KILLIE HIPPO AN UNOFFICIAL KILLIE FANZINE AUGUST 2022 YOU’LL NEVER TAKE THE GILET • THE CHAMPIONS • SO NEAR SO VAR • BITS + PIECES
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There has been a lot of water under the bridge since our wild party night in Kirkcaldy with lots of ins and outs on the personnel front. We’ll go through a lot of that in the next issue as there is still a couple of weeks left in the transfer window and I’m sure the revolving door will be spinning a few more times before 1st September. We’re three games into the season but there have been a few knee jerk reactions already following our humping 5 0 gubbing at the hands of Celtic. I’m old enough in the tooth to realise we don’t gauge our season in our games against the two arse cheeks but I have been a little disappointed in our lack on ambition and belief in the two defeats. Under Jefferies we had a horrific record against both and we were almost beaten as soon as we took the field, I trust DM will instill some belief for the future fixtures and we’ll be able to give them a better challenge….time will tell. Our opening game of the season was encouraging against the arabs who had finished 4th last season, lets be honest we should have beat them. Their humiliating defeats since then indicates they may not be as highly placed this time around so again we’ll see how things pan out in the weeks and months ahead. In Killie’s case we have more new faces than almost any other team so I’ll wait until the first round of fixtures are completed before we give an assessment of how we should fare. The good news is that we won’t see any of the bigots for a while now so we travel to Dingwall this Saturday looking to grab our first victory and get us climbing up the table. We don’t want to be a newly promoted team who just hang around the nether regions and face a relegation battle, I genuinely believe that DM is here to get us up into the top six. That may not happen in our first season up and the manager has mentioned it will take a couple more transfer windows to get his own squad out together. Massive thanks to our generous benefactor who donated to our Growing the Killie Family initiative and let us get familie to RP who wouldn’t have otherwise. If anyone would still like to donate then please get in touch Sandy
Hello again chums, it’s been a while but we’re back with a bang and will once again be churning out an issue once a month so keep sending me those articles to killiehippo@aol.com.
SHOOTING FROM THE HIPPO “Alston won the league at Rugby Park, Alston won the league at Rugby park, Alston won the league, Alston won the league, Alston won the league at Rugby Park” It may well have been about 4 months ago but the song still swims about my fat napper on a regular basis. There can be no argument that it is one of the finest songs to ever grace these shores, both musically and lyrically superior to Bohemian Rhapsody in the view of anyone who knows anything about music.
SOSONEARVAR
Over the last three years, the world of football has been dominated by tumultuous debate over the role of VAR in the beautiful game; in fact, these days, it has become impossible to speak to anyone about football without it coming up. But that begs the question: what makes football so special? Why are we all so comfortable with the use of video assistance in all our other sports? What’s the difference when it comes to football? Tennis, rugby, cricket and American football viewers are all more than happy with their respective technological assistants (this was always part of the argument for the introduction of VAR in the first place). If they can do it, why can’t we? Unfortunately, it’s more complicated than that. In 2018, Varsity published its own discussion of the issue, which was representative of the two main camps. However, three years on, the lines have been blurred. It would be hard to find anyone who can happily ignore the benefits it brings, and harder still to find someone who can look past its pitfalls. So, let’s see why we still are arguing about VAR and, more importantly, answer the question, will we ever Thestop?first issue that is often brought up by the anti VAR luddites is that of subjectivity (And they’ve got a point). The reason we’re so happy with the Hawk-Eye systems of tennis and cricket is because they scientifically represent, as accurately as possible, whether the ball would have been in or out, or hit the bails or not. The system uses six or seven high-end cameras positioned around the stadium to track the trajectory of the ball within a margin of error of 3.6mm. The same system has been used in football’s Goal-Line Technology since 2013 and, with the exception of the bizarre turn of events in June’s fixture between Aston Villa and Sheffield United, has been, frankly, an overwhelming success. The point is, however, that these are objective decisions, scientifically calculated to the highest possible degree of accuracy. Comparatively, VAR is an opportunity for
Rugby, American football and association football are all very different games. European football fans will always pride themselves on the fluidity and high tempo of their beloved sport and, more often than not, look down on the stop start, over complicated nature of rugby and American football. However, it is precisely for this reason that Instant Replay works so well in the NFL. The dead time already
So, what’s the difference? Clearly, it’s not much use to compare the science of tennis and cricket to the subjectivity of the three siblings of the ‘football’ family. But between the three, association football has provided the biggest uproar. That’s not to say that rugby and American football haven’t had their own hurdles in their relationships with technology. In fact, the NFL has been developing their Instant Replay system since 1978, when the very first trials were carried out, and it wasn’t until 1986 that the league voted to impose the system officially, but only on a yearly basis. After six years of frustratingly inefficient usage (10% of the overturned calls in the 1991 season were retrospectively determined to have been incorrect), the league abandoned it for another seven years. It was only in 1998 that the league re-adopted it, and only permanently as of 2007. Rugby has also had a long and complicated relationship with the TMO. Its first trials began in 1999 and has encountered a number of famous controversies. However, these love-hate relationships have been cultivated over a number of decades and, although they have encountered deeply divisive calls, they did so far less frequently than the Premier League, where they seem to be a weekly occurrence So, is it simply a case of teething problems in the world of football? Partly. But that doesn’t paint the whole picture.
referees to rewind and watch a series of events which they must then judge themselves. In this way at least, VAR isn’t really a technological advancement. It changes almost nothing about the very human (and thus highly fallible) decision making process of a referee. Yet, the same can be said of Rugby’s Television Match Official and the NFL’s Instant Replay system, and these are far less contentious in today’s “Ingames.thisway at least, VAR isn’t really a technological advancement. It changes almost nothing about the very human (and thus highly fallible) decision making process of a referee.”
Forpoint.technology
exists to go back and analyse the events that took place, making use of the incredibly descriptive rule book that describes the number of steps required to complete a catch; the position of a quarterback’s hand to distinguish between an incomplete pass and a fumble; and the required distance from the line of scrimmage to distinguish a legal block from a pass interference offence. You probably had to read that sentence three times over for it to make any sense. But that’s the to function efficiently in the jurisdiction of sport, a precise, constitutional rule book is required. That way, it is possible to remove the subjectivity from the decision making of referees. In rugby, while forward pass calls might be one of the hardest to make, decisions on grounding and touch are more objective, if still difficult to discern in situations of a very small margin (see the 2007 World Cup Final). Football, however, is a different question altogether. Despite the efforts of IFAB to match the specificity of the NFL’s rules, football remains a highly subjective sport. What counts as ‘excessive force’? Which part of your body can be called offside? Where does the arm start and finish? IFAB’s attempts to answer these have been insufficient. Apparently, “any part of the head, body and feet”, excluding “the hands and arms of all players” can be considered to be offside and, when deciding a handball offence, “the upper boundary of the arm is in line with the bottom of the armpit”.
So where does that leave us? Will football ever get it right? And will we ever stop arguing about bloody VAR? History says: no. After more than four decades of testing, development and technological advancement, the NFL themselves have said that they “may never find the perfect system”. Rugby continues to see contentious decisions that will never be easily made. Football, the most subjective of them all, is just at the very start of this journey. That’s not to say that this journey should not be made at all: football without VAR is a lawless and unpredictable landscape. Tournaments and clubs that do not have yet have access to the technology make up the Wild West of the footballing world. For decades, we watched the most unjust moments play out on our television screens and begged the FIFA gods to let the referees see
The reason that these changes have been inefficient is that the technology is simply not advanced enough to impose them. The lines drawn by VAR look a good six inches thick and the frame-rate of the VAR camera is too slow to accurately specify the moment when the ball is passed. “So where does that leave us? Will football ever get it right? And will we ever stop arguing about bloody VAR? History says: no.”
BITS + PIECES
It’s been a traumatic summer for the Howard boozehounds with our driver, the legendary Bullet, having health problems and his bus packing in at the
what we see. And that’s what we got. All of a sudden, however, we’re throwing our toys out the pram and telling FIFA, IFAB, PGMOL, whoever will listen, that they’ve gotten it all wrong. Clearly, we all need to rethink what VAR means to us. Maybe we were misinformed: it was sold as the divine intervention required to save football from itself. But now we need to see it for what it really is, and the key is in the name: it’s an assistant, nothing more, nothing less. It helps the referee to make better, but not perfect, decisions. It is a filter to remove the most extreme human errors that are to be expected from a referee. So, if we expect errors from a referee in real time, why don’t we expect errors during a replay? Yes, there should be far fewer, but there will always be some. There will always be something we haven’t thought of and is therefore absent from the rule book. Thus, for a good period of time, VAR will only serve to shed light on the pitfalls and omissions of the laws of football and all the while, we will keep arguing about it. Ultimately, we’re stuck in a search for compromise. VAR can’t ever go away, nor can it ever be perfect. But it certainly can be better, and that’s what we must hope to see over the next few years. Until then, we must settle in for the bumpy journey that VAR will inevitably take. In fact, we must keep arguing about it, as the Americans did with their Instant Replay, since this is the only way it will ever reach a stage where it is sufficiently >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>accepted. Hippo says – I suspect this is an issue we will be talking about forever more once it’s introduced here in 2 – 3 months, please let me know your thoughts on the pros and cons for the Scottish game.
It>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>Dingwall!!lookslikewegotcloseto5000seasonticketssoldwhichisexcellent
same time. First and foremost we wish the bold boy all the very best and we hope he is back to roaring filthy abuse at fellow drivers in the near future. We have been homeless since the Howard shut with the bus leaving mainly from the Pyramid alongside the Travel Club lads. It looks like we will be leaving from the Netherton Bowling Club this season but need to get a minibus sorted, watch this space. In the meantime I’m driving to Dingbat on Saturday, my mates 7 yr old daughter Amy is coming with us and is convinced we are going to Dingbat……I don’t have the bottle to tell her it’s in the current financial climate. Walk up prices have rocketed at every club so I can see a drop in away attendances across the country but it’s good to see a good solid fan base at the Theatre of Pies, good home form will be crucial to any relative success this season. We had another excellent Growing the Killie Family initiative and even though the season is started we will still try to facilitate helping fans, if anyone wants to buy/donate a ticket then please email tomorecirOftoaverageweirdanywhereIt’s>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>killiehippoi@aol.commyguessthatthepopulationofKilliethrowawaymorefastfoodthaninBritain,ImayaddI’veneverbinnedachipinmylife.Thisconclusionisbasedonthenumberofseagullsinthetownwithanweightof3stone,howcanatownthatisnotonthecoastbehomesomanyoftheseflyingrats?coursethisisaseriousissueandeveryhomegameseesloadsofthemclingaroundtheEaststand,mainlyfromhalftimeonwardswhenthereisfoodonthego.Iamnoseagullexpertbutsomethingneedstobedonegetridofthesepests,anysuggestions???
Anyhow I like Leanne Crichton who is one of the better pundits on the telly box, here were her thoughts after a gobsmacking league decider: Let me set the scene. It was a glorious day in Ayrshire, the sun was shining. The streets around the stadium, buzzing with spectators descending on Rugby Park. Full of belief, nerves, excitement. Coinciding with the realisation that nine months of hard work came down to the 90 minutes that lay ahead. This was it. The title was to be decided. First against second. The underdog against the favoured. David against Goliath.
Kilmarnock – The Champions
We all know the whole of Scotland, apart from us Killie dudes, were siding with Arbroath and lets be honest we all like an underfish….sorry underdog. There isn’t always a happy ending all the same and as many Killie fans hashtagged before the game #f*** the fairytale. In all honesty Dick Campbell comes across as one of those cheeky wisecracking guys in front of the camera but his lack of class and dignity after the game suggests a bitter wee man below the surface…….nae luck ya sevco loving fud.
The sky, bright blue, the air was crisp. A rainbow shone brightly through the sprinkling water, as the water bathed in the evening Ayrshire sun. I made my way down to the turf inside Rugby Park. The feeling was different, I had made this walk on many occasions before but never before had I experienced this feeling of anticipation.
It’s not often we win anything but when we do it’s worth scouring the internet for the next days/weeks/ months to extend the celebration period. I have watched the Blair Alston winner 25,682 times and I can assure you I will get the same buzz when it comes to number 25,683.
Staff around me frantically working to finish their final pieces of preparation. Some players wander across the turf, going through pre match rituals, some on phones, others chatting as if there was nothing on the line.
strut, his arms swaggering by his side, to me, he looked quietly confident, although perhaps a little more reserved than his usual gallus self, I would hope he was absorbing every second of his evening, time waits for no one.
I walked down trackside and there was one familiar sight. A sight you couldn’t miss, the familiar bunnet. The bunnet of Mr Dick Campbell, a nomination for this year’s manager of the year. The very least he Thatdeserves.slow
It’s now five minutes until kick off. I can barely hear myself think, the stadium was rammed, three quarters filled with expectant Kilmarnock supporters. They would appear confident in their side, they were just 90 minutes away from restoring their Premiership status that was taken away 12 months prior. The other quarter, filled with Arbroath fans. There are 2300 Red Lichties in the Chadwick Stand to my left. Firmly hoping and praying that their fairytale story would come true. It had been a remarkable season and there was one more chapter still to be written.
I’ve been lucky enough to cover many live matches in recent years, but there’s nothing quite like a title decider, live on BBC Scotland, it certainly was shaping up to be an absolute cracker, and it didn’t disappoint.
The atmosphere as John Beaton blew the first whistle was electric. All the pre match talk, the superstitions, the hype, they were all over. As the Kilmarnock got the battle underway, it would be the part time Arbroath who landed the first punch.
Rugby Park was silenced after nine minutes. James Craigen broke the deadlock, the Red Lichties went bonkers.
Although, when I say this was a surprising lead, Arbroath have produced these moments throughout the season. It had become the norm. But it felt like this wasn’t in the script, certainly not for the home side.
Now, if there was going to be a way to win a Championship title and take your side back to the Premiership at the first time of asking, having gone a goal behind to your nearest rivals, this was it. I felt the game wouldn’t end this way, there was another goal in this. Another moment of composure. A moment worthy of winning a title.
A sea of red smoke scattered across the field as flares were thrown, the Killie players looked shell shocked, their manager looked stunned.
.Derek McInnes has been over the course many times as a manager. An arm around those who need it, a stern talking to the ones who need pumped up. He certainly understands what pressure and expectation feels like, his side had 45 minutes to control their destiny, because as it stood, Arbroath were top of the table, it was theirs to lose. Kilmarnock were a different side in the second half. Arbroath were on the ropes, the home support could sense a goal was coming but it was hard to see who would deliver that knockout blow. In these moments, someone needs to step up and take control. Go the extra yard, fight the extra fight, demand more from his team.
Half time came round quick, Arbroath had their game plan spot on, Kilmarnock failed to threaten enough, they looked nervous and under pressure, dragged into a battle they didn’t look equipped to win. However, I knew there wouldn’t be panic in the home dressing room
Up step Ash Taylor. Deadly from a set piece, he reacted quickest and with one swift motion, drew his side level. Smashing the ball into the roof of the net, it was all square with 12 minutes remaining.
HIPPO>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>champions.SAYS–ThanksLeanneforthatandyouarefarmorewelcome
A neat right footed finish which slid past Derek Gaston who stood helplessly in the Arbroath goal, he knew he couldn’t prevent the moment of heartbreak for his team.
Blair Alston proved me right. Kilmarnock were on the counter attack, down the right hand side, Arbroath just couldn’t recover. The tank was Laffertyempty. squared it for Shaw, but with his back to goal, spotted the run of Alston, just as the pitch side clock hit 90 minutes. Alston steadied himself with his first touch and with his second, he raised the roof of Rugby Park.
beside……..here’s
The scenes were incredible. Arbroath dropped to their knees, home fans spilled over their rows and onto the pitch. Alston’s shirt drifted in the air behind the path he ran, jubilant Killie fans grabbing the nearest stranger. McInnes darted down the touch line jumping and punching the air. The home crowd hit a moment of realisation, they had done it. They broke into UP, SAY WE ARE GOING UP”…..They did it. are Championship at the Theatre of Pies than some of the absolute nuggets that you have to work a taste of what we will be missing by not having to travel all over Scotland on a Friday night: James McFadden praising any team that plays Killie then holding back the tears as Killie win…..what did we do to him Ryan Stevenson attempting to grasp the English language then nailing some buckie in the car park before tanning a few local houses on the way Ianhome.McCall finding it almost impossible not to swear in every sentence then storming off to the soup kitchen before crashing on a bench on Glasgow Green.
“WEsong:ARE GOING
Kilmarnock
GrimAvoidedFairytale
(writes Craig McAllister from plainorpan.com)
To enjoy the feast, you must first experience the famine.
In something of a role reversal, it was my team Kilmarnock who were considered the big team, the big scalp, this season. Relegated a year ago in front of 500 socially distanced supporters, we’ve huffed and puffed in a Championship where we were expected to take the game to our underfunded and under supported opponents each week and sweep them aside in a display of breathless, free flowing, attacking football. I’d say each Saturday, but, being the big team, many of our games were televised on the Friday night; games in which we regularly self imploded by contriving to lose an early goal and then frustratingly fail to break down the opposition. Twenty minutes away to our bitter rivals Ayr aside, where we were three up before anyone’s pie had gone cold, breathless, free-flowing, attacking football was rather thin on the ground. And yet, we found ourselves top of the league and by Friday night we would wrap up the title if we could only beat Arbroath, the tiny part time team who had continually out fought, out thought, out played and out pointed every other team in the league.
That’s me misquoting Chick Young, BBC Sport Scotland’s football reporter, a man much maligned but one who seemingly has a soft spot for the wee teams and community clubs who win little in the way of silverware and league titles, but who continually go to-to-toe with the commercial nous of the big two Glasgow clubs.
Managed by the ‘charismatic’ and ever quotable old school manager Dick Campbell, Arbroath were everyone’s second favourite team. Just as Scotland go head to head with Ukraine soon in a match that no one outside of Scotland wants to see Scotland win, Killie found themselves in the position of being the panto villains, the party spoilers, the most hated team in the country. If you weren’t wearing blue and white stripes, you were wishing and hoping that wee Arbroath could pull off the (not really a) shock required. In our three previous encounters, Kilmarnock had failed to score a single goal and had they scored one more than us on Friday night, they’d have leapfrogged us into first place with one game remaining. Everyone; the BBC commentators, Rangers fans, neutrals, all wanted an Arbroath fairytale win.
Arbroath did their bit, aided by a poor referee who saw nothing wrong in a bad tackle on the edge of the Arbroath box, and, as the Kilmarnock players
Wee Burke came off the bench. Off form since being injured early in the season, this was rumoured to be the veteran’s last game. If so, he kept his best performance for a night when 10,000 home fans would be chanting his name in delight at the drive, determination and dribbling skills he had in his last twenty minutes locker. He sent over dangerous corner after dangerous corner and, after Shaw had seen his powerful downwards header sclaffed off the line,Taylor followed it up and slammed it into the roof of the net. The 80th minute equaliser was met with an explosion of noise heard as far away as deepest, southest Ayrshire. One goal wasn’t enough to win the league though. Continual Killie pressure prevailed. The Arbroath goalie was playing the game of his life, clearly injured yet turning shots round the post, over the bar, like Dino Zoff in his prime. Real Roy of the Rovers stuff. We battered and battered his goal. A winner would surely Itcome.did.
The game was turgid, Killie dragged into playing long ball football and frustrated by a team who slowed the game down at every opportunity, wasted time and employed every level of shithousery known in the name of anti football football. Effective, though. Outside of East Ayrshire, the country celebrated and dreamed. By half time, the fairytale was within touching distance, but a fired up Killie would sweep aside any notions of upset in a fly past and one sided second half. We left it late. Very late.
Late in the 89th minute, a beautifully weighted long ball down the right saw Lafferty coolly control and pass it in one sweeping movement.
Shaw, our number 9 controlled on the edge of the box and, as the clock turned to 90 minutes, laid it off for the on rushing Alston, an attacking midfielder who for most of the season has come in for an unfair amount of stick. Alston shifted the ball smartly from left foot to right and, without breaking stride, stroked it home. Bottom right corner, the keeper static. Alston’s top was off and windmilling wildly above his head before the ball had even nestled properly in the net. The entire team, the subs behind the goal, even Hemming our goalie, displaying a Bolt like sprinting ability to run the length of our hated plastic pitch, piled on Alston the hero. Watching back on the telly, I spotted a former pupil, a ball boy for the night, right in the middle of the celebrations. Scenes, as they say. A real,
remonstrated, an Arbroath player ran the length of the pitch, squared the ball sideways and a cool tap in saw the perfect conclusion to their counter attacking breakaway. Killie 0 – 1 Arbroath.
scripted, Hollywood ending, even if, for most of the country, the wrong team won in the end. Grim fairytale avoided.
Killie last won the league in 1965. Since then, they’ve been relegated to the lowest league, worked their way back up through the ’80s – never winning a title, always going up as runners up – and, until last season, had spent 28 years in the top flight. It’s not often then that Killie fans see their team win a league. Any league. It’s great to be back where we belong.
CATHY’S
Meantime I'm sure we are all looking forward to 'flag day' tomorrow when we kick off the new season against Dundee Utd!
I hope you have all had a good summer and enjoyed the warmer weather without being too badly impacted by Covid. It's a bit of a marathon report this time after the summer break, but I have tried to give a flavour of the amount of work going on during the close season, and also the range of community involvement by the Club, which has really ramped up again with the lifting of pandemic restrictions.
UPDATE
Football Update: It's been great to see fans back in the stadium for our Cup matches after the close season break. As members will be aware, the first team squad had a preseason week at Largs, followed by a trip to Spain, where matches took place against Lincoln Red Imps and Charlton Athletic. Matches were also played against Queen of the South (behind closed doors) and Dunfermline.
Thanks to the fans who made the long journeys to Fraserburgh and Montrose, as well as turning out at home for the Cup matches against Partick Thistle and Stenhousemuir. With a number of injuries to contend with, the squad dug in and provided a strong finish. Although disappointed that we didn’t top the group, the main objective was to move into the next round, which, as the Manager has said in interviews, will feel more like a Cup competition than the group stages did, especially as we now know we will line up against Hearts at Tynecastle!
Head of Media Scott McClymont also departed after 5 years at the club having secured a position with a charity, which will allow his career to develop. Again, we wish him well and I know he is looking forward to returning to Rugby Park as a season ticket holder!
Head of Football Operations James Fowler left the club having decided that he preferred to seek a new challenge elsewhere, and we wish him and his family well for whatever comes next.
The Manager has been consistent in his regular media and post-match interviews about his desire to build a squad that can compete in the top league. He hopes to add further players to the squad in addition to those familiar faces who have returned to Killie and the new players who have already joined. The backroom team has also been strengthened with additional capacity in analysis and physio, with a revamp of recruitment and scouting also under way. As members will recall, the Club took some difficult staffing decisions when the Covid pandemic first emerged, and throughout the championship season the non football staff team continued in those limited numbers. With a return to the top league plus changes in the Youth Academy set up and the new league for the Women's Team under auspices of the SPFL, it was important to review capacity and structure.
At time of writing the recruitment process has not been fully completed for all appointments, and the Club will give an update on the restructured staff team once all are in place. Also on the football side:
• The Academy under 18s squad participated in a pre-season trip to Stoke, which was a great experience for the young players, and we are keen to see more opportunities like this. Trust Chair Jim Thomson and I have discussed with Paul di Giacomo how we can support further opportunities for the Youth Academy to participate in competitions and tournaments such as the 'Super Cup Northern Ireland' which will be held next year, so watch out for information from the Trust on this! A group of Academy parents have formed a fundraising Committee and are planning various events to help raise funds. All of the funds raised will be used to directly benefit the young players and their development.
• The Club has confirmed that we will participate in the new Reserve League next season. This will see a limited number of matches played on fortnightly basis, leaving opportunities for additional friendly matches as well as the Reserve Cup.
• We were delighted to welcome Chris Burke back to take up the role of Reserves, U18s and Intermediates Coach. He will be working closely with Craig Clark and Paul di Giacomo as well as linking in with first team staff. Paul di Giacomo has also brought back some familiar faces to assist with the Youth Academy. Alan Robertson will take on a 'floating' coach role, looking after loaned out Academy players, and act as an Academy scout within the East Renfrewshire/East Kilbride areas, as part of a revamped scouting network. Paul Wright will coach the Academy 2008’s (under 15’s) like Alan, bringing a wealth of experience.
• The Club is committing further support to the Women’s First Team with the appointment of Jim Chapman as Women’s Football Development Manager. Jim is no stranger to Killie, having been coach of a previous highly successful Killie Women’s team, as well as managerial experience in the men's game. He has recently returned to Scotland after a spell coaching in ThanksUSA.
• Everyone at the Club was saddened at the news of the passing of Willie Fisher, who had a long association with our youth set up. Our condolences go to his family and friends.
• Through my 'day job' with Care Visions, I have facilitated an opportunity for our youth academy to participate in the development of a wellbeing programme for young players as part of a pilot, which also includes the Dundee Utd Academy. This work is funded by Care Visions and being done in conjunction with Stirling University.
are due to Craig Clark, Paul di Giacomo, Andy Black, Chris Burke, Alan Robertson and Nathan Wallace, who supported the Women's team in various ways in the interim, including taking training and dealing with initial work on contracts for the season ahead. I met with the women’s squad, along with Gregg McEwan from the Club, and Phyllis McLeish has also met with them, to outline our commitment as a club and to hear their views on how we can best support them going forward so that we are able to challenge for a top league spot.
• Internally, the first team dressing room, which had not been upgraded since the 90's has been completely refurbished and alterations have been undertaken to improve the office accommodation for the Manager, coaches and backroom team. The referees' room has also been revamped.
• During the close season the work on the wheelchair platform was completed and it was good to see members of KFCDSA finally get into their places!
• Power washing has also been done on roof sections, and damaged seating repaired and replaced.
• In the 1869 Suite, new carpet has been installed and the original wooden dance floor been restored, giving greater flexibility for the type of events it can host.
Facilities Upgrades:
• The former Premier Lounge, which had latterly been used as a temporary office, is also being completely renovated, giving additional capacity on match day for guests and hospitality. The Privilege Seat Holder Board which had been located in that facility has been moved to another position within the stadium so that it can be visible during stadium tours and fans attending other hospitality.
• Work has commenced on the cladding for the portacabins at the Moffat Stand.
• The Museum requires a couple of things to be completed before it can open to public, but it is still planned to use this as base for stadium tours, to host lower cost family friendly hospitality option on match day and to be open to public a couple of afternoons per week.
Commercial Highlights: • The early launch of new kit has gone down well with 6,500 shirts purchased between home, away and third shirt • The popular Killie Ltd line sold over 2500 items • Champions merchandise range, which was on sale quickly after title winning match, sold almost 2000 units • Almost 4500 season tickets were sold in the early bird window ending 30/6/22 and this has risen to 4800. It would be fantastic if we could reach 5000! • Season ticket cards are now available for collection from the Ticket Office for those who ordered these. • 889 “bricks” have been sold as at 30/6/22 • Captain Conker book was launched in April and has sold 250 copies • New season player sponsorships for first team squad are now available. For the coming season the package will include an opportunity to watch a training session.Anyone wishing to sponsor a player shirt should contact raymondmontgomerie@kilmarnockfc.co.uk
• It was confirmed that Hummel will be kit supplier until summer 2026
• The Club hosted the Scottish Junior Cup Final at Rugby Park, which saw a win by Auchinleck Talbot over Yoker Athletic FC Fan and Community Engagement:
• Arrangements for sponsoring Women’s team shirts will be announced in due course, but in meantime, if anyone would like to register interest, please let me know. (Thanks to those who have already been in touch)
A number of fans contacted me regarding the possibility of an Open Day ahead of season staring. We did consider this, but with the fixtures falling as they did and being in the middle of recruitment on both the playing side and club staff, it was felt that it would not be feasible to anything of scale at that time. We therefore prioritised building on community connections and focussing on young people in particular, getting the Championship Trophy out and about.
The 'Trophy Tour' which was carried out by KCST saw 5925 young people across schools in East and North Ayrshire get to see the cup up close, which will hopefully spark interest amongst kids who have not yet been to Rugby Park as well as those who are already Killie fans!
We have generally been working hard via the Club, the Killie Trust and KCST to encourage children and young people to get involved in supporting the Club. It has been very heartening to see the rise in Season Tickets for young people and we very much hope that the Season Ticket Youth Pathway will get young people continuing to support the club at various stages in their lives.
Thanks to generous donations by Killie Trust members and other Killie fans, the Moffat Safe Standing Area and rows immediately in front, will now mostly be given over to the Secondary School Supporters' Groups. Trust Chair Jim Thomson and I met with representatives from the groups, including teachers and students, to discuss how best to allocate places, and it was agreed that schools themselves would take this on. Additional free tickets will be made available as before to local groups and also to primary schools, via KCST. As Trust members will know, we believe that our safe standing area within a family stand is pretty unique and, with the changing of regulations in England set to allow more safe standing at matches there, our own safe standing has again attracted some interest.
Donation Link The Club worked with young fans to support their plans for the 'TIFO' card display at the final league match last season. We have again supported their ideas for the opening match of the season and will continue to work with them on ways of creating the kind of atmosphere which will add to the match day KCSTexperience.activities have increased. The Summer Programme started with the launch of KCST ‘Fitba First’ programme which welcomed 30 P6s-S2s, mostly from Onthank Primary and St. Joseph's Academy, along to the stadium every day for breakfast, free football, First Aid and defibrillator training, and a healthy, player's lunch prepared by the club's chefs.
The Football Memories group continues to grow, with 41 participants at the last event where Ross Mathie and the group discussed the Tartan Army through generations and heard some of his stories from involvement with the Scotland National Team. The group meets on the first Monday of each month, with weekly Killie drop ins also at the Alzheimer Scotland Resource Centre every other Monday.
• East Ayrshire Council’s Play Day at Kay Park on Wednesday 3rd August
Our Refugee Inclusion programme continues to flourish with a group of up to 8 youngsters originally from Syria and Afghanistan coming along to Rugby Park every Monday with their families to enjoy free football and to feel part of the football club. On 27th July we surprised 32 Ukrainian young people with some Killie kit of their own and games on the pitch!
Alongside the Summer Football programme, KCST's Hexagol sessions took place at the Johnnie Walker Estate Gala, and the Ayrshire Athletics Arena on Tues 26th July. It will be at:
• Barony Campus Cumnock’s P7 Transition event on Friday 12th August
Fitba First Video Since Fitba First, KCST has been delivering our 'Killie Masterclass' (for 12-18 age group) and 'Summer Champions' (for 5 12 age group) football camps at Ayrshire College. For the Summer Champions, each day between 110 -140 local kids along each day. Each one received a free, healthy lunch thanks to West FM Cash for Kids.
• Rose Reilly Sports Centre on Monday 15th August
• Kilwinning’s Picnic in the Park on Thursday 11th August
The very popular 'Weigh to Go' is coming back after a hugely successful block of men’s and women’s programmes, culminating in a game of Walking Football between the groups vs Jack Sanders, Zach Hemming and Chris Stokes! ups are now open with the deadline for registrations on 29thJuly at 12pm.
issues) • Football
community@kcst.co.uk
The next Football Memories event is on Monday 1 August when the Group will visit the Scottish Football Museum at Hampden. For more information on any of these events, or if you would like to join or volunteer, please email
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Women's group is led by Mairi Mackenzie: LINK Men's group is led by Daryl Knapp: LINK Future programmes to look forward to include: (challenging mental health Fans in Training First Aid and Defibrillator Training Killie Trust Activities: The Junior Killie Trust has been launched, including the Squirrel Club for the youngest fans. There will be a range of membership benefits and activities on
• The Changing Room
offer, including the chance to be a match mascot, and a kids' Christmas Party. Between the Schools Supporters Clubs and the Junior Trust, this also gives the Club a way of engaging and consulting younger fans about their views. As well as reaching out to young people, we have also been working to ensure that all of our fan base feels included within the Club. I hosted a Forum in the Champions Lounge for Women Trust members, where we discussed how some simple improvements could be made to the facilities, merchandise and travelling to enable more women to be involved. I have committed to a quarterly meeting for women supporters and information on the next meeting will be circulated via the DatesTrust.for all member forums, and also an online meeting for 'Killie Exiles' are being finalised and will be circulated via the Killie Trust.
The date for the On Board In Person event with the Manger will also be circulated for those who had signed up to the event which had to be postponed. The Manager did a Q and A at the KFCSA AGM which I also attended. We will also be looking at future OBIP events, so any suggestions for those please let us Trustknow!Board member Robert Foster has been working with Fans Supporting Foodbanks Scotland, which launched on 12 July. Clubs who have so gave initial backing to the initiative include ourselves at Kilmarnock FC, along with Celtic, Partick Thistle, Dundee and Dundee Utd. The Trust and the Club will be working together to support regular collections at home matches. Planning is under way for the first collection at Rugby Park If anyone is interested in being involved, please let me know! During the summer months the Trust Board has continued to work on our internal review of Trust activities, and mission future mission, with support from Trust Board member Martin Boyle. With the Trust’s 20th Anniversary coming up next year, the Trust Board will be finalising recommendations for discussion with members, so that we can agree both short- and longer term priorities. Further information will be sent out by the Trust Hippo>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>Board.says–It’sgreatthatCathycontinuestoprovidearegularupdate for fans and there is some good stuff in the latest update. Cathy mentioned that 6500 shirts had been sold, that amount will probably be over 7000 now as the update was about a month ago.
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
WHO REMEMBERS THE MOUJIKE BOD END?
What a fantastic old pic that brings some fantastic memories flooding back. I remember standing behind those goals with my dad as Big D skelped home the winner in the Scottish Cup replay v Celtic in 1978.
