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:
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.
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.
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