Fantalk

Specky Ginger · Joined: 16 Jun 2012 Posts: 4258 Location: Dysart

Well said RZ.

The last thing we need is for the club to become some sort of social engineering experiment.

Best people for the job, regardless of creed, colour, gender or religion.
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Dougie Hill
Sar-chluicheadair a'gheama

Heilan Rover · Joined: 24 Dec 2018 Posts: 597 Location: Lorient

Franco · Joined: 10 Oct 2019 Posts: 1196 Location: kirkcaldy

Yes, HR, I too picked up on Andrew Barrowman's apparent disconnect between providing a good match day experience and success in the park. Ultimately ( most) folk won't come on a regular basis if the football is continuing dross.
But I do like the idea of building a sustainable foundation for,ultimately, survival in the Premiership and am willing to accept that this will take time and effort.
RZ and pals, I am no snowflake and rarely could be described as woke, certainly not either by my wife and children of both sexes nor close friends. But nothing will shift me from my belief that it was a forward step for the Club to re-introduce women to the Board,as they can bring a different perspective. I like John Sim's drive to make Raith a community club and I also look forward to the day that women will feel sufficiently at home at The Rovers to play again in a Raith Rovers Women's team.

Gary Parker · Posted: Sun May 07, 2023 12:11 pm Post subject:

I mean technically the board cannot control what goes on on the pitch between 3pm and 5pm, unless its the Juventus board we've got now?

They can control, or at least have some say in who is on the pitch and who is in charge of that, but as for what goes on, only the players can try to control that.

My take on the discussion was simply, put the infrastructure and revenue streams in place to generate more money for the club and the playing side will benefit from that too. They're not here to dump bigger budgets into the playing side without it being self sustaining and regenerative.

No one person is putting hand in pocket to finance the playing side themselves, and neither they should, that has to come from the club being able to fund itself and to do that we need more people to turn up (current attendance week on week is pretty poor) and take advantage of the opportunities that come our way off the pitch. Its the only available model in the SFL these days.

Heilan Rover · Joined: 24 Dec 2018 Posts: 597 Location: Lorient

Franco and GP. I understand what you both say and even agree with most of it.

What Mr Barrowman said GP was, "What happens between 3 and 5 on a Saturday shouldn't really matter". In my view as a fan, it most definitely should.

Clearly the Board are not out there kicking a ball, so during this time frame cannot change anything. However it remains their overall responsibility to ensure the management team they have chosen who's duties are to choose the squad then choose the team and instigate the game tactics, are indeed capable of performing these tasks and therein lies the Boards responsibility.

I simply think the presentation might have benefited from an acknowledgement of their immediate plans being to bolster the infrastructure first, then concentrate on the on field department later. In not doing so they run the risk of Fans patience running out if on field performances do not improve. Sadly it looks to me like they are setting our expectations to not blame them if it all goes wrong on the pitch. This is a very negative use of the powerful tool that is expectation management.

TxRover · Joined: 02 Jun 2018 Posts: 3508 Location: North Texas, USA

You’re assuming the advice I suggest the Board needs is regarding players and playing activities, it isn’t. It’s about being a Community Club. So I “don’t know the community”, really, what do you mean? You really mean I don’t know the people who attend matches, don’t you? The reality is the people in charge now have a larger vision, and a vision that will lift the Rovers with it.

Let’s do a little diving:

Kirkcaldy and Dysart alone, a little over 50,000 people in 2022. Of those, 18.5% <15>64. So we have a large older population, which means things like listening to disabled fans who have trouble attending is important, for instance. We also know this population is overwhelmingly on a fixed income, so we need to tailor our appeal to them…AND because of this large population, the Community Foundation has several programs to reach out to this age group…often with Club tie-ins (food delivery’s recently).

51.7% of the population is female, you are at a game, how are we doing attracting and retaining female fans? That’s a place where an Advisory Board can help a group of older white males create appeal to females at Starks Park and around the Club. Why do you think a point in the interview was we need a competitive Ladies Team again? Get the girls and their moms interested in those games and start attracting them to the men’s team matches. Why do you think teams try family sections?

There’s also a 2% Asian and 1% Other population, which is 1,500 people in the immediate area, and that’s another group both the Foundation and the Club can connect better with.

The most bothersome figure is that 33% of the population is defined as financially deprived. This again is an area where the Foundation will be critical, but the Club can help. Take the pathway Barrowman talks about, potentially a third plus of the kids participating in that pathway will be from these families. The pathway will be about reaching out to kids like that, helping them (and their families) while possibly finding us future players. Kids playing football, and getting a warm meal, aren’t out getting in or causing trouble.

So call me a snowflake, or whatever you want, but the key to building Raith Rovers up is everyone in the community, not just the current fanbase.

Northern_Rover · Joined: 15 Jul 2008 Posts: 2725 Location: Granite City

Heilan Rover - thank you for putting my thoughts across for which I was called pathetic on the other thread, more eloquently.

Vinnie · Posted: Sun May 07, 2023 3:49 pm Post subject:

red zebra · Posted: Sun May 07, 2023 4:46 pm Post subject:

Franco, apologies if I offended, but you would not believe how much box ticking goes on and it mostly comes from Government because they need to be seen to be fulfilling quotas.

I firmly believe in equal opportunities for all and in my current role, when I visit schools I actively encourage girls to consider a career in engineering purely because I think they make tremendous engineers and are undervalued as such, but here's the rub -

We actually get more funding for female trainees, we also get additional funding if that trainee is from a minority background, all this is driven by the Minister for Education.

So the temptation is always there to tick the boxes rather because it looks better (to some) than get the right people in for the job.

I would not take someone on because of their gender, race, colour or religious beliefs, likewise I would not reject someone because of their gender, race, colour or religious beliefs, I would take them on because I thought they were the right person for the job, no stereotypes just can they do the job.

If you can get the high heid yins to stop incentivising box ticking, the best will naturally make it to the top.
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TxRover · Joined: 02 Jun 2018 Posts: 3508 Location: North Texas, USA

Gary Parker · Posted: Sun May 07, 2023 5:36 pm Post subject: