‘Do you know anybody who’s looking to take over a football club?’ Geoff Brown delivers brutal verdict on St Johnstone ownership

One of the few clubs with a support is Hearts and they could be relegated. Personally I say bring on the death of Scottish football, can’t bloody wait - we will find a place somewhere. Over 100,000 supporters in Glasgow between us and the mhanks - football (or rather Sky) is not going to wave goodbye to them. Imagine playing in a proper league with proper refs, pitches, technology. Would be a dream.
 
LOL 133 said:
It doesnt last if there's no excitement.

Anyway Im off. No point in trying to change things. Ive moved out of Scotland. Enjoy your football while it lasts.
Click to expand...
Can i ask if you have lived anywhere else other than Scotland? (Before you moved to England)
 
Bonnyloyal said:
The Perth businessman rescued the cash-crippled club from the brink of bankruptcy more than 30 years ago.

He handed the reins to son Steve eight years ago, when a new-look board appointed Steve Lomas in succession to departing boss Derek McInnes.

But Brown Sr is still Saints‘ major shareholder.

And he sympathises with Steve, who recently revealed he isn’t contemplating a dynasty at McDiarmid Park.

Speaking to the BBC at the weekend, Brown Jr said: “I don’t want my family to come into it. They have promised me they won’t.

“It is a lot of sacrifices. It is the nature of the beast. But I wouldn’t wish it on my kids.”

The Saints chairman, who has warned Perth fans to brace themselves for “heavy losses”, plans to withdraw from the frontline

Brown Sr said: “I can understand why Steve is getting fed-up with it.

“I suppose you could say he is getting browned-off after all these years. Steve is just being honest with his comments.

“Let’s face it, who would spend the amount of time, unpaid, that both Steve and I have spent on St Johnstone down the years?

“It is hard going. It always has been. The stakes are so high but you can’t wash your face financially.

“If we hadn’t had other projects to bring some cash into the club, we’d have gone bust years ago.”

Brown Sr – who steered Saints from the depths of Scottish football and pushed through the move from Muirton to McDiarmid – admitted it was dispiriting that the historic 2014 Scottish Cup triumph didn’t reap long-term rewards.

“It’s depressing to say the least when you can’t even get 1,500 season ticket holders signed up after all the success the club has had,” he said.

“And I can’t think of anything we haven’t tried to improve.”

So what does the future hold for Saints when the Brown era eventually draws to a close?

“I wish I did have a plan going forward,” he admitted.

“Do you know anybody who is looking to take over a football club? There’s fans’ control at Motherwell and they have been fortunate in selling a number of players, with sell-ons.

“It’s coming at Hearts and St Mirren. But Hearts are a big city club. In general terms, I don’t see it as the way forward.

“There is absolutely no chance of that model working for St Johnstone.

“Go back to 1986 when we held a rights issue. We got a total of just over £10,000. That showed you the demand to get involved at St Johnstone financially.
Click to expand...
O8h8r9n.gif
 
LOL 133 said:
Its a pity no one in authority can see the bleeding obvious. We have one of the least competitive leagues in the world with over 90% of titles shared between 2 teams.

The ONLY solution is to share the limited resources more evenly AND introduce a Scottish professional footballers salary scale.

These two moves would allow the "diddy" teams to develop young exciting competitive teams and maybe give us genuine competition. Nothing else will save the game here.

I raised this years ago with Keevins and the thick bastard claimed it was "communism".

The point is sport isnt worth watching without competition and we dont have this in Scotland.

Please dont bother telling me about other leagues. None come near ours for lack of competition.
Click to expand...

Which resources do you envisage being shared?
 
Forget the prize money at the end of the season. It mostly goes to Rangers and Celtic. Use that money to subsidise games. Get the ticket prices down at selected games. Not Old Firm games. See what the impact is. Kids in for free. Try something just don't sit about doing zilch.
 
flootbon said:
Forget the prize money at the end of the season. It mostly goes to Rangers and Celtic. Use that money to subsidise games. Get the ticket prices down at selected games. Not Old Firm games. See what the impact is. Kids in for free. Try something just don't sit about doing zilch.
Click to expand...

Reducing ticket prices isnt the answer imo. St J have basically said as much as they have tried various schemes. It's not the price per se, its the lack of competition. Why go see a game of football when it is essentially meaningless in the grand scheme of the season when you know you arent even going to have a chance to win anything?

Hearts and Hibs attendances went through the roof when they were in division 1. That's because their supporters could actually see them trying to win something.
 
flootbon said:
Forget the prize money at the end of the season. It mostly goes to Rangers and Celtic. Use that money to subsidise games. Get the ticket prices down at selected games. Not Old Firm games. See what the impact is. Kids in for free. Try something just don't sit about doing zilch.
Click to expand...


They have done something Old Firm fans now take 3/4 of the stadium.
 
United Football League of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

Would be brilliant, not going to happen I know.
 
g87 said:
So the long term approach is to hope every scottish team goes under and we then hope that another country, league etc takes us on?
Click to expand...

I don't hate them or want them to go bankrupt, I just don't care if they go under. It could very well be bad for Scottish football but somehow I doubt they will be dearly missed apart from by their fans.

After what we went through I have zero sympathy for any club apart from those that were welcoming to us, and they are in the lower leagues.
 
g87 said:
So the long term approach is to hope every scottish team goes under and we then hope that another country, league etc takes us on?
Click to expand...

No, that would be an extreme and won't happen.

I won't shed a single tear for any club in Scotland who goes under. Not a single fucking one.

However, they won't all go that way and perhaps when 4 or 5 do, people will wake up and realise that continuing to the same thing and not change anything at all isn't the answer.
 
It's not our responsibility to keep St Johnstone afloat through revenue sharing. If they can't sustain their business without the help of others, then like thousands of other businesses every year, they'll go bust. The idea that we should share our gate receipts with the rest of Scottish football is one of the most absurd things i've read on here.

The long term impact is we'll have far fewer football teams in Scottish football, which should always have been the case. One team in Dundee is enough, one team in Fife is enough, one team in North & South Lanarkshire is enough. The sooner we reach that point, the better for the game.
 
Barryhopez said:
I'm not a fan of any other team in Scotland, soft spot for one or 2, but that's it. However, I do recognise the need for competition and looking at Scottish football right now is a bit depressing.

The whole "long.....slow.....lingering death" patter is just daft in the long term. If teams like St Johnstone for example get worse and worse with less money as we and Celtic coin it in then it'll end up almost like amateur football with all crowds dropping.

The greater spread of cash as suggested by @LOL 133 is a good idea, but needs clubs to literally see beyond their own nose.
Click to expand...

The whole of football have this issue except the EPL who have mega mega riches and a whole league branding rather than individual clubs.

UEFA need to step in and start distributing European football money to leagues not individual clubs. It then needs to reach every club evenly.

Football just isn't the sport it used to be.
 
Coda said:
It's not our responsibility to keep St Johnstone afloat through revenue sharing. If they can't sustain their business without the help of others, then like thousands of other businesses every year, they'll go bust. The idea that we should share our gate receipts with the rest of Scottish football is one of the most absurd things i've read on here.

The long term impact is we'll have far fewer football teams in Scottish football, which should always have been the case. One team in Dundee is enough, one team in Fife is enough, one team in North & South Lanarkshire is enough. The sooner we reach that point, the better for the game.
Click to expand...

Substitute those first two words for European and Glasgow and you’d probably get a job in UEFA.

That’s the thing about “survival of the fittest”.
Sometimes their are others fitter than yourself and you question the wisdom of that ruthless attitude when you’re no longer the biggest fish in the pond.
 
Coda said:
It's not our responsibility to keep St Johnstone afloat through revenue sharing. If they can't sustain their business without the help of others, then like thousands of other businesses every year, they'll go bust. The idea that we should share our gate receipts with the rest of Scottish football is one of the most absurd things i've read on here.

The long term impact is we'll have far fewer football teams in Scottish football, which should always have been the case. One team in Dundee is enough, one team in Fife is enough, one team in North & South Lanarkshire is enough. The sooner we reach that point, the better for the game.
Click to expand...

I used to think like that but I think if a team ceased then I dont see why a support of that team would then go and support another side. So we will have the same issue again for any new club.

Why would 1500 motherwell fans start going to see North Lanarkshire United??
 
Outside of us,the paedos,two Edinburgh clubs and the sheep the average attendances of the rest are under 6000,and that’s including season ticket holders that don’t even attend games.

St. Johnstone has a ground that holds 10,600 odd so realistically their ground is probably nearer about a third full for most games.

That’s just not sustainable.
 
90minsofmadness said:
The whole of football have this issue except the EPL who have mega mega riches and a whole league branding rather than individual clubs.

UEFA need to step in and start distributing European football money to leagues not individual clubs. It then needs to reach every club evenly.

Football just isn't the sport it used to be.
Click to expand...

I agree. We have to sort out individual leagues so we can get back to the way it was before greed and big business distorted things.

I know its hard to swallow but the current arrangements arent sustainable. No one likes it and that includes fans of the super rich clubs who win everything and soak up all the cash. Its garbage.
 
Coda said:
It's not our responsibility to keep St Johnstone afloat through revenue sharing. If they can't sustain their business without the help of others, then like thousands of other businesses every year, they'll go bust. The idea that we should share our gate receipts with the rest of Scottish football is one of the most absurd things i've read on here.

The long term impact is we'll have far fewer football teams in Scottish football, which should always have been the case. One team in Dundee is enough, one team in Fife is enough, one team in North & South Lanarkshire is enough. The sooner we reach that point, the better for the game.
Click to expand...

It wont end there though will it? The same problem will still exist though with fewer teams. The final outcome will be just a few teams left.

You must be able to see this. Its inevitable unless we do something now. It may even be too late.
 
Coda said:
The long term impact is we'll have far fewer football teams in Scottish football, which should always have been the case. One team in Dundee is enough, one team in Fife is enough, one team in North & South Lanarkshire is enough. The sooner we reach that point, the better for the game.
Click to expand...

Do you mean clubs should amalgamate?

If so (and to play devil's advocate) if EPL clubs and German etc. suggested to UEFA that certain countries don't merit competition so clubs should amalgamate to compete then would anyone be happy putting a united Scottish team in? Absurd, eh!
 
SasaPapacLoyal54 said:
Couldn't disagree more.

St Johnstone treated us like sh1t when we where going through our troubles.

Feck them and the rest of them.
Click to expand...
The logical conclusion of that train of thought is 2 battered, formerly magnificent, old boxers slugging it out in a field of dead crops while the rest of the world forgets they even existed.
 
LOL 133 said:
The competition is on the park not in the bank accounts.
Click to expand...
Absolutely, personally ive always liked the thought of the underdogs getting a chance at beating the big guys.
If we all have the same that would,for me, not be as enjoyable.
Rangers are far richer than clubs like st Johnstone and hearts but it didn't stop either taking points off us.
In any industry there will be giants and minnows, football is no different.
 
RoyalBurghGer72 said:
Absolutely, personally ive always liked the thought of the underdogs getting a chance at beating the big guys.
If we all have the same that would,for me, not be as enjoyable.
Rangers are far richer than clubs like st Johnstone and hearts but it didn't stop either taking points off us.
In any industry there will be giants and minnows, football is no different.
Click to expand...

Football is different or at least should be.

Industry is about maximising profits and killing off the opposition is a good thing. Football is a sport and it needs competition for it to be enjoyable and successful.

I really cant see how anyone can fail to understand this.
 
buc11 said:
United Football League of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

Would be brilliant, not going to happen I know.
Click to expand...

Why not? The EPL has become a one team league (2 at best). If it starts to lose its lustre, and revenue falls, do you think the money men will be blind to the idea of adding instant box office in the form of ourselves and the nonces? I think at some point makeweights like Bournemouth, with a capacity of 12.000 just wont make financial sense. As for the SFA, UEFA, the national team etc, I think they are surmountable hurdles.
 
LOL 133 said:
Football is different or at least should be.

Industry is about maximising profits and killing off the opposition is a good thing. Football is a sport and it needs competition for it to be enjoyable and successful.

I really cant see how anyone can fail to understand this.
Click to expand...
Its been a long time since football was merely a sport.
 
Northampton_Loyalist said:
The logical conclusion of that train of thought is 2 battered, formerly magnificent, old boxers slugging it out in a field of dead crops while the rest of the world forgets they even existed.
Click to expand...

We're on our way to that with some SPFL games attracting crowds of just a few thousand. Any suggestions on how to deal with this gets shot down by posters who dont seem to grasp the inevitability of it all.
 
g87 said:
Reducing ticket prices isnt the answer imo. St J have basically said as much as they have tried various schemes. It's not the price per se, its the lack of competition. Why go see a game of football when it is essentially meaningless in the grand scheme of the season when you know you arent even going to have a chance to win anything?

Hearts and Hibs attendances went through the roof when they were in division 1. That's because their supporters could actually see them trying to win something.
Click to expand...

I don't know about their last sojourn in the Championship but, previously, they'd lost supporters after relegation -

1997-98 - 12,029
1998-99 - 10,220
1999-00 - 12,070

Hearts were averaging 5000 in the First Division in the early 80's.

Lots of English clubs have no chance of winning anything but get huge crowds. It's a mystery.
 
LOL 133 said:
Football is different or at least should be.

Industry is about maximising profits and killing off the opposition is a good thing. Football is a sport and it needs competition for it to be enjoyable and successful.

I really cant see how anyone can fail to understand this.
Click to expand...
I agree in principal but disagree on the reality of it.

If we distribute everything and introduce a cap we do indeed have a more competitive league. What we also have is a league where the worst get a bit better but the best get a lot worse. We would be basically writing off Europe (we have already earned what this season? 5 seasons worth of Scottish money?) and we would be setting limits on what players we can get in that would see league 1 clubs in England able to out-spend us on wages.

The aim must not be us giving people things for free and dragging us down to their level, we need a way of dragging them up to ours. I understand well that this is not easy, but the fault lies squarely on the shoulders of 2 groups; 1, the SFA who are happy to see the status quo for personal gain and 2, the smaller clubs who see 2 visits of the OF per season as the pinnacle of their ambitions.
 
LOL 133 said:
Gate receipts, prize money, sponsorship etc. All of it collected and shared after overheads taken into account. Eventually shared evenly.
Click to expand...

It's a nice idea, in principle, but, in practice, I cannot see how Rangers and Celtic implement it without an enormous financial hit that would be comparable to a 2012 event for both clubs.
 
DougieJones said:
Why not? The EPL has become a one team league (2 at best). If it starts to lose its lustre, and revenue falls, do you think the money men will be blind to the idea of adding instant box office in the form of ourselves and the nonces? I think at some point makeweights like Bournemouth, with a capacity of 12.000 just wont make financial sense. As for the SFA, UEFA, the national team etc, I think they are surmountable hurdles.
Click to expand...

The same problem will still arise. The big business model doesnt work. Eventually the bigger clubs will still take an unfair share of the resources, will buy the best players, win all the trophies and kill off the opposition.

I dont know why some cant see this.
 
BobbyShearer said:
Substitute those first two words for European and Glasgow and you’d probably get a job in UEFA.

That’s the thing about “survival of the fittest”.
Sometimes their are others fitter than yourself and you question the wisdom of that ruthless attitude when you’re no longer the biggest fish in the pond.
Click to expand...

Of course, Rangers and Celtic with a combined 110,000 attendance every second week is the same as Dundee and Dundee Utd struggling to get 5,000 between them.

It’s the same nonsense comparison made every time.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Share this page

Latest posts

Back
Top