Sept 2009

Okay, here we go. I have never been a blogger and rarely read any blogs, so bear with me if the format is not what most people are used to. The idea behind this section of our website is to give supporters and others some insight into what those running the club are thinking about and our thoughts on the game in Scotland.

If you have any comment or would like me to cover something specific that you have questions about, please e-mail the club with "Chairman's Blog" in the subject line. I can't promise that I will address it directly in the blog, but I will attempt to respond to any reasonable queries. I won't be addressing any player or manager issues.

I am trying to keep this section fairly informal and will try to include comment on things that aren't suitable for the news section. It's meant to be a positive thing and hopefully it will be received that way. I don't really know where to start, but upcoming topics will probably include:

* Ayr United's club structure
* Youth football
* Stadium
* League Structure
* Three organizations
* Self preservation and why it's killing Scottish football
* Centenary celebrations
* Fan's forums
* Livingston and the effect it has on the SFL


Again, I'm not really sure what form this is going to take, so hang in there while I work out what I am doing and we'll let this section grow. I am going to try and update at least once a week, but I can't guarantee it.

Another thing. I have finally succumbed to pressure from Calum and Ayr United will be on Twitter within the week. I can't believe that I am going to get involved with Twitter, but I also can't believe that I played cricket yesterday and actually enjoyed it. A year ago I would have told you that I would rather support Kilmarnock than play cricket. Times have changed!


Lachlan Cameron