Hippo - Covid 5a

KILLIE HIPPO AN UNOFFICIAL KILLIE FANZINE SEPTEMBER 2020

BEST SCOOTER EVER • JOYFUL KILMARNOCK BLUES • KAISERSLAUTERN IN CRISIS • IAN CALDWELL R.I.P.

HUGE THANKS TO OUR GENEROUS SPONSORS RAINBOW INK CO. MODWAY SCOTLAND URQUHART OPTICIANS TONY BONE LEGAL COLIN MCDONALD HOME MAINTENANCE BILLY BOWIE SPECIAL PROJECTS LTD I LOVE GIFTS BACK ONSIDE – MENTAL HEALTH CHARITY GMC CRIMINAL LAWYERS PLEASE SUPPORT OUR SPONSORS CONTACT E-MAIL : Killiehippo@aol.com NO ARTICLES TO BE REPRODUCED WITHOUT PERMISSION BACK ISSUES 2–204 INCLUSIVE AVAILABLE GET IN TOUCH FOR DETAILS All views expressed are those of the contributors

SHOOTING FROM THE HIPPO Once again we have a fantastic front cover, all done by hand so take a bow Killie fan Mark tidy. I reckon Mark should take it a wee burl around Ayr town centre to upset the locals although to be fair most of them will be heading to Ibrox. I Spoke to Provost Jim Todd the other day and we were both admiring the magnificent scooter. Jim assured me that contrary to popular opinion the mods and rockers back in the 70’s got on like a house on fire…I hope the provost’s memory isn’t getting a bit wobbly!!

First and foremost I hope each and every one of you are keeping well during these mad times with so much illness and so many families suffering severe financial problems due to the economy plunging towards recession. It’s difficult but hopefully things will drastically improve in the near future…a comment that also applies to our beloved Killie.

I’m writing this after another defeat to Aberdeen who seem to be our bogey team in the last few years even under SSC. I watched the game on the Aberdeen tv but it went the way of quite a few this season, we played ok but ultimately didn’t get a result and for the manager’s sake that needs to change in the coming weeks. Like almost all Killie fans I like Alex Dyer and would love to see him being a success but it’s a results driven business and the stats don’t lie…..his record is poor.

Don’t get me wrong I’m not one for hitting the panic button and changing managers after a few bad results won’t bring you success but we now have a run of games where picking up points is a necessity. We seem to have settled into a pattern of play where we keep possession pretty well and can look decent but we are crying out for a bit of creativity and a cutting edge in the final third. I’m praying that the introduction of Mulumbu will see an upturn in fortunes.

Rogers appears to have settled down in goals and had a decent game at Pittodrie though I still fancy Eastwood will be no.1 when fit. Defensively we haven’t been as tight as we should be but we’ve only lost one in the last two games so perhaps that’s improving. Having said that both Broadfoot and Dikamona went off injured at Mutton Central so we may see big Rossi partner Findlay at centre back.

We have plenty options in midfield and I’d give a special mention to Tshibola who has been decent since coming back to the home of football. I fear Brophy may have eyes on a move next summer so if he doesn’t get his head screwed on shortly he may be a let down for us this season.

Thanks for all your support and please make a donation if you can….KTID Sandy

The Joyful Kilmarnock Blues (Revisited) (Writes David F. Ross) There’s a pivotal scene in The Doors, Oliver Stone’s 1991 biographical film about the American rock band of the same name. The very young Jim Morrison was taking a road trip with his family and came upon an accident involving an overturned truck and an injured Native American Indian bleeding on the side of the road. When Morrison publicly recounted the incident later in life, the story had morphed from one Indian injured on the side of the road to several Indians scattered all over dawn’s highway, bleeding and dying. And then later to, "One of the Indians soul’s leapt into my own.”

Whether this significant shift was manufactured by the singer or whether it was merely his own memories morphing and expanding over time is unknown. What isn’t in doubt was the extent to which he was traumatised by the experience and somehow personalised it to the point where it became a central narrative in his life from that day forward. People often look back at traumatic events in younger life as an emotional catalyst for change.

It’s Saturday 13th May 1989. I’m awakened sharply by the incessant ringing of the telephone in another room. It invades the late stage of a glorious dream involving Davie Cooper dribbling through the holes in a massive Curly-Wurly and has continued beyond the tenth conscious ring. It’s still dark outside, and the sense of dread when receiving a call outside of normal waking hours builds rapidly in the twenty or so steps from duvet to device. There’s still enough time for my fevered imagination to draw lines through the names of relatives before the high-pitched voice of Al – a mate from work – punctures the doom.

‘Are ye up?’ he asks, pointlessly.

‘Jesus, it’s five in the mornin’, man!’ I remind him.

Al is a Kilmarnock supporter; a die-hard. This particular Saturday is likely to be a traumatic one for him, his club and the substantial band of supporters who’ll later travel south to Dumfries for the final game of a hugely disappointing season against already relegated Queen of the South. And since he knows I’m not a Killie fan, and therefore not invested in their fortunes, it’s not a call I had expected. Nor welcomed.

‘Ma da’s no’ the best,’ he confides. I’m starting to join the dots. Al and his brother need a lift down the A76. I’m presumably their best bet. My own team have already won the league title; the top division one.

A meaningless home game against Aberdeen doesn’t tempt. And there’s something about Al’s desperate pleading that brings out the Good Samaritan in me.

Meanwhile, in another part of the region, Willie Watters is also awake. He hasn’t slept well. He too isn’t looking forward to the match. The Killie striker isn’t expecting to play a part in today’s vital game at Palmerston. Willie has been dropped for the games leading up this one and wasn’t even stripped for last week’s 3-2 defeat to Clydebank at Kilbowie Park. It’s been a frustrating season all round. As usual, the strikers bear the brunt of the criticism for the lack of goals. 41 goals scored in 38 games would be phenomenal for a single player, but not for an entire team. It’s the 60 against that has led Kilmarnock to this precipice, though. The arithmetic is simple: win today by five clear goals and pray that Clyde don’t beat a St. Johnstone team already safe from relegation and dreaming of the beaches. Willie Watters is a local hero with a knack of scoring goals at will. He knows that – given the chance, given the jersey – he could live up to his side of this unfeasible bargain. He just doesn’t expect it will happen.

Seven days earlier, Kilmarnock fan, Sandy Armour trudged disconsolately away from another debilitating defeat suspecting, perhaps even expecting, that Scotland’s oldest club – his lifelong passion – were on the verge of going down to the lowest tier in Scottish football. The days following a bad loss are arguably toughest on the fans. The players and management begin to focus on the next match. The pain remains, no doubt but the promise of a successful ninety minutes ahead is being drilled into them from the first minute of training in preparation for it. The fans only have the hope, and famously, it’s usually that which kills. Sandy’s week of countdown began with him drowning out the pain in The Howard; a session that gave birth to a momentous hangover as he headed to work on the Monday.

Sandy anticipated five long days of relentless banter from his Glaswegian colleagues. Best to find a quiet desk, sooth the fevered brow, try to find any glimmers of positivity from a woeful decade in which Killie’s part-timers have clung on for grim death. But Sandy’s week is about to get much worse. A phone call from his mate Alex reminds him that, although it seldom feels like it, there are more important things in life than football. Alex’s mum has passed away suddenly.

A second call twenty-four hours later confirms that the funeral is being held at the chapel in Whiteinch on Saturday morning; the day of Killie’s final dance with the devil.

Head in hands, Sandy Armour contemplates the synchronicity.

Saturday comes around. It’s just after 10am and a mini-bus heads south-west from East Ayrshire. On board are twelve beleaguered Kilmarnock disciples. ‘Killie ‘til I die!’ they defiantly sing, already envisaging singing it en route to more dilapidated grounds often surrounded by hedges from August onwards. The group comprises ten adults, one of whom is my brother-in-law, George Kenney, and two youngsters; Steven Cree and his brother, Derek. A planned stop takes in the Thornhill Inn, The Buccleuch and The Queensbury Arms; the adults gaining sustenance from pints and predictions shared with hundreds of other nervous pub-goers. Steven and Derek busy themselves with repetitive circuits of the bakers and sweet shops on the village’s main street; a rite of passage for all fitba-kids endured while waiting for a Da or uncle to emerge from the pre-match pub ritual. Bellies full, the caravan of hope snakes it’s way south.

Dougie Reid’s white Vauxhall Nova brakes as it approaches the slow-moving line of supporters buses. He chides himself for not having left his hometown half an hour earlier. The radio is on, his mate scouring the airwaves for anything that hints at Eddie Morrison’s team selection for the most important match in the club’s recent history. There’s nothing though. A mix of poor reception on the rural, tree-bound parts of the A76, and broadcaster’s pre-occupation with the Old Firm makes his search a fruitless one. The pair’s nervous anxiety grows as Dumfries draws closer.

My own journey, chauffeuring two equally fraught diehards, started half an hour later than Dougie’s. I find their palpitations funny. Even though I have nothing invested, I goad them mercilessly, as if was an Honest Man. It’s the price they have to pay for my service behind the wheel. Just beyond Mauchline, we spot an accident. It doesn’t look serious and no-one involved appears to be injured. It’s a scorching hot day, and that won’t be helping tempers which, as we pass carefully, look destined to become frayed. I watch in the rear-view mirror, and just before we reach a bend that will take them out of sight, I see one protagonist strike another.

Twenty minutes further on and the traffic slows. A queue forms. My passengers drum nail-bitten fingers. We might not make it to the ground in time for kick-off.

It’s another accident. The A76 has more unexpected narrow bends and dangerous twists than an Elmore Leonard novel but still, two accidents on the same stretch of road within minutes of each other is being to feel – as Jim Morrison would no doubt describe it – portentous.

The second accident involves a farm vehicle and a lorry-load of chickens. Some look like they will be on their way to Bernard Mathews sooner than perhaps planned. My comrades are now convinced a form of voodoo is at work.

Like his idol, Willie Watters, Sandy Armour has managed about twenty-three minutes of sleep during a stiflingly hot Friday night. He wakes but eats little in the way of a sustaining breakfast. Over his lucky Ben Sherman boxers, Sandy wears the black; the regulation sombre-suited attire of the mourner in the days before a more celebratory attitude to a life well-lived calls for colour. He heads north, in the opposite direction to his moral compass. This will be the first full catholic funeral mass that Sandy has attended. Twenty minutes in and it’s clear he has underestimated the time that the ceremony will take. Sandy Armour is now another in an increasing line of desperate men convinced that they won’t be where they should be come 3pm on Saturday 13th May 1989. He permits a thought that it might be for the best to ruminate before giving it the two-footed tackle it deserves. It’s definitely not the time to be thinking like an Ayr United fan, he concludes. He shakes Alex’s hand as he leaves the chapel. Alex smiles, wishes his mate well before finding humour, as all true Glaswegians do, in the bleakest of circumstances.

‘Haw, big man. Ah’d keep the black tie on if ah was you!’ he advises, prophetically.

Sandy Armour’s silver Cavalier speeds, bullet-like towards Dumfries. It passes through New Cumnock, Sanquhar and Thornhill leaving a hazy blur of exhaust fumes and small boys wondering if Doc Brown’s De Lorean has just buzzed their towns. Eventually he catches up with the raggle-taggle convoys of buses, cars, vans and motorbikes that comprises the Killie travelling support. And a handful of impartial observers such as your narrator.

Jim Fleeting hands Willie Watters a starting shirt. It feels like a last throw of the dice. But the striker has a pedigree. He has a decent ratio of goals scored at Hamilton, Clyde and St. Johnstone before arriving at Killie. He’s a striker who knows it only takes a fortunate one going in off the arse to turn around a drought.

They cross the line, they all count. Against all the odds, Willie feels like this could be the day the dam bursts.

George Kenney, Steven Cree, Dougie Reid and Al, my work-mate, are all similarly delighted to see Willie Watters take the field as 3pm approaches. Sandy Armour finally reaches the ground later than most and the sight of the striker warming up immediately lifts his spirits.

He is convinced multiple speeding fines might await but for now he’d take that punishment in exchange for a glimpse into an unlikely future that has Kilmarnock FC playing in the First Division for at least one more season.

‘F**k sake, man … yer jinxin’ us,’ Sandy hears coming from supporters grouped together in the tiny corrugated enclosure opposite the main stand. They regard his doleful demeanour. He removes the tie. It’s the least he can do.

You could throw a decent-sized fishing net around all of us, the faithful majority and the unfaithful few. The protagonists in this tale stand only feet apart such is the desire for shade offered by the small, rusting canopy. The game starts and I immediately feel like one of them. There’s something about a group of males – for it is predominantly men and boys in evidence – coalescing into a single amorphous wave of fervent supportive yearning that catches even the casual observer off guard. I feel more involved here in this tiny wriggly-tin shed than I’ve often felt seated in the gods at Ibrox, weirdly enough.

The wingers and full backs are touch-tight to the nearside fans. The referee’s been every shade of religion known to the West of Scotland in a tense opening quarter. The linesman hears every abusive profanity yelled in his direction, especially during the proliferation of early flags that catch Willie Watters on the wrong side of the last defender.

But Queens are a beaten side, relegated already and offering the resistance of a club resigned to their fate and desperate to put a desperate campaign behind them. It’s no surprise when they concede. The Killie fans around me are relieved.

It’s been coming and there’s plenty of time for more. The amount of transistor radios being lifted to ears increases dramatically. Willie Watters scores a second, the type of sclaffed effort that Gary Lineker specialises in. He wheels away, ball in hand. Through the glare of the Dumfries sunshine, he briefly looks like a heavier silhouette of the Barcelona striker.

Three more goals flash in rapidly; two more for Watters and one for Robert Reilly.

The cowshed feels and sounds like it will take off from its rusty baseplates. Clyde and St. Johnstone are deadlocked, whilst Killie - and Watters in particular – are suddenly playing football like The Harlem Globetrotters play basketball; looking like they’ll score every time the ball goes into the Queens penalty box. The ebullient striker has another one in the net, but the lino’s flag is raised. He’s peering into the sun but rules it out for offside in any case. The striker is convinced he was onside but doesn’t argue too much. These goals are like Glasgow Corporation buses; he senses there’ll be another one along in a couple of minutes.

Unlike Willie Watters, the Killie fans are growing restless. Having had unlikely dreams of salvation validated, Queen of the South are now enjoying some sustained pressure which is force the visitors back. A long punt out of defence sees Watters anticipating and breaking free, bearing down on the advancing Queens keeper. Neither blessed with natural pace, they both go for it in apparent slow motion. Then they both bottle it. The ball rolls free and, reacting first, Willie Watters puts it in the empty net. He heads for the fans, ‘aeroplane-ing’ alongside the low metal rail that encloses them. He high-fives – or slaps – the entire front row as the remainder pogo their way up and down the shallow concrete steps.

The final whistle blows and immediately we are, to a man and boy, on the Palmerston pitch. I went to a football match for a day out in the sun, not particularly caring who won or lost, and end up as part of a pitch invasion. We think it’s all over; it isn’t quite. They’re still playing at Clyde, the elderly and more wizened remind us. But Killie have won 6-0. And Willie Watters scored five of them! ‘The impossible dream’, Al keeps saying, over and over. There are tears in his eyes. He reaches into a jacket pocket and deftly pulls out a small pen knife. It makes me consider whether carrying it is a premediated act, or whether it is always with him. He reaches down and cuts two decent-sized squares of the worn triumphal turf. One for him and one for me. I find the gesture touching and troubling in equal measure.

Players have been swamped. Jerseys are being waved by bare-chested fans. It’s hard to know which ones have been prised from Kilmarnock’s heroes. The fans are being drawn magnetically to the main stand. I see a man at the front, dressed predominantly in black, like one of the Blues Brothers. He seems deliriously happy. I see my brother-in-law amidst a group of men I know to be his mates.

Two youngsters are on shoulders, their arms dancing and waving scarves. This is what real happiness looks like; a thick broth of joy, anticipation, relief and regret that connects everyone involved in a last-day escape from the desolation of relegation. A victorious encore will surely happen. Even the parsimonious cabal of local butchers and accountants who constitute the board of Directors are temporarily free of criticism.

A lone player emerges. It’s Killie defender, Davie Hynes. His name rises high above the throng. He climbs onto the wooden rail that surrounds the Palmerston directors box. He dances. He waves. He catches a scarf and twirls it high above his head. Like my father, and his father before him, I’ve followed Rangers all my life, but I briefly wonder if I’m only now understanding that this is what being a football supporter is all about. And then I and everyone else in the ground begin to realise that it absolutely is.

Shocked faces, tuned into the frequencies, tell the story before it is fully known. A desultory tannoy announcement confirms it. In the last game of the season, Clyde have scored from a hotly disputed penalty so far into injury-time that it almost constitutes a pre-season friendly. All realise immediately what it means, but still mouth ‘so what does that mean?’ to each other; hoping that some incomprehensible law of physics will reverse the inevitable. But it won’t. Killie have been relegated. Despite recording the biggest away score-line of the entire season. Despite keeping a clean sheet for almost the first time that season.

Despite Willie Watters scoring five legitimate goals and a sixth that had its claim for legitimacy cruelly taken away from it. Killie were down. For Sandy Armour, George Kenney, Steven Cree, Dougie Reid, Al and hundreds of others … and yes, perhaps even me … it feels like the world has just ended. Dougie ties his precious scarf, the one that commemorated his team’s historic League triumph in 1965 and the Scottish Cup win of 1920, onto the Palmerston goalpost, and leaves it there.

Willie Watters makes his own way back north. He has the match ball with him, but it means little at the moment. He listens to pundits dissecting the last-day outcomes and hears, depressingly, that those watching at Firhill had no idea where the seven minutes of injury time came from. He sees the litter of discarded scarves and Killie paraphernalia that track the route back to Kilmarnock painting a poignant picture of failure.

But it offers a release of frustration that, for the real supporter, is always temporary. ‘Killie ‘til I die,’ sing the defiant ones returning on George Kenney’s minibus. Next season will be different but they’ll still all be there, older and arguably wiser; rain, sleet or shine, home and away. They’ll spend this foreverdamned Saturday night – and most of the following fortnight – consoling themselves before emerging with renewed hope. A determination to see the relegation as a spring-board to better things. A necessary clearing of the deadwood that often happens when the status quo has to change.

And so it proves. The summer sees fans’ favourite Bobby Fleeting take over control of the club. The months ahead will witness a rejuvenated team, led from the front with characteristic flair by new signing, Tommy Burns. They will challenge for promotion from the earliest days of the season. They’ll play the type of football that space, time and better quality allows.

Steven Cree, now a hugely respected and successful film actor, looks back at the game as the point where his love affair with Kilmarnock FC was cemented.

‘Although painful at the time, it was the springboard to a brilliant season that ended very differently on the last day with promotion at Cowdenbeath.

Palmerston was a turning point for Killie.’

As he was then, George Kenney remains a regional bank manager (and he is still my brother-in-law). ‘Looking back, going down was a good thing. That season in the Second Division was great. I didn’t miss a game, home or away, except Tommy Burns debut at East Fife which doesn’t count in any case as it was abandoned mid-match due to a snowstorm which prevented me from getting any further than Newton Mearns.’

Willie Watters still enjoys cult-hero status at Rugby Park. When he hung up his boots in 2000, he’d scored over 175 league goals for twelve different clubs.

‘During that long summer in ’89, I desperately needed a break. Had to get away from it all. I went on holiday to Tenerife, only to bump into Colin McGlashan. It was his late penalty for Clyde that put us down.’

The current Leader of East Ayrshire Council, Dougie Reid recalls being at a party held in Glen Barrowman’s house in Edinburgh. ‘It was just before the famous 0-0 draw against Hibs at Easter Road where we held onto our Premier League status. I saw this scarf in Glen’s room and said ‘that’s a rare old scarf. I had one just like it once.’ Glen said, ‘it is yours. I untied it from the post, and I’ve had it ever since.’ He offered to give me it back, but I told him to keep it. It had obviously been luckier for him than it had been for me in the twenty years previously.’

Sandy Armour is a Kilmarnock FC legend. No-one embodies the grit and determination necessary to be a life-long supporter of a provincial club quite like Sandy. ‘That day in Dumfries will live forever in the memory of the Killie fans who went to the game but in hindsight, it may well have been the best thing to have happened. Had we stayed up, the old board could have remained, the ‘Fleeting Revolution’ might never have taken place and who knows where we’d be today.

As it stands, we got back to the top division in 1993 and have remained there since. I do love a story with a happy ending.’

I lost touch with workmate Al shortly after getting a new job in Glasgow. I still support Rangers, but then again, I’m most certainly fickler than the other stars of this story. So, for those of you considering the notion, forget ‘A Shot At Glory’ or any other equally implausible shite. Here’s your movie!

Hippo says – It’s unreal that we have a “proper author” writing in the Hippo but this was the fantastic article that David did for Nutmeg magazine. Check out davidfross.co.uk every book there is highly recommended.

AS IT WAS WHEN IT HAPPENED We’re always keen to promote talented young Killie fans and Matt Scott comes from a family that are dyed in the wool Killie folk. We were proud when Matt agreed to play for us at the Howard arms a few years ago at a charity night and his career has dome nothing but grow since then. His new album is self penned, he plays every instrument and even if I am a bit bias, it sounds fantastic.

It’s available on Spotify, Apple Music and Google Play…..click the link below and lister for yourself, I [promise you won’t fail to be impressed.

https://open.spotify.com/album/7GrBsNqywpqYKgY2bBXMVK?si=-b7-Y62WS_um48BPG9os0g

CLUB UPDATE FROM CATHY First of all, can I thank you for your continued support for the Killie Trust.

Regular contributions to 'Trust in Killie' and the general fund have made possible continued financial support to the Club at what continues to be a challenging time.

I am very aware that while many fans have themselves faced difficulty during lockdown we have seen increased Trust membership and subscriptions. I hope this update will be of interest and look forward to when we can be back in the stadium together.

In the meantime, please stay safe.

Best wishes, Cathy Return to football for players and fans A number of things have moved on since my July Report, with the SPFL fixtures having started behind closed doors. The safety requirements have been stringent, and the Covid testing was upped to twice weekly again, having been reduced, as a result of concerns about players in other teams testing positive.

With the lockdown easing, and indications that there will be a return for limited numbers of fans within the foreseeable future, work is being undertaken to ensure that everything possible is done to have the stadium ready. The sanitising equipment purchased by The Killie Trust is now in the stadium, and a plan is being drawn up to facilitate fans returning, as soon as we are given the go ahead.

From what we are hearing, it is very unlikely that the initial numbers will allow for all Season Pass Holders to return initially. We are therefore looking at a process to have a fair ballot of Season Pass Holders as required.

We will communicate information as soon as we have it.

Meantime, the stadium is looking good thanks to the Supporters Groups and Trust Members who have supplied flags and banners. The large Killie Trust banner was also moved from the usual spot in the East Stand to behind the goals in the Chadwick Stand, so that it could be seen on the TV!

Football Department Last month I reported on some changes in the backroom team, as well as new player signings.

There has been a further backroom change with First Team Physio Ross Goodwin leaving us to join Carlisle United, which is much closer to his home base. Following a recruitment process, Ryan Barr was successful and has been appointed to that role. Jack Ferguson has left the post of Head of Academy Sports Science, and a recruitment process is under way. Euan Fotheringham has joined as a first team performance and recruitment analyst.

On the playing side, everyone has been disappointed at results in what was a tough run of fixtures, and the team feel their performances have deserved more points than they picked up. Hopefully through continued effort our luck will change in the upcoming fixtures.

The Academy has begun to return to training, but there is no update as yet on matches. Furlough arrangements are therefore ongoing for a number of Academy staff.

Finance and Commercial Following on from my July report, the handover to Wm Duncan & Co has now taken place, and the Club’s Company Secretary Graeme Bryson is now fully involved in dealing with financial systems. This will ensure that the Board has up to date Management Accounts on a regular basis, and that the finances are being closely monitored.

Fans who sponsored players shirts last season were invited to come along to the stadium to collect them. Unfortunately, due to Covid safety measures, it was not possible for players to join in with photos, so thanks to Ray Montgomerie, Paul di Giacomo and Jim Thomson for stepping in to help with the handovers, and delivering shirts to those who couldn’t make it along on the day.

There has been an excellent response for sponsoring this season’s shirts, but if anyone is interested in sponsoring a home or away shirt for first team squad, pleased get in touch directly with Ray Montgomerie at raymondmontgomerie@kilmarnockfc.co.uk Shop sales Following the installation of safety screens, the shop opened to public as planned. As anticipated, the sales of both home and away strips has been very positive. Due to the impact of Covid on manufacturing and delivery, we took the decision to bring an initial quantity of strips by air freight to ensure that pre orders could be fulfilled, with the remaining stock arriving by sea freight.

The Club was pleased to report that sales had hit a record six-figure sum in the first month back under Club control.

New stock is being added on a regular basis to try and cover a range of ages and prices.

If anyone is interested in being involved in consultations on future ranges, particularly as the Commercial Team will shortly be thinking about the options for the festive season, please let me know. Similarly, if fans have ideas for items or ranges they would like to see in the shop, please let us know. I can’t guarantee that all suggestions would be taken forward, but this is an opportunity to have your say!

In addition to shop sales, the Commercial team has agreed the first of what we hope will be a number of agreements to allow sale of branded items produced by Killie fans.

Sponsorship partners In addition to the shirt sponsorship from Brownings, Gassure has been named as the sleeve sponsors, and Urquhart Opticians as Digital Partners.

I appreciate that some fans were initially concerned when it was announced that Billy Bowie Special Projects (BBSP) would become Stadium “Naming Rights Partner”. Hopefully it is now clear that while the official name becomes the BBSP Stadium Rugby Park, it is another investment into the Club by Billy, who is very much aware of the history and has no desire for fans to stop calling it Rugby Park! While advertising Boards for BBSP are in now place in the stadium, there is no other change.

It has been heartening to see a number of local businesses renewing or commencing advertising around the stadium, which again brings much needed revenue into the Club.

Season passes To date 2,820 Season Passes have been sold. Taking out the free under 16 passes from last season, sales look like being down by some 300 - 400 on last season’s total.

Match Streaming and Pay-Per-View The PPV system was in place for the home match against St Johnstone. Just over 500 people subscribed to PPV for this match. As also experienced by other Clubs, there were some problems with the live stream on the day, despite various test events having taken place. The technical issues have been identified by the providers and the Club has been assured that action has been taken to ensure these don’t occur again. Our next home match against Dundee United will again offer PPV to non-Season Pass holders.

I am aware that some fans have been unsure about the signing in process for both Season Pass and PPV. As this is managed by the stream providers, it is best to contact their support service support@killietv.co.uk if any issues arise with the streaming service. We have asked that any such queries are responded to promptly.

Mascot

Ahead of our first home match the new mascot was unveiled. The design and name Captain Conker came from designs produced by children who entered a competition run by KCST. The BBC filmed the process of selecting the winning designs and the launch, which created a bit of interest!

Thanks again to the Killie Trust and KFCSA who paid for the mascot costume. With current restrictions in place, the usual summer galas and community events have not been taking place, but once these resume, and it is deemed safe for school visits, Captain Conker will be out and about in the community.

Killie Club As members will be aware, the Killie Club is now run by and to benefit the Club. It is currently open during from 12 noon serving light meals and drinks, and children are welcome. The Killie Club has been participating in the ‘Eat Out to Help Out’ Scheme, which runs Monday to Wednesday until the end of August. Social distancing measures are in place and everyone has to provide contact details.

Bookings can be made via the Killie Hospitality Facebook page.

Media and Communications Scott McClymont, Head of Media, has continued to spend time on the arrangements for match streaming and PPV arrangements as well as the Killie TV match day set up. Having had Mark Roberts join the commentary team last Saturday, there will be more former players featuring in future.

Social Media output continues to be a key area, with features for Killie Nation, plus news updates on website, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

The Podcast series will return with next scheduled guest being Billy Bowie.

The media team has also continued to liaise with the Trust communications lead, to ensure that there is coordination around Club and Trust social media activity.

I was a guest on the Scottish Football Forum Podcast which is available via this link.

KCST KCST ran a fundraising competition, encouraging fans of all ages to try and emulate the skills of the players. Club chef Anthony Wrigley joined captain Gary Dicker for a cooking class, to help KCST promote healthy eating.

Read about it here.

Thanks again to Killie Trust members who donated to my “virtual kiltwalk” which saw £600 go towards KCST Healthy Eating projects.

'On Board In Person' The planned virtual OBIP took place with Manager Alex Dyer and I giving updates and answering the questions members had sent in. Trust Chair Jim Thomson updated on current Trust projects and the funding which has been transferred to the Club.

The session was recorded on Zoom and uploaded for Trust Members and the wider fan base to watch. Thanks to Trust Communications Lead Gordon Gillen for facilitating.

There have been over 1000 views of the session, which actually gave a greater reach than having a meeting would have done. As current restrictions on large indoor gatherings and requirements for social distancing are still in place, it seems likely that the next OBIP will also be a virtual event.

One point which came up which I wasn’t immediately able to answer was in relation to revised plans for stadium development, in light of impact of Covid and financial constraints. I can now report that the work on improving the facility for disabled supporters is progressing, and Billy Bowie has had engineers on site to finalise plans. I hope to be able to report on other aspects next month.

Contact with Scottish Supporters' Organisations I am in touch with both Supporters Direct Scotland and Scottish Football Supporters Association. Through SDS contact has been made with Supporter Directors in other Clubs and hopefully we can build on those links going forward to share ideas and good practice.

Club contact details

A request was previously made by fans that the contact details of key personnel at the Club be shown on the website and this has been in place since the new site launched. In case anyone is not aware, it can be accessed through drop downs for each Department using the link below: https://kilmarnockfc.co.uk/contact/ Please use the contacts if you have queries or get in touch with me using the details below and I can pass on or provide a response.

I can be contacted in the usual ways: Email: cathyjamieson@kilmarnockfc.co.uk Facebook: Cathy Jamieson Twitter: @cathyjamieson Instagram: cathyjamiesonkillie

Are you CPR ready?

We are delighted to be promoting mental health with our partners Back Onside however there are plenty other issues out there. Killie have had several tragic incidents over the years where fans have taken unwell during a game and have needed urgent medical assistance. I lost a couple of good friends in this way so it truly is a matter close to my own heart.

I’d like to thank East stand regular Nina McGinley who got in touch as this also something she is very passionate about. We may all be in a position at some point in our lives where we need to assist someone who takes ill so Nina has sent this wee article with some expert advice on what we need to do should the need arise: On average 3500 people are treated by the Scottish Ambulance Service every year, after suffering a cardiac arrest. Unfortunately only 1 in 12 survive. Let's put that into perspective. That’s like 60 Killie diehards getting on the supporters bus at Killie Club for a Super Killie Away and only 5 of them get off. What if you could make a difference? Survivor rates could be higher if bystander CPR was commenced quickly and effectively.

A cardiac arrest can happen to anyone at anytime. Sadly, our fan base have witnessed a few cardiac arrests over the years.

So, what is cardiac arrest? Cardiac Arrest is when the heart stops beating effectively , meaning that the heart can’t pump blood around the body. It can be caused by a number of different reasons and can follow a period of illness where the persons health has been deteriorating. In the context of a supporter well enough to attend a game, Cardiac Arrest is a sudden event.

It is not a heart attack, but can be caused by one.

How will you know if someone has had a cardiac arrest?

The person will collapse suddenly , they will become unresponsive and be unable to breath effectively. In some occasions, they may display involuntary muscle movement .

Can you help? Yes – anyone can.

Follow the DRSABC rule and you can help to save a life.

D- check for danger to yourself R- check for a response (Shake the person and shout “are you alright?)

S- Shout for help (If at the football get help from a steward immediately) A-Open their airway , using a head tilt and chin lift B – check to see if their breathing for no more than 10secs C – if theres no signs of life , Start CPR and call 999 Place the heel of your hand on the centre of the person’s chest (on the breastbone) Interlock your fingers, straighten your arms and push down on the chest You need to push down 5-6cm, you may break a rib – but dont stop.

Allow the chest to fully recoil and do it 100-120 bpm.

100-120bpm is the same tempo as The Halls Of Montezuma

Don't be put off doing something because you’re put off by giving mouth to mouth. Don't worry Hands Only CPR is as effective.

The important thing is you have kept the heart pumping and you’ve got help.

If there’s a defib nearby , send someone for it. Anyone can use it. Just switch it on a follow the instructions.

Let's make our fan base heart safe and ready to save a life.

Nina McGinley Hippo says – Many thanks Nina for this potentially life saving advice and I hope everyone takes it on board. There is a huge increase of defibrillators around the country so if you fancied doing something to help the club and have a spare bit of cash there is a wee idea….contact Cathy.

KAISERSLAUTERN IN CRISIS (writes Killie Mouse) The COVID-19 crisis is proving a very difficult financial issue to surmount for clubs across the globe, but perhaps none more so than many a Killie fan’s second team, Kaiserslautern.

The four-time Bundesliga winners have experienced financial difficulties for the best part of two decades now and the club appears to be in a critical condition, having declared bankruptcy on June 15th. With debts of €24 million and facing another season in the third tier of German football (and therefore little in the way of TV and/or marketing revenue) there are genuine fears about where this might end.

A quick Google search will unfold a story of continued financial mismanagement, players on galactico contracts and a succession of chancers, who make Craig Whyte look like a shining example of shrewdness and integrity, claiming to be saviours.

There are yet another round of crunch talks with potential investors as I write this towards the end of July. Ominously, some of the solutions may involve a move away from the German ‘50+1’ system of ownership.

Having famously became German Champions in 1998 after being promoted from Bundesliga 2 in 1997, 1FCK competed in the quarter finals of the Champions’ League about six months before travelling to Rugby Park for their UEFA Cup tie in August 1999. By that time, they had invested heavily in stars like Youri Djorkaeff and Mario Basler. In 2001, the lost to Alaves in the semi-finals of the UEFA Cup. But the wages of these players were perhaps the beginnings of the current crisis.

In a city of approximately 100,000 people and with crowds averaging around the 35,000 mark, the club agreed with the local council and German footballing authorities to extend the capacity of the Fritz Walter Stadion to nearly 50,000 for the 2006 World Cup. This nearly sunk der Roten Teufel, only for them to be spared by the city, who bought the stadium from them.

Since, the club have rented their ground, costing anything between €3.2 million in the Bundesliga to €450,000 in 3.Liga. Since then, a Coventry City-esque saga seems to have played out, with the genuine possibility of the players and supporters finding themselves ‘homeless’.

Disastrous financial performances were mirrored by disastrous footballing performances. In the year of the German World Cup, the team were relegated from the top-flight for only the second time in their history. They have only returned briefly, between 2010 and 2012.

The history of 1FCK is a rich one. I visited the German National Football Museum in Dortmund last season and found it jammed with references to the club, particularly the 1954 World Cup-winning side which featured no fewer than five Kaiserslautern players: Liebrich, Kohlmeyer, Eckel and the Walter brothers. The club fostered the talents of Miroslav Klose, who burst to international prominence as a Kaiserslautern player at the 2002 World Cup and finished his career as the all-time top goal scorer for Die Manschaft and in the history of the FIFA finals.

But the potential is huge too. Upon relegation to the third tier, 1FCK’s first training session attracted 1500 people. Their first game of that campaign against 1860 Munich drew 41,000. In the same trip that I visited the museum, I was delighted to find out that the team were playing nearby at Preußen Münster and stunned to see the numbers of fans who had made the near 500 miles round trip for a game in the third tier. But then, perhaps I shouldn’t have been given the effort that their fans still make to come to see Killie every season. It is always a pleasure to see them turn up in decent numbers to savour such Scottish football delights as the Toni Macaroni Arena.

We wish them well. I, for one, love the fact that Killie have a link to this institution and that it was built up through the warmth of both sets of fans. It is incredible that it still stands more than 20 years on. This kind of solidarity is one of the pleasures of football. And while we are understandably looking to make sure that Killie’s finances are in order by purchasing season tickets, shirts for the new season and other memorabilia, any online purchases from our German brothers and sisters will be greatly appreciated, I am sure. They do a nice line in face masks…

The Killie Mouse >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

KILLIE IN KENYA

A superb image of some youngsters wearing the Killie colours in Kenya thanks to the Killie Community Sports Trust. Don’t ley anyone tell you otherwise…..Killie are bigger than Microsoft!!

IAN CALDWELL RIP Ian Caldwell, who has died aged 73, was a lifelong Killie fan. Born and raised in Dundonald he was a Rugby Park regular from the 1950s until he moved away from the area in the late 1970s.

From an early age he collected players’ autographs before home matches and cut out match reports and league tables, pasting them into a scrapbook for each season. Ian was present at many of the great Killie occasions in the 1960s. He was there for the never-to-be forgotten 5-1 win over Eintracht Frankfurt in the Fairs Cup and he was at Tynecastle a few months later on that glorious day when Killie won the league championship. Ian was also a regular with Killie on their travels.

He was at Elland Road when Killie played Leeds United in the Fairs Cup semi-finals. No away game was too unimportant for him to attend, even travelling to the likes of Wolverhampton for friendly matches in an era when few made such trips. Once, after a long and exhausting trip to Montrose for a Scottish Cup tie, he nodded off on the train home only to awaken in Stranraer too late to make it home that night.

He was a man who’d travel the length and breadth of Scotland and beyond to watch Kilmarnock in action. At home matches he often undertook the role of a guardian for others in his extended family. Being somewhat older he would be charged with looking after his younger brother Brian and his cousins Neil Morrison and David and Stuart Ross at Rugby Park.

Living latterly in Sheffield he was once asked which of the two local clubs – Wednesday and United – he preferred. Unhesitatingly he fired back the answer “Wednesday of course. They play in blue-and-white stripes” That was Ian. Although unable to attend many matches in his later years he remained a Killie supporter through and through. Those who remember him will miss him. But remember him they will.

IAN CALDWELL 1947-2020 Hippo says – We wish to extend our sincere condolences to Ian’s family and friends. Many thanks to well known Killie fan and author David Ross for writing this heartfelt obituary.

THE UGLY FACE OF FOOTBALL

2020 must go down as the single most depressing year since my 12 month secondment in Whitletts looking for a cure for their 12 finger outbreak. Just when you thought things couldn’t get worse this blubbering buffoon that masquerades as a Prime Minister gets a photo publicised that appears to show him in a vintage Killie strip…..I’ve never felt so ashamed. Strangely he seems to have the longest thumb ever sitting on a two ton turnip!!!

KILLIE TRUST FINANCIAL UPDATE On behalf of the Trust Board, I would like to give you an update on our 'Trust In Killie' fundraising campaign finances for August 2020.

The continuing generosity of subscribers has realised the monthly total of £7,354 which will be added to our project fund, giving a current balance of £36,311. Approximately £5,000 is still to be deducted from this total when the account for the hands free bins and static sanitising units has been finalised.

We'd like to say 'a big thank you' to long standing Trust member and 'Trust in Killie' subscriber, Robert Richard, for generously donating half the proceeds (£105) of an auction for his prized signed '97 Cup Final shirt.

Great effort Richard!

Tomorrow, we will be in touch again asking you to vote on a potentially very significant and exciting funding project. Please keep an eye out for further details via email.

In order to cast a vote, you must be a member. If you are not a member, but would like a say on project votes, please join for an annual fee of £10: www.thekillietrust.com/join-the-trust

Once again we'd like to thank members and subscribers for your continued support.

With very best wishes from the Trust Board, Jim Thomson - Chair

'TRUST IN KILLIE' FINANCIAL UPDATE Entry level: 173 (-2) Standard: 192 (+2) Plus: 106 (-5) Others: 4 (-1)

JULY BALANCE CARRIED FORWARD: £28,956.72 AUGUST MONTHLY TOTAL: £7,354.38 OVERALL TOTAL: £36,311.10

'TRUST IN KILLIE' SUBSCRIBERS Total subscribers: 475 (decrease of 6)

KILLIE TRUST MEMBERSHIP Current Trust membership: 857 (increase of 19)

The trust continues to grow and as time goes on more and more fans will see the benefit of s strong Trust and how important it is to the long term future of the club. The latest proposal is that the Trust will be the official partners of the KFC Academy and will put £18k into the academy for each of the next two years to ensure some financial security and to help more top quality youngsters progress through the club. We did something similar years ago with the “Fifty for the Future” initiative that helped support the youth set up when it was under threat from lack of funding from the previous board.

WIN A NEW KILLIE TOP

Thanks to the kind generosity from all our sponsors we are giving away a Killie top in each issue and well done to 12 year old Killie fan Kyle Stevenson who won last months competition.

All you have to do is answer this simple question, the answer is in this issue: What is the name of Killie’s new mascot?

Email answers to killiehippo@aol.com ……..good luck

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