No Deal!

Not had much to report in recent weeks about the campaign until now. Over the past few weeks it has looked like very little has been happening but behind the scenes the campaign team have been busy working on some different little things.

The big one of these was revealed in the Stirling Observer yesterday (22/07/2009) that the campaign team had made a bid to buy Stirling Albion Football Club. The initial bid placed by the campaign team matched Mr McKenzie's initial asking price for the club, reportedly £300,000. This initial offer was accepted by Mr McKenzie and a date was arranged for the details of the takeover to be hammered out at this meeting Mr McKenzie retracted the acceptance of the £300,000 offer made by the campaign team and at this stage Mr McKenzie changed his asking price for Stirling Albion FC, it has now been reported that the new asking price is in the region of £450,000. It is currently unclear why Mr McKenzie has increased his asking price but at this time the Buy Stirling Albion Campaign Team feel this asking price does not accurately reflect the clubs true value and have retracted any offers made.

This however is not the end of the road for the Buy Stirling Albion Campaign as the campaign team are currently reviewing the situation and planning the way to go forward to try and secure the future of Stirling Albion for the local community. It is hoped that in the future that Mr McKenzie will return to the negotiating table to agree to a takeover package that will save Stirling Albion.

Other News

There is some more news regarding the campaign recently the campaign team have set up a way to make money from your old unused mobile phones. No matter the age or condition of the phone if you send them to:

FREEPOST
RRRA-CZXK-UKEK
Stirling Albion
Vulcan Road North
Norwich
NR6 6AQ

Please remove your sim card from the phones.

The Buy Stirling Albion Campaign has recently announced that there are well over 2,000 members just now who have bought a membership for £40. If you still haven't got your membership then go over to www.buystirlingalbion.org.uk and buy yours today.

Also on a final wee note if you are in and around Stirling in the coming weeks look out for members of the team who are trying to raise the profile of the campaign we will be at most events in and around Stirling over the summer and most weekends we can be found in the Thistle Centres in the town. So if you see us please come over and say hi, or even if you want to help out just contact Stef at stef@buystirlingalbion.org.uk and he will pass your details on to the team.

£60,000 in the pot

Well it looks like the campaign has managed to secure £60,000 in membershis to the trust which I must say is a excellent start to the campaign. This weekend is cup final weekend and well for all those supporters of Rangers, Falkirk, Chelsea and Everton why not help us out buy logging on to the Buy Stirling Albion Website and donating a quid, not that much really but if all 140,000 of you chuck a quid into the pot we make a giant step to saving Stirling Albion from going into administration. So please go to www.buystirlingalbion.org.uk and either buy a Stirling Albion Supporters Trust Membership or donate what ever you can and help us the Stirling Albion Supporters seccure the future of professional and community football in the City of Stirling.

Cup Final, Hampden, Saturday 30th May. HELP!

Just looking to see if anyone can help us out on Saturday 30th May at Hampden.

The Buy Stirling Albion team are looking for volunteers to go through to Hampden on Cap Final day to help raise funds and awareness of the campaign to save the Binos. The plan is to have collection buckets around the outside of the ground.

If anyone can help us out please reply here or go to the Stirling Albion Forum and post over there saying you can help.

If you need transport to the game all that has been organised and you won't be out of pocket fr your transport.

£41,000

Not what the campaign has raised but that is what Stirling Albion need to pay to Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs and it needes to be payed ASAP or HMRC will sink the Binos, they have already launched their torpeado this week at Stirling Sherrif Court when they applied for an order to put the club into admisistration over unpaid National Insurance and Tax.

A spokesperson for Stirling Albion owner Peter MacKenzie said that it was an "oversight" and that it will be resolved soon. How can a £41,000 tax bill be an oversight?

Buy Stirling Albion campaigner Paul Goodwin said that

"This news reinforces how serious the situation at Stirling Albion is.

"It's hand-to-mouth at the club. This is a strange situation for us because if the club went into administration we could bid to take it out of administration but we have to wait and see what happens."

I hope that over the next week this situation is resolved and doesn't end with Stirling Albion Football Club vanishing from Scottish Football.

I also hope that this doesn't put people off investing in the Buy Stirling Albion Campaign as if Stirling Albion were to go into administration I am sure the campaign organisers would do everything in their powers to pull the club out of administration. So now we really need you to get behind the Buy Stirling Albion Campaign and support us please go to

www.buystirlingalbion.org.uk and please take out a membership or donate what ever you can to save Stirling Albion Football Club and preserve professional football in the City of Stirling.

Banners

Not much to say just now about the campaign apart from if you drive around Stirling you will see that the advertising banners are going up all over town. The Buy Stirling Albion Campaign organisers have done well so far with the banner design and ofcourse the website.

Just would like remind people that we will be out and about at events throughout the area over the summer so if you want to help just go the Stirling Albion Forum and say you are wanting to help out.

Talking about banners you can get a few for your web page/blog/forum signature/bebo just go to the banners page

If you haven't done so already go over to the Buy Stirling Albion and join the Supporters Trust or donate whatever you can.

World Champion Supports Campaign

Snooker World Champion Stephen Hendry has thrown his weight behind the Buy Stirling Albion Campaign. The 7 time world champion has joined us to save the Binos. Stephen Hendry has strong connections with the CIty of Stirling and stays not to far from the City so to have him on board is excellent. I hope he will agree to some publicity events over the next few weeks/months to help us save the club.

Not only Stephen Hendry has joined us since the launch of the campaign but we also have the support of Scotland Internationalists and sons of the rock Steven and Gary Caldwell have also decided to back the campaign to help save their local team.

They all join Christiano Ronaldo and Nick Narin as supporters of the campaign.

So please join our celebrities buy supporting the campaign and joining the Supporters Trust over at:

www.buystirlingalbion.org.uk

Videos of the meeting

With thanks to Baz Mac from the Stirling Albion forum we now have the Buy Stirlng Albion launch uploaded to You Tube.

So when you have got a wee bit free time why not go and watch the launch and you will get to know what the Buy Stirling Albion Campaign are planning.

Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4

There is still a lot more to come and over the next few weeks you will see us out and about trying to get more people to support the campaign to save Stirling Albion, and we are still looking for volunteers to help out raise awareness of the campaign so if you have some free time at the weekends and want to help out please go to the Stirling Albion Forum and put a post up in one of the volunteer request topics and you will be given all the details you need.

Finally remember this won't be possible without YOUR help so if you haven't already bought a membership or donated to the Stirling Albion Supporters Trust please go over to the Buy Stirling Albion website and get your membership.

All Systems Are Go!

Last night was the official launch of the Buy Stirling Albion campaign with the inargural meeting with the fans. For over 9 months the people behind the campaign were planning this launch and what to do to save the Binos and yesterday saw the start of the begining of a new era of football in Stirling.

The meeting was attended by around 200 people who had an interest in saving Stirling Albion from financial ruin and they were not disappointed with outcome of the meeting. The proposal made was over the course of this season get people from across the world to join the Stirling Albion Supporters Trust and help raise the money needed to buy out the majority share holder Peter MacKenzie. Mr MacKenzie has been wanting to sell the club for a few years now but no one has come forward with an offer that he liked and now the future of Stirling Albion Football Club is in doubt as there has been no one intrested until now where the Stirling Albion supporters have decided it is now time to do something to secure the future of professional football in the City of Stirling.

Mr MacKenzie wasn't at the meeting last night but we were assured that he the organisers of Buy Stirling Albion had been in contact him throughout the past few months and the relationship between Mr MacKenzie and the Supporters Trust has started to improve and last night Mr MacKenzie sent an email/letter to the organisers:

"I am delighted that the fans have got this ambitious and exciting
initiative off the ground to assist the future development of the club. I
have been ploughing a pretty lone furrow over recent years to keep the club
in existence and any assistance is to be greatly welcomed.

I offer my support and best wishes to those involved. Once the campaign is underway I
will be happy to sit down and discuss the way ahead to ensure that
professional football continues at Stirling Albion. These are difficult
economic times but I am hopeful that the Stirling public and fans far and
wide will respond favourably."

This statement was for me one of the best parts of the launch as it shows that Mr MacKenzie is now ready to get around the table and start to talk about a deal and over the past few years the Supporters Trust has not had a response like that. I would just now like to thank Mr MacKenzie on behalf of everyone connected with Stirling Albion for the amount of time and money he has put into the club with out Peter I wouldn't be writing about the Binos as we would have went under years ago. It may be Mr MacKenzie that has caused this debt of the club but if he didn't put his money in to the Albion's pot there would be no Albion. I hope that for Peter MacKenzie we do manage to raise enough money to buy the club from him and let him enjoy his final years without the burden of Stirling Albion.

The other big thing from last nights meeting was the pruposed business plan that would be put in place if we did get ownership of the club and basically it was make Stirling Albion a community club. Where the club and community of Stirling and surrounding areas can work togheter to improve the football tallents in the area and activly work with getting the tallented youngsters out there to join in with the Young Reds and if after time with the Young Reds they are enjoying playing football in a safe enviroment. If they feel that they want to continue and see if they can make it as a footballer they will be placed in to one of the Young Reds league teams where their tallent can grow and maybe one day if they show they can be a good player and that they would like to move on up to the youth set up and after that in to the main Stirling Albion team.

The tallent development isn't the only community part of the plan but it covers everything from letting kids under 16 get in to games for free with a paying adult and also a whole host of other community activities to show the people of Stirling that they have a football team on their own door step and that with their help it could well be a great community asset.

The other main part of the business strategy is to start making use of the advertising aspects the club can sell to not just local community companies but big international companies maybe even sell the club name as a franchise and have it called something like "MacDonalds Stirling Albion Football Club"

But I can officially say that this was one of the best if not the best buy out plan I have seen for any business and it aims to let the ordinary public have a say in how Stirling Albion Football CLub should progress.

So please become a member of the Supporters Trust and help us buy our wee club we need your help to keep professional football alive in the City of Stirling. If you don't want to be a member of the Supporters Trust but would like to donate you can do that as well. Just go to

www.buystirlingalbion.org.uk

Also please have a look at the campaign video over at You Tube

The voice over is done by top TV chef Nick Narin.

And finally just on the note of celebrities we have the full endorsement of Manchester United Player Christian Ronaldo we hope we can get him to appear in the City of Stirling some time soon to help us promote our campaign.

Get Involved!

Just noticed on that the BBC now have a article on the possible buy out. From that it looks like this excellent idea may even be possible as from the BBC report it looks like anyone who has an interest in saving the Binos can help as the campaign is looking for supporters to pledge £40 to help save the club.

The £40 membership to the Supporters Trust is excellent value for money. Just go over to www.buystirlingalbion.org.uk and have a look at the offers if we sucseed in buying Stirling Albion. I really think everyone who has the smallest of soft spots for the Binos should get involved now as they would miss out on this opertunity to be part of the first fully supporters owned club in the UK and not just that they will get the chance to be in a draw for executive seating at a home game and the chance to get a seat on the team bus as well for some away games.

I can now honestly say that this is the best ever package I have seen put toghether that will save Stirling Albion and I do think that this will work if everyone who has the minutest of soft spots for the Binos and the people of the City of Stirling get behind this campaign and join the Stirling Albion Supporters Trust for only £40.

So to the people of Stirling please support the city's only professional football team in their hour of need.

Tonight is the night

The most important meeting in the history of Stirling Albion FC takes place tonight at the King Robert Hotel in Stirling. This meeting will hopefully get the ball rolling to save the club from going bust. I will be updating this soon after the meeting. But it is now or never for the Binos so if you are not doing anything tonight please come along the the King Robert Hotel for the meeting be there for 7pm.

If you are going to sit in tonight to watch some useless international or the Champions League semi final why, do you really want to see the city of Stirling without a professional football team? no prospects for youngsters to get into the professional game. Forget about the other football tonight and get out and support your local team.

REMEMBER IT IS YOUR CITY, YOUR TEAM!

YOUR TEAM NEEDS YOU!

Welcome

Welcome to the Save Stirling Albion blog.

As you are all aware that Stirling Albion Football club is very close to extinction there have been some behind the scenes goings ons with various supporters organisations including the Supporters Trust, Supporters Club, the Young Reds and the websites connected with the Binos. All this started a few months ago and nothing could be mentioned anywhere until now due to legal implications but today is the day when they decided to go public. Now I haven't been involved in the behind the scenes talks and that but now that everything is public I will be doing my best to get coverage of the biggest development in the history of Stirling Albion Football Club since it was founded in 1945.

I hope to include all the latest updates regarding this as things develop. The only thing I can say just now this is a do or die moment as if we don't do anything to guarantee the survival of the Binos just now the club will be out of existence in a couple of years.

The final thing I can provide just now is the press release that was posted over at www.stirlingalbion.com as well as www.stirlingalbionfc.com and www.safcst.org.uk apart from that there isn't much more to say except if you want to see professional football continue in Stirling please come along to the meeting on Wednesday 6th May at the King Robert Hotel in St. Ninians, Stirling. Where all will be revealed to the world.

PRESS RELEASE
SAVE STIRLING ALBION

As we all know Stirling Albion Football Club is for sale. Chairman Peter McKenzie has announced to the world on several occasions that he is looking to step down and be relieved of his majority shareholding in the club. Talk of mystery consortiums has come and gone and despite the chairman hanging on for a white knight to charge over the horizon the offers simply haven't materialised. It's clear Peter wants out so maybe it's down to the fans to give him his wish. How do we do this though ? Peter won't give the club away and we need to show him we mean business and that we really are the people to lead the club into the future.

Therefore at this crucial moment in the history of Stirling Albion FC the fans have come together to act. Driven by the Supporters Trust, the Supporters Club, Young Reds, Websites and fans old and new have united. Backed by our own team of legal experts and campaign professionals we will never have a better chance of giving our club the future we all think it deserves. For months now ideas, options, proposals and suggestions have been discussed until a plan for taking the club forward was agreed. It's now time to get YOU involved and so we are therefore pleased to announce what could well be one of the most important meetings in our clubs recent history. For reasons of legality, confidentiality and publicity we cannot go into too much detail at this point in time. All we can promise is you will not be disappointed with what you see.

Where - King Robert Hotel, Glasgow Road, Bannockburn
When - Wednesday 6th May - 7.00pm for a 7.15pm start
What - Campaign for Community ownership of Stirling Albion
Why - We can’t do it without YOU!!

If you have any interest in the future of Stirling Albion and it’s place in our community we would plead with you to attend. We’re not too proud to beg. Please, please take the time to be there and to help play your part in shaping the future of Stirling Albion.

Bring a friend, bring your family, bring a neighbour. Bring anyone you know who runs a business in the town or anyone who has even the smallest of soft spots for the Albion. Everybody is welcome. Please be assured this is not a gimmick. This campaign has been months in the planning and is in our opinion possibly the one and only chance the fans and community will get to have a say in the running of their team. This is not about egos or making names for ourselves. This is about the long term security and viability of Stirling Albion Football Club. Hopefully this is something we all feel equally passionate about.

Look forward to seeing you on the 6th May.

Please feel free to contact us at info@safcst.org.uk if you have any queries about the meeting.

Stirling Albion Supporters Trust
www.safcst.org.uk