KILLIE HIPPO AN UNOFFICIAL KILLIE FANZINE AUGUST 2021
OLI, OLI, OLI,OLI……
• CHECK OUT OUR RIVALS • COVID + THE FUTURE OF FOOTBALL • CATHY’S UPDATE
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CONTACT E-MAIL : Killiehippo@aol.com NO ARTICLES TO BE REPRODUCED WITHOUT PERMISSION BACK ISSUES 2–204 INCLUSIVE AVAILABLE All views expressed are those of the contributors
SHOOTING FROM THE HIPPO It’s been a decent start to the 1st team in Ayrshire as we sit near the top of the table and make progress in the diddy cup by beating Falkirk. It’s also a decent start for the county’s second team as they have just beat rivals Cumnock 3 – 2 and are top of the WOS league. Ayrshire’s 3rd team under the ownership of John Gall are on a sticky run but have spent a fortune and will come good. Meanwhile the 4th team in the shire are bottom of the Championship….the natural order I believe it is called. Welcome to the latest issue of the world famous (if the world ends at Hurlford) fanzine that puts fans and cholesterol first. It was lovely to get back to a “normal” game at the Theatre of Pies as 5000 fans returned to see if Killie could maintain their unbeaten league start. Sadly the result went against us but I couldn’t help but smile after the game as we trooped out the ground……even the Rugby Road gates were open again!! With such a massive change in the squad I fully expected a slow start to the season as is normal for us. It was reasonable to expect that the squad will take a bit of time to gel however it’s a bonus that we have started so well. The Inverness game was a reality check for us and it was no surprise that they booted everything that moved then defended for their lives. I’ve seen some comments from fans on social media who seem to think we will coast the league, I’m sorry but they need their heads examined. The Championship will be a massive battle from start to finish though I’m confident the manager will be drumming this into the player’s heads…..absolutely no place for complacency at any time in the season. We have another tough month coming up especially successive away games at Arbroath and Partick. Both teams will be bursting a gut to beat “the big team” in the league and if we get six points out those two games it would be a massive statement that we are up for the scrap. It was a surprise to everyone when we signed Lee Hodson again but it gives us great competition in the right back spot. I like Naismith but I thought his performance level dipped in a couple of recent games so the new arrival will keep him on his toes. It seems we are still able to bring in loan signings until the end of September so I wouldn’t be surprised if we see another new face, perhaps striker or creative midfielder. Thanks to everyone contributing to the defibrillator appeal and we have a couple of fundraising ideas that we will publicise shortly. I had a good meeting with Cathy last week so the defibrillators will go to the club maybe the youth or women’s teams may benefit. If you would like to contribute email me at killiehippo@aol.com Sandy
DEFIBRILLATOR APPEAL Even if Scotland were ultimately a disappointment at the Euros it was a decent tournament and I was delighted that it was won by the Italians who I want to win if Scotland don’t! Can you imagine the incessant verbal diarrhoea from Lineker and his overpaid chums if that lot had won. In all honesty they have had everything in their favour both this summer and in the last World Cup so I look forward to their next spectacular failure in Qatar…..which reminds me I need to start my Xmas shopping!! I digress, the image on the front page of this issue is without doubt my lasting memory of Euro 2020. I was just sitting watching it myself on TV and I can honestly say it’s one of the most distressing things I’ve ever seen not helped by the poor choice of the director to try and focus in on every single moment of grief with the player, his teammates and Erikson’s family. It was heartbreaking and I’m amazed that less than two hours later the team were back on the pitch to finish the game. I don’t need to remind you that we’ve had more than our fair shares of tragedy at Killie games and on a couple of occasions I’ve known the Killie fans that passed away. It all highlights the importance of having defibrillators close at hand whether you are watching a sporting event, playing sport, going shopping, walking down the street or just about anything you care to mention. Having watch the whole Christian Eriksen incident I thought it would be good if we tried to raise funds for a defibrillator. The plan was to do it during the season through the fanzine but incredibly fans were wanting to donate straight away and at the time of writing we have the amazing sum of £925. The target is £1500 (incl. secure cabinet) so if you want to donate in any way please email me at killiehippo@aol.com. I’ve spoken to Nina McGinley who works in the NHS and is also willing to give CPR classes…..details in next issue. We are also speaking to the club with a view to finding a suitable location…..thanks to you all.
CHECKING OUT OUR RIVALS Every season in one of our early editions we like a run through all the other wallopers in the league and give a brief and highly uneducated opinion on how they will fare. This is not to be confused with our “beat the bookies” feature which has lost us and our loyal readers countless millions over the years……I honestly state that we are not heavily sponsored by Ladbrokes to mislead our faithful public. Anyway for over 20 years we have been rattling on about the misery of attending outdoor toilets like Ibrox and Parkhead so it is an absolute privilege this season to be able to look forward to visiting the salubrious elegance of Gayfield and Scumerset …..smokies and crack cocaine being the local delicacies. We did predict for 20 years that Killie would win the top league but due to circumstances outwith our control, we narrowly missed out on each occasion, last season we just missed by 11 places. This year I won’t be predicting a Killie win as it is would simply be tempting fate. I remember the 80’s when we jumped about divisions and even when we got promoted it was always as runners up, the last time we won the second tier was 1898 – 1899, just the year before I was born. So what do we face this season and where are the biggest dangers coming from? I’d say we are probably the biggest dangers to ourselves but make no mistake this is a mighty tough league and the record of teams coming straight back up is shocking. The Inverness game last week is the perfect example of what we can expect, teams being anti football and doing what they can to get a result…..it most certainly won’t be pretty to watch. Ultimately it will be down to our management and players to have the right attitude and desire in each and every game. The ability to battle is every bit as important as having the technical ability in this league and I’, sure the manager knows that and will be drilling that mentality into them constantly. So here goes a rundown on the other 9 Killie haters:
Arbroath In: Liam Henderson, defender (Edinburgh City); Calum Antell, goalkeeper (Edinburgh City); Nicky Low, midfielder (East Stirlingshire, loan to permanent); Dylan Paterson, midfielder (Bo'ness United). Loan: Chris Hamilton, defender (Heart of Midlothian); Joel Nouble, forward (Livingston); Harrison Clark, midfielder (Livingston); Anton Dowds, forward (Falkirk). Out: Mark Whatley, midfielder (Montrose); Scott Gallacher, goalkeeper (East Fife); Kris Doolan, forward. Loan ended: Jack Hamilton, forward (Livingston); Ben Williamson, midfielder (Rangers); Lewis Moore, midfielder (Heart Of Midlothian); Carlo Pignatiello, defender (Livingston); Calum Smith, forward (Berwick Rangers). Manager – Dick Campbell Did you know that Arbroath do not have a board of directors who put money into the club? They simply have a swear box in the home dressing room and Dick Campbell contributes a six figure sum every month. I once saw DC at an after dinner event and he was very entertaining but I wouldn’t like to be an Arbroath players trooping into the dressing room after a 6 – 0 defeat. In all honesty the manager has done a fantastic job up there on limited resources and Killie will face a mighty tough Friday night up there later this month. They have just gubbed the Pars away and the jags at home so will give anyone a game on their day. It may well be that injuries in winter could affect a fairly small squad but they can never be treated lightly and I don’t think they will be relegated. Along with my boozehound chums (minibus was full within an hour of the fixture change being announced) I can’t wait for a Friday night in the middle of the North Sea with my wobblies getting frozen off whilst munching some smokies and Bovril…..that’s what football is all about, bring it on.
Ayr United In: Nick McAllister, defender (St Mirren); Daire O'Connor, midfielder (Cliftonville); Sean McGinty, defender (Greenock Morton); Markus Fjørtoft, defender (Greenock Morton); Cameron Salkeld, midfielder (Greenock Morton); Aidan McAdams, goalkeeper (Greenock Morton); Tomi Adeloye, forward (Barnet); Charlie Albinson, goalkeeper (Warrington Town).
Loan: Jonathan Afolabi, forward (Celtic); James Maxwell, defender (Rangers). Out: Luke McCowan, midfielder (Dundee); Sam Roscoe, defender (Linfield); Dario Zanatta, forward (Raith Rovers); Tom Walsh, midfielder (Inverness Caledonian Thistle); Josh Todd, midfielder (Queen of the South); Craig Moore, forward (Darvel); Nathan Baird, defender (Cumnock); Andre Wright, forward; Liam Miller, midfielder. Loan ended: Jamie Barjonas, midfielder (Rangers); Peter Urminsky, goalkeeper (St Mirren); PJ Morrison, goalkeeper (Motherwell); Corrie Ndaba, defender (Ipswich Town); Josh Todd, midfielder (Falkirk). Loan: Paul Smith, forward (Cumnock). One interesting name in their list of “outs” is Andre Wright who was the striker who came over from Ireland and was training with us before signing with them in January. We definitely dodged a bullet as he did hee haw for a few games then was injured the rest of the time. The opening game against them was a tame affair as derbies go mainly because they were absolutely mince. I thought they would “do an Inverness” and kick everything that moved but much like the 2012 semi final they decided on a “park the bus” job. It was a comfortable and very satisfying win for Killie and the only scary moment for Killie fans was when the cameras gave a close up of their manager’s coupon!! As regular readers know we always give a very well balanced subjective view on all our rivals so I’ll predict this mob will finish bottom and plunge towards becoming the 4th best team in the county. My wee A** chum in the work is already fed up with the manager and his signings and if there is not a quick improvement in the next month we could be looking at the first managerial casualty in the league……..oh well he can always go back to the male modelling!! DUNFERMLINE In: Peter Grant, manager (Alloa Athletic); Graham Dorrans, midfielder (Western Sydney Wanderers); Rhys Breen, defender (Rangers, undisclosed); Deniz Mehmet, goalkeeper (Dundee United); Craig Wighton, forward (Heart of Midlothian, loan to permanent); Reece Cole, midfielder (Queens Park Rangers); Nikolay Todorov, forward (Inverness Caledonian Thistle); Dan Pybus, midfielder (Queen of the South); Fraser Currid, goalkeeper (Alloa Athletic); Leon Jones, defender (Kentucky Wildcats).
Loan: Kai Kennedy, midfielder (Rangers); Ross Graham, defender (Dundee United). Out: Stevie Crawford, manager; Euan Murray, defender (Kilmarnock); Declan McManus, forward (The New Saints, £60,000); Kyle Turner, midfielder (Partick Thistle); Gabby McGill, forward (Airdrieonians); Cammy Gill, goalkeeper (Cowdenbeath); Steven Whittaker, midfielder (retired); Lucas Berry, midfielder; Ben Swinton, goalkeeper; Scott Cusick, midfielder. Loan ended: Ewan Henderson, midfielder (Celtic); Kerr McInroy, midfielder (Celtic); Lewis Mayo, defender (Rangers); Fraser Murray, midfielder (Hibernian); Scott Banks, midfielder (Crystal Palace). Loan: Fraser Currid, goalkeeper (Bo'ness Athletic). In terms of Killie related stuff Fraser Murray was there last season before heading to the home of football and we also signed Ewan Murray who has made a solid start to the season in the heart of our defence. It was a busy summer for the Pars with loads of comings and goings but at the time of writing they have made a poor start and find themselves propping up the table. Stevie Crawford was the previous boss but his time was up and he was bumped by the impatient board. Dunfermline have German owners who have been increasing their stake in the club and the feeling was they would be pumping money into the club this summer. They have made decent looking signings with the likes of Graham Dorrans, Wighton from Hearts and Todorov from Inverness however they haven’t hit the ground running. Eyebrows were raised when Peter Grant was appointed as boss having previously being at Alloa. The former Celtic midfielder has served his time around the place but the Pars fans aren’t too happy just now and he could be in a ”sack race” with Hopkins at scumville. Whatever happens they need to improve fast as they were one of the close season fancies for the title.
Greenock Morton In: Alan Lithgow, defender (Livingston); Mark Russell, midfielder (Finn Harps); Jack Hamilton, goalkeeper (Dundee); Gozie Ugwu, forward (Raith Rovers). Loan: Jaakko Oksanen, midfielder (Brentford); Gavin Reilly, forward (Livingston); Oisin McEntee, defender (Newcastle United); Tom Allan, midfielder (Newcastle United); Jimmy Knowles, forward (Mansfield Town).
Out: Sean McGinty, defender (Ayr United); Markus Fjørtoft, defender (Ayr United); Cameron Salkeld, midfielder (Ayr United); Aidan McAdams, goalkeeper (Ayr United); Aidan Nesbitt, midfielder (Falkirk); Craig McGuffie, midfielder (Falkirk); Kalvin Orsi, midfielder (Dumbarton); Rabin Omar, midfielder (Stirling Albion); Chris Millar, midfielder (East Kilbride); Shaun Rodgers, midfielder (East Kilbride); James Wallace, forward (Brora Rangers); Justin Johnson, midfielder; Jamie Butler, goalkeeper; Ben Docherty, defender. Loan ended: Kazaiah Sterling, forward (Tottenham Hotspur); Stephen McGinn, midfielder (Hibernian); Scott Fox, goalkeeper (Motherwell). Loan: Aidan Duffy, midfielder (Gretna 2008); Chris Stafford, defender (Cumnock); John Gallacher, midfielder (Kilbirnie Ladeside). Former Killie fave Gus McPherson is the man in charge at Greenock and I suspect he will have his work cut out this time around. There have been reported financial worries over the last year or two and Gus won’t have the biggest budget to work with. The other Killie connection at Morton is Shortlees star Robbie Muirhead who recently signed a new contract. They also took Gavin Reilly on loan who was rumoured to be a Killie target as well. We played them at RP in the League Cup and they put in a decent performance with Ugwu causing our defence a bit of trouble. Their league campaign has been a bit of a mixed bag so far and they head once again to the home of football this Saturday where we will hopefully witness an impressive home win. I think it is going to be a long hard season for the Ton and if I was fan I’d settle for survival right now.
Hamilton Academical In: Stuart Taylor, head coach (unattached); Miko Virtanen, midfielder (Aberdeen, undisclosed); Matthew Shiels, defender (Rangers); Kieran MacDonald, defender (Raith Rovers, undisclosed); Lewis Spence, midfielder (Scunthorpe United, undisclosed); Andy Ryan, forward (Stirling Albion, undisclosed). Loan: Luke Matheson, defender (Wolverhampton Wanderers); Josh Mullin, forward (Livingston); Mihai Popescu, defender (Heart of Midlothian); Joe Hilton, goalkeeper (Blackburn Rovers). Out: Brian Rice, head coach; Scott McMann, defender (Dundee United, undisclosed); Ross Callachan, midfielder (Ross County); Hakeem Odoffin, midfielder (Rotherham United, undisclosed); Marios Ogkmpoe, forward (Larissa); Aaron Martin, defender (Port Vale); Callum Smith, forward (Airdrieonians);
Kyle Gourlay, goalkeeper (Cove Rangers); Sean Slaven, forward (Broomhill); Nathan Thomas, midfielder; Charlie Trafford, midfielder; Ryan Scully, goalkeeper. Loan ended: Bruce Anderson, forward (Aberdeen); Lee Hodson, defender (Gillingham). Loan: Jamie Smith, goalkeeper (Broomhill); Fergus Owens, defender (Clydebank); Jack Garrard, midfielder (Blackburn United). Having watched and despised Time Waste FC for years I was delighted to see them get relegated……only for us to follow them!! They had performed minor miracles to survive for so long in the Premiership and regularly made us look daft as we tipped them for the drop every year…..at least I got one prediction correct last summer. Their excellent youth set up sees them produce young players on a regular basis and that’s the way they will go again this time around blended with some experience. The resignation of Brian Rice came out the blue and new boss was announced the day before Killie travelled to Gazebo Central. I was praying there would be no new manager bounce and thankfully we had a fairly comfortable win. The new boss got a good away win at Dumfries the next week so perhaps he will inspire them to challenging in the play off places….time will tell. I’ve learned never to write off Hamilton as they seem to thrive on the underdo tag but I reckon they will be around mid table though maybe sneaking into a play off.
Inverness Caledonian Thistle In: Billy Dodds, manager; Billy Mckay, forward (Ross County); Michael Gardyne, forward (Ross County); Kirk Broadfoot, defender (Kilmarnock); Tom Walsh, midfielder (Ayr United); Manny Duku, forward (Raith Rovers). Loan: Reece McAlear, midfielder (Norwich City); Lewis Jamieson, forward (St Mirren). Out: Neil McCann, interim manager; Daniel MacKay (Hibernian, undisclosed); James Keatings, forward (Raith Rovers); Nikolay Todorov, forward (Dunfermline Athletic); Brad McKay, defender (Falkirk); Lewis Toshney, defender (Edinburgh City); James Vincent, midfielder (Hereford); Miles Storey, forward (Hereford); Shane Harkness, midfielder (Rothes); Kevin McHattie, defender; Martin MacKinnon, goalkeeper.
Loan ended: Scott Allan, midfielder (Hibernian); Arron Lyle, midfielder (Rangers). Loan: Harry Nicolson, defender (Elgin City); Aly Riddle, midfielder (Brora Rangers); Harry Hennem, midfielder (Brora Rangers); Ryan Fyffe, defender (Nairn County); Ethan Cairns, forward (Strathspey Thistle); Robbie Thompson, midfielder (Clachnacuddin); Lewis Nicolson, defender (Clachnacuddin). Before the season started I thought this mob would be well there when the prizes were being dished out and their unbeaten start to the season certainly indicates they are heading in the right direction. Whenever we played them in the past they were a big physical anti-football team who were always hard to play against and hard to beat. Nothing has changed and although it might make your eyes bleed their style of play is looking effective this season. New boss Billy Dodds is a fud among fuds but ICT fans will not care a jot if he can keep grinding out 1 – 0 wins all year. Broadfoot is at the heart of their defence, understandable as he wanted to stay local for his family……dafty.com. Not many teams have a good record at Inverness, apart from Inverness, so I fully expect them to be in the upper reaches throughout the season. In the tipping stakes I’m refusing to tip Killie so I reckon this lot may just sneak it.
Kilmarnock In: Oli Shaw, forward (Ross County, undisclosed); Scott Robinson, forward (Livingston); Liam Polworth, midfielder (Motherwell); Stephen McGinn, midfielder (Hibernian); Jason Naismith, defender (Ross County); Fraser Murray, midfielder (Hibernian); Dylan McGowan, defender (Western Sydney Wanderers); Sam Walker, goalkeeper (Reading); Brad Lyons, midfielder (Blackburn Rovers); Colin Doyle, goalkeeper (Heart of Midlothian); Euan Murray, defender (Dunfermline Athletic); Jack Sanders, defender (Wigan Athletic); Daniel Armstrong, midfielder (Raith Rovers); Blair Alston, midfielder (Falkirk); Chris Stokes, defender (Forest Green Rovers). Loan: Zach Hemming, goalkeeper (Middlesbrough); Rumarn Burrell, forward (Middlesbrough). Out: Kyle Lafferty, forward (Anorthosis Famagusta); Youssouf Mulumbu, midfielder (Saint Eloi); Eamonn Brophy, forward (St Mirren, loan to permanent); Greg Kiltie, forward (St Mirren); Gary Dicker, midfielder (Brighton & Hove Albion); Aaron Tshibola, midfielder (Genclerbirligi); Kirk Broadfoot, defender (Inverness Caledonian Thistle); Mitch Pinnock, midfielder (Northampton Town); Nicke Kabamba, forward (Northampton Town); Clevid Dikamona, defender (Caen); Ross Millen, defender (Scunthorpe United);
Aaron McGowan, defender (Northampton Town); George Oakley, forward (Woking); Craig Ross, defender (Stranraer); Josh Rennie, forward (Stranraer); Danny Rogers, goalkeeper; Diaguely Dabo, midfielder; Danny Whitehall, forward; Ally Taylor, midfielder. Loan ended: Zech Medley, defender (Arsenal); Zeno Ibsen Rossi, defender (Bournemouth); Colin Doyle, goalkeeper (Heart of Midlothian); Brandon Pierrick, midfielder (Crystal Palace). Loan: Kirk McKnight, forward (Dumbarton); Curtis Lyle, goalkeeper (Stranraer); Ross Smith, midfielder (Stranraer); Jon Craig, defender (Stenhousemuir); Harry Broun, goalkeeper (Caledonian Braves). We need a full page to show all our transfer activity so it’s easy to see that TW has been working his arse off to get the right players in who can get us back up in one season. As we said before it was always going to be a clear out regardless of the league we were in so the fact we have made a decent start to the season with so many new players can only be a good thing. We now have two keepers that appear to be a massive improvement on last season, if either had been there we wouldn’t have gone down in the first place. With the exception of the left back position it’s a brand new defence and Murray has looked vert decent at the heart of the defence. It was sad to see Stokes get a nasty injury at Easter Road but we have cover with Sanders and McGowan although I’m not sure the latter is a natural in the centre back area. McGinn is doing well in the holding role in midfield with Alston and Polworth in front of him. If there is one other player I’d like to see it would be a creative midfield type…..is Eremenko still looking after himself? In all honesty it isn’t easy to attract quality players to the Championship but TW has plenty of contacts and is apparently still looking around the loan options as we can still do loan business until the end of September. The world and their granny knew we needed a striker so it was good to see Oli Shaw arrive on the last day of the transfer window. He is a player we tried to sign before at the time he chose to go to Ross County. He is a player with a good attitude and a reasonable scoring record at the higher lever so here’s hoping he can do a job in the second tier. Robinson was another who picked up an unfortunate injury but it doesn’t seem too serious and hopefully we’ll see him against Morton on Saturday. Lee Hodson has now been added and I think we will still see someone else later this month. I’m making no rash predictions as it’s going to be a very tough campaign but lets all stick behind the team and see how we get on.
Partick Thistle In: Kevin Holt, defender (Ermis Aradippou); Tunji Akinola, defender (West Ham United); Scott Tiffoney, (Livingston, loan to permanent); Ross MacIver, forward (Motherwell, loan to permanent); Kyle Turner, midfielder (Dunfermline Athletic); Cammy Smith, forward (Indy Eleven); Steven Bell, defender (East Kilbride, loan to permanent). Loan: Jake Hastie, midfielder (Rangers); Lewis Mayo, defender (Rangers); Harry Stone, goalkeeper (Heart of Midlothian). Out: James Penrice, defender (Livingston); Ryan Williamson, defender (Falkirk); Joe Cardle, midfielder (Kelty Hearts); Tam O'Ware, defender (Kelty Hearts); Charlie Reilly, midfielder (Albion Rovers); Luke Scullion, goalkeeper (Stranraer). Loan ended: Salim Kouider-Aissa, forward (Livingston); Kieran Wright, goalkeeper (Rangers); Andy Geggan, defender (BSC Glasgow); Chris Erskine, midfielder (East Kilbride). Loan: Blair Lyons, midfielder (Montrose); Mouhamed Niang, midfielder (Alloa Athletic); James Lyon, midfielder (Stenhousemuir); Billy Owens, midfielder (East Kilbride); Mason McCready, goalkeeper (Gala Fairydean Rovers). The Jags made hard work of getting out the third tier but having got promoted there is a feeling they can make an immediate impact in the Championship. They have made a good start to the season and Killie travel there in a couple of weeks in what will be a good indication of how they will fare. The fans are well known for hating Killie so there is always a bit of spice when both teams meet up. Their manager is a gobby ex ex scum lad as well so the boozehounds are looking forward to a day out on the train to Maryhill. As far as the season goes I can see the Harry Wraggs maintaining their good start and I can see them being involved in the play offs. QUEEN OF THE SOUTH In: Harry Cochrane, midfielder (Heart of Midlothian, undisclosed); Udoka Chima, defender (Burnley); Lee Connelly, forward (Sunderland); Josh Todd, midfielder (Ayr United); Roberto Nditi, defender (Forfar Athletic); Ally Roy, forward (Airdrieonians); Paul McKay, defender (Airdrieonians); Josh Rae, goalkeeper (Peterhead); Ruari Paton, forward (Stranraer, undisclosed); Ruben SoaresJunior, forward (Billericay Town); Alex Cooper, defender (Sligo Rovers); Josh Debayo, defender (Wealdstone); Alex Cooper, midfielder (unattached).
Loan: Sol Brynn, goalkeeper (Middlesbrough); Ben Liddle, midfielder (Bristol Rovers). Out: Ayo Obileye, defender (Livingston); Connor Shields, forward (Motherwell); Rohan Ferguson, goalkeeper (Larne); Dan Pybus, midfielder (Dunfermline Athletic); Stephen Dobbie, forward (Fylde); Gregor Buchanan, defender (Dumbarton); Rhys McCabe, midfielder (Airdrieonians); Joe McKee, midfielder (Dumbarton); Tommy Goss, forward (Annan Athletic); Nortei Nortey, midfielder; Jack Leighfield, goalkeeper. Loan ended: Dapo Mebude, forward (Rangers); James Maxwell, defender (Rangers); Ciaran Dickson, midfielder (Rangers); Rhys Breen, defender (Rangers); Aidan Fitzpatrick, midfielder (Norwich City); Isaiah Jones, midfielder (Middlesbrough). Loan: Ryan Muir, midfielder (Dalbeattie Star); Connor Potts, midfielder (Dalbeattie Star). Having lost talisman Stephen Dobbie the Doonhamers have had a rebuild job so they may be one of the teams who take a month or two to find their feet. We had a fantastic day on the day train to Dumfries last month and you can’t beat a last minute winner. It was a very tough game all the same and we may look back on that as an excellent three points. They are a team who seem to blow hot and cold but I don’t see them threatening at the top end of the table. They are generally hard to beat on their own patch but the fact they have already been beaten at home to Killie and Accies may be a bad sign of what lies ahead. Former Killie boss Allan Johnston is back at the helm in Dumfries but may have a ropey time, I fancy they will be bottom half without being relegation threatened.
Raith Rovers In: Christophe Berra, defender (Heart Of Midlothian); James Keatings, forward (Inverness Caledonian Thistle); Dario Zanatta, forward (Ayr United); Liam Dick, defender (Alloa Athletic); Aidan Connolly, midfielder (Falkirk); Tom Lang, defender (Clyde); Blaise Riley-Snow, midfielder (Universidad Alicante); Kieran Mitchell, midfielder (Fife Elite); Greig Young, defender (Fife Elite). Loan: Matej Poplatnik, forward (Livingston); Kai Fotheringham, forward (Dundee United); Dylan Tait, midfielder (Hibernian); Ethon Varian, forward (Stoke City). Out: Dylan Tait, midfielder (Hibernian, undisclosed); Kieran MacDonald, defender (Hamilton Academical, undisclosed);
Manny Duku, forward (Inverness Caledonian Thistle); Dan Armstrong, midfielder (Kilmarnock); Gozie Ugwu, forward (Greenock Morton); Regan Hendry, midfielder (Forest Green Rovers); Fernandy Mendy, defender (Alloa Athletic); Iain Davidson, defender (Brechin City); David McGurn, goalkeeper (Cowdenbeath); Jack Smith, forward (Dundonald Bluebell). Loan ended: Timmy Abraham (Fulham); Kai Kennedy, midfielder (Rangers); Adam King, midfielder (Dundee United); Jamie Gullan, forward (Hibernian); Nathan Cooney, defender (Dundee United). Loan: Luke Mahady, forward (Cowdenbeath); Quinn Coulson, midfielder (Cowdenbeath). Raith were excellent last season and only lost out in the play offs. Unlike most teams in the league they like the ball on the ground and some even said they played too much football last season if that is possible. Manager John McGlynn is doing a good job in Kirkcaldy as last year was only their first year back up in the Championship. Danny Armstrong joined Killie from Raith and has made a quiet start to his Killie career although by all accounts he had an excellent season last year with Raith. It’s going to be difficult for McGlynn to repeat last season’s high finish and their league campaign has been iffy but they had a fantastic result when knocking Aberdeen out the League Cup. I don’t think they will have enough to win the league but once they find their feet I can see another enjoyable season for the Raith fans. I’m looking forward to seeing them when they visit the home of football next month and whatever happens it may well be another play off challenge for McGlynn and his troops. >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
COVID + THE FUTURE OF FOOTBALL We are about 18 months into this horrible pandemic (I still find it hard to believe this was all started by one wee Chinese guy eating a bat) and the impact on our lives remains huge. Football is not exempt from being affected and only this weekend Dunfermline have had to give up a fixture due to a Covid outbreak. Killie have been fairly badly impacted as well and who knows if this virus is going to negatively influence our national sport for years to come. We came across this article on t’internet looking at the worldwide financial situation in the sport and what might happen in the future: •
During the decade that preceded the COVID-19 crisis, football in Europe enjoyed a continuous increase in revenues.
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The crisis has put stress on football governance by raising the question of how to share the wealth created in a sector that is no longer growing.
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Significant disparities between clubs have also worsened during the ongoing outbreak of coronavirus.
The consequences of COVID-19 have led to a considerable crisis for football, with matches suspended or cancelled and major events like the UEFA Euro 2020 postponed. For more than a year, the revenues of European clubs have been significantly affected by the absence of fans in stadiums and by smaller TV audiences. In France, the withdrawal of Mediapro, which held the broadcasting rights for Ligue 1 and Ligue 2, deprived the clubs of a significant share of their revenue.
The 'big five' leagues had to face rights payment deferrals and grant rebates to broadcasters, with England’s Premier League recently agreeing to roll over its existing television deal after seeing its revenue fall – for the first time ever – to cause the largest pre-tax loss in its history. To cope with this, European clubs took on a massive amount of debt and their ability to repay this debt remains uncertain. More fundamentally, the value of football and its attractiveness are now the subject of debate in a context where stadiums have been empty for 15 months. During the decade that preceded the crisis, football in Europe enjoyed a very substantial increase in its revenues (average annual revenue growth of 8.2% over the last 20 years). In the five major European championships, the value of broadcasting rights increased with every call for tenders; they now represent the largest part of the clubs’ revenues. Other revenues such as sponsoring or ticket sales have also increased, but not as much and have mainly benefitted the big European clubs. The first paradox is that this growth in revenues has not resulted in a significant improvement in the clubs’ financial performance. The main reason for this is that the clubs’ first priority is to manage the sportrelated risk. In order to enjoy future growth in revenue, a club must remain competitive and ensure that it is not demoted to a lower division. This means recruiting the best players (who are by definition rare assets) and paying the costs of transfers and higher salaries. At least in the short term, the new revenues will not offset these costs. In the “arms race” that the clubs have engaged in over the past two decades, it is the players and agents who have captured the lion’s share of the industry’s income. In these circumstances, some clubs have done very well and made significant capital gains. But these gains depend on the club’s performance in the sport and are also linked to the capacity of the richest clubs to buy players. Now, because of the COVID crisis, these clubs may no longer be interested in buying or may focus on the most talented young players.
Image: UEFA
Structurally, football clubs generate little or no cash flows and their equity is limited. At best, as was the case before the COVID crisis, the best-managed clubs made no (or few) losses. This does not exclude the possibility of creating value for investors, but that is predicated on industry revenues growing. If the clubs’ revenues are growing, investors may assume that, in the long term, they will get a share of this growth and that they will be in a position to benefit from greater media coverage of football, even though most of the value is captured by the players. From this point of view, the COVID crisis has put a spanner in the works and it will take several years to return to pre-crisis levels (not forgetting the question of whether all clubs will benefit from this recovery). Meanwhile, investors who had bet on continued growth have lost their bet in the short term and probably in the medium term too.
At the moment, little information has come through on how the investment funds that own the clubs will behave. Will they take the clubs into bankruptcy because their initial investment has been lost? The answer will probably depend on the conditions that governments set up to manage the repayment and/or conversion of the COVID debt into a 'bearable' financial liability. The COVID crisis also raises the question of football governance, which currently operates at several different levels. Football is structured in a pyramid with FIFA at the summit, then the continental confederations like UEFA, and then national associations and leagues. The paradox of this governance structure is that all of its actors cooperate but also compete with each other to organise competitions. For example, UEFA’s development of the Champions League may be done to the detriment of national championships. Moreover, first division championships contribute to financing amateur clubs. The football economy is thus intricately linked to the attractiveness of the professional clubs. The COVID crisis has put stress on this organisation and governance by raising the question of how to share the wealth created in a sector that is no longer growing. The recent attempt to create a closed league (the European Super League) reflects the desire of a few European clubs to redefine the conditions for sharing this wealth. This challenge to the system would have had consequences for the entire industry and that is why national governments, UEFA and most of the football ecosystem opposed it. But does that mean the governance of football is unchangeable? Because football is globalised, its governance operates at the supranational and national levels. Changing its governance would therefore require a common political will, at least at the European level. But the globalisation of football has allowed the entrance of shareholders whose interests do not converge. For example, while financial investors seek a return on equity, state shareholders are motivated by the soft power of football and maximum media coverage. In this context, it is very difficult to transform the governance of football.
The COVID crisis has exacerbated the tensions and structural problems of football, that is, its low profitability and significant disparities between clubs. In the short term, the crisis has disrupted the strategies of investors who had bet on continued growth in the sector and capital gains (player transfers, etc.). The crisis may also cause some clubs to restructure or even to disappear altogether. We sketch out several scenarios for the future of football: 'status quo' (there is no major change in the football industry), 'bankruptcy' (many clubs go bankrupt and the attractivity of football declines), or 'rupture' (the structure of the industry is called into question: new regulations, new competitions, etc.). In a sense, these three scenarios are still completely relevant, because the consequences of the COVID crisis are still uncertain. In a few months, it is likely, however, that one of these three scenarios will prevail.
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CATHY’S AUGUST UPDATE Dear Killie Trust member, Writing this report just after the home match against Inverness Caley Thistle highlights once again the roller coaster that is the life of a Killie fan! After winning the opening three league matches, which Club Historian John Livingston tells us has only happened three times, the most recent being 1964/65, it was disappointing to lose in the top of the table clash. In his post-match interview, Manager Tommy Wright gave an honest and forthright view of the performance and made clear his desire to return to winning ways as quickly as possible. Attendance at the match was 5,004, with a small but vocal away support. Thanks to all our fans who came along and for the fantastic away support we have taken to Queen of the South and Hamilton, and the cup clash against Hibs. Prior to the match, there was a minute’s applause to remember those we have lost during the pandemic and to recognise and thank NHS and all key workers who have supported our communities through tough times. The suggestion to do this came from fans, and Club was happy to help make it happen.
Covid and stadium update After a series of discussions and inspections, East Ayrshire Council authorised a stadium capacity of 14,743 fans. Although wider Covid restrictions have been relaxed, the Club is still required to operate with various restrictions, including social distancing, and a “Red Zone” as far as players and staff are concerned. Due to the impact of the Red Zone in Frank Beattie stand, and ongoing works in the Moffat Stand, a number of supporters had to be relocated from their usual seats and the Club is grateful to them for their understanding. Thanks to the Killie Trust volunteers who once again stepped up to help prepare the stadium for the match, by removing the seat stickers which were required for the Ayr match, and putting in place season ticket holder ‘reserved’ stickers. Billy Bowie continues to lead on stadium developments including the installation of the new disabled area and hopes to have further work undertaken in the next month.
The prefabricated units behind the Moffat Stand will provide additional facilities for players to use allowing the 1869 Suite - which is currently used for players meals etc to allow for social distancing - to be available for hospitality and external event bookings again. With the new Killie superstore now open and fully operational, work is progressing on the adjacent area, which will house a small museum / exhibition area. Plans are in place to have a formal opening of the memorial garden which is almost fully completed.
Football Department and Youth Academy The Manager and Head of Football Operations have continued to work on the squad, bringing in Oli Shaw from Ross County. It had been hoped to bring in another player but this was not possible ahead of the transfer deadline. The Manager will continue to look at options to use the loan market, with a further few weeks available to do that. More young players have gone out on loan, to give them opportunities for game time, and it will be good to follow their progress. As Head of Football Operations, James Fowler is overseeing the work relating to the future format of Youth Academy, and how there can be improved pathways for players through to first team. The Board met with James to discuss best way forward and Phyllis McLeish is leading on progressing work with James on future finances of the Academy and how to create a long-term, sustainable structure.
I met with James and Women’s First Team Head Coach, Andy Gardner, to discuss likely future requirements for the team, and how we can work with the Killie Trust to develop a volunteer pool to help them on matchdays, and with raising funds to support individual players. If anyone is interested in sponsoring the women’s first team or a player, please get in touch!
Commercial The new Killie Superstore saw a record breaking first four weeks, selling almost all of the initial batch of home and away tops. The third strip is expected to arrive in the month ahead, and early orders have been placed for Christmas stock to get it into the store in good time. We expect re-stock of the kits to arrive soon, but these have been impacted by various delays caused by Covid-19 and Brexit. We appreciate fans’ patience. Season Ticket sales are now over 3,700, with significant increases in the younger age group categories. There are over 2,200 Loyalty season ticket holder in this number, meaning that we have had over 1,500 new season ticket holders sign up for season 2021/22. Loyalty Season ticket holders will receive their commemorative shirt through the post very soon. Again, these have been impacted by various supply delays caused by the global pandemic. Over 80% of the season tickets purchased were done so online or via smart phones. The system’s capability to store season tickets on these devices has also been well received. Fans wishing a plastic card won’t have long to wait, as these will be sent directly to you from our ticketing partner. We expect these to be with you shortly.
Commercial Revenue has been positive with income from Club Title Sponsors, Chairman’s Club Memberships, Perimeter Board Advertising and Player Sponsorship. Player sponsors and advertising boards are managed by Ray Montgomerie and anyone interested should get in touch with him at raymondmontgomerie@kilmarnockfc.co.uk. Advance sales of hospitality packages have also been positive, and we expect to be open for private hire events again very soon. If you are interested in discussing options further, please contact the team on hospitality@kilmarnockfc.co.uk. Ticketing for the opening league match proved more challenging than anticipated due to issues with the upload of data which reallocated season ticket holders to different seats to meet the requirements on social distancing set by the local authority. While TicketCo had been confident in the process despite the short timescale, it quickly became apparent that it was not going smoothly. Emails to season ticket holders did not issue all at once, which understandably caused confusion and concern for fans wanting to know that they had tickets. Approximately 200 season ticket holders were not uploaded to the new seating map and staff then had to manually add the ones that were missed due to a glitch in the TicketCo system. Both the Supporter Liaison Officer and I assisted a number of fans by liaising with ticket office staff to help them get their tickets. Following the match, the club received around half a dozen written complaints from season ticket holders who had been unable to get tickets and these individuals were given an apology and will be welcomed at no cost to a future cup match. The team have carried out a thorough investigation with TicketCo and have been assured this won’t happen again. I appreciate that there has been some dissatisfaction over arrangements for away tickets. Unfortunately, clubs do not all have the same ticketing systems and hence there has been no consistency, with some online sales and others being paper tickets. KFC is therefore not always able to be in control of away ticket sales but staff will do their best to provide information to fans and try to improve things where possible. Fans will notice that we are selling all of our tickets online as well as from the ticket office. The Supporter Liaison Officer travels to away matches and is always keen to assist with arrangements to ensure fans get their tickets. With a few new partnerships in the wings, stay tuned to the club social media channels and website for more information.
Media The Media Team have been working to bring you closer to the action, capturing some wonderful moments so far including this father and son celebration at Queen of the South as well as the collective Killie roar at Hamilton as Scott Robinson opened the scoring. The third episode of “First Mates”, giving an insight into the personalities in our squad, is now online, and the second of the new format monthly magazines is in preparation. Martin Boyle, a new Trust Board member will be collating the two pages the Trust has been allocated in the magazine, and we hope that this will help take the Trust message to a wider audience. As was the case last season, an agreement between the SPFL, Sky Sports and the BBC allows the live streaming of league matches by clubs through a virtual season ticket and pay per view basis, subject to conditions. However, unlike last year, the English FA has applied for and has been granted ‘blocked hours’ by UEFA between 2.45pm and 5.15pm on Saturday afternoons for the majority of dates this season, meaning supporters in England won’t be able to watch games. Any home matches played outside this time period will not be impacted and Saturday’s SPFL Trust Trophy match v Falkirk will be available to view in all parts of the UK. We will continue to include which games are impacted in our regular matchday broadcast information articles. Other recent activity As we have continued to see Trust membership rise, I thought it might be helpful to summarise the key things I have been working on and involved with in the past few weeks, to give a flavour of the range of issues: - Providing an update on Club activity and reporting back on issues previously raised to monthly Killie Trust Board meeting. - Several meetings with Killie Trust Board Chair to take forward plans for identifying future projects including KFC volunteer scheme and Junior Trust. - Arranged and participated in meeting with Gregg McEwan, Head of Marketing and Commercial Operations and Trust Chair Jim Thomson to take forward discussions, including on match mascots, volunteering, Junior Trust and fundraising activities. - Meeting with SLO to discuss issues raised by fans, which need actioned or fed back to KFC Board. Now that restrictions lifted we hope this will become a regular monthly meeting.
- Meeting with Sandy Armour to discuss Killie Hippo fanzine plans for raising funds for defibrillators and future plans for season tickets for disadvantaged and low income families. A number of fans have highlighted the way in which Motherwell FC was able to raise cash to buy season tickets for unemployed supporters, and suggested that rather than various schemes operating under different groups, a coordinated approach would be useful. I will convene a meeting to take this forward. - I have again received representations from some Killie fans about the wording which some supporters are still using in the “Super Killie Away” song, despite previous efforts by supporters’ groups to have this changed. I spoke out about this on a recent podcast, explaining why the wording is not appropriate, and have recommenced communications with KFCSA, SLO and the Trust on how best we can work together on this. - Discussion with Child Welfare and Protection Officer Charlie Adams on his future role now that SFA policy is for this role to work across the Club and not only in the Academy. - Regular meetings with Club Directors and staff, including Club Secretary, Head of Media and Head of Marketing and Commercial Operations. - Meetings with club HR Consultant to finalise a review of Club policies and updates to employment contracts. - Liaising with Killie Trust and KCST regarding possible funding opportunities, specifically around creation of volunteer project. There are a number of potential opportunities for volunteering, both on matchdays and at other times, so if anyone is interested, please get in touch. - Keeping in touch with the Scottish Football Supporters Association on current developments with Scottish Football Alliance review. - Keeping in touch with Supporters Direct Scotland on current issues. An online meeting has been set up for Supporter Directors in September which I will participate in. - Various meetings and discussions relating to SFA Chid Protection working Group and sub Groups. Future engagement with fans Now that restrictions have relaxed, we are keen to set up another On Board in Person event, and are looking for a time which works for the Manager to attend. The Club is also committed to bringing the focus group which helped with the season ticket offer back together to review progress and look at future.
I would be keen to build on the engagement we have already through various channels,
but also think about what would be best going forward. If any Trust members have thoughts on this please get in touch. Some suggestions are: • • • •
Zoom calls for new Trust members to fund out more about the Trust and Club working together. Meet and Greet type events in person or online for all Trust members. Trust Board members, SLO and I to be available on some matchdays for informal discussion or as a point of contact. Short video updates in addition to this written report.
Contacts I can be contacted in a number of ways: Email : cathyjamieson@kilmarnockfc.co.uk Twitter: @cathyjamieson Instagram: cathyjamiesonkillie Facebook: cathy jamieson While I am happy to engage on social media when I can, I’m sure members will understand that I am not monitoring that round the clock, so may not be able to instantly reply, and an email to me is often a better way of dealing with more complex issues. Supporters Liaison Officer Allen Kyle is also happy to deal with queries from fans and he will let me know of any issues that need to be raised at Board level. Club staff, the Child Wellbeing and Protection Officer and Kilmarnock Football Club Disabled Supporters Association can be contacted directly with details available on the club website. Best wishes, Cathy
KILLIE BITS + PIECES I had a meeting with Cathy Jamieson last week over at the hotel to discuss a couple of things and generally yap about all things Killie. I wanted to discuss the defibrillator idea and the club are very happy to work with us on this. We are well on our way to the first target and we will just keep going and buy as many as we can. The club are pretty well covered at present at RP however both the women’s and youth teams use different facilities and we will identify the best place to accommodate the defibs. For fundraising we have a signed Liam Miller strip that we will raffle or auction to raise funds in the coming weeks. Our other fundraiser is to make up a “Killie Recipe Book” made up of recipes from Killie players, management, ex players etc. it will be the perfect Xmas pressie and I hope everyone will buy one. The other issue I wanted to speak to Cathy about is our “Growing the Killie family” initiative which we feel could be much more successful if expanded, Motherwell did just that this summer. We did well and have already had a promise of generous donations for next summer so perhaps it’s time for the club to get involved and along with the fan groups we can all come up with an initiative that will see an upturn in ST sales with families and kids getting to RP when perhaps they wouldn’t have. We’ll be having a meeting soon and we’ll update you with our progress. >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> We’ve written recently about the off field structure of the club and how perhaps we could be doing with a Chief Exec. type figure who is around the cub every day and has a firm grip of all the issues that have been generating us some negative publicity in the past few months. In all fairness I do think we need someone like that but with the cost cutting that has been dome due to relegation it’s safe to say it won’t happen any time soon. I totally understand that the club will need to adapt in the lower league and money is an issue but perhaps a quick promotion would see us have the cash to restructure to what is needed. Of course fresh investment would help, there’s nothing a fanzine editor likes more than a power battle…..it’s good for sales.
IF YOU CAN AFFORD IT PLEASE MAKE A DONATION AND ALL MONIES WILL GO TO TRUST IN KILLIE. THE NORMAL COST IS £2 BUT FEEL FREE TO DONATE WHATEVER YOU CAN. BANK DETAILS ARE: SORT CODE – 074456 ACCOUNT - 46480868 NAME – A ARMOUR