David Nicol can hardly believe that a year has gone marching in
History was made just over a year ago.
A sea of change swept through Paisley as the arrival of Gordon Scott and SMISA closed one chapter and opened another in the story of St Mirren Football Club.
Twelve months down the line, and it feels like it has gone in the blink of an eye.
To describe the last year as a whirlwind would be something of an understatement, both for SMISA and the football club as a whole.
A new manager just two months into the new regime’s tenure, a relegation battle to rival all relegation battles and the usual politics and troubles that come with inheriting a football club.
But David Nicol, SMISA representative on the board, wouldn’t have changed it for the world.
There have been trials and tribulations sure, but a year down the line and things are looking bright for both the club and the trust.
Having made it through the mire last season, the trust is now looking to continue its hard work behind the scenes for the next year while the playing side target the slots further up the league table.
And he’s convinced that, given time, the supporters trust and the club can continue to strengthen the bond between the pair as he hailed a tremendous first year in charge, which has brought unmeasurable highs and unfathomable lows.
Nicol said: “I think it has been a successful year. It has been a challenge with a steep learning curve, but it has been a really positive year.
“In terms of SMISA membership, numbers are holding up well. It means, financially, we are well on track.
“Things are looking good for our 10-year plan to purchase the club and maybe even a bit before that, if things continue in the same vein.
“That tells its own story. We did expect that there would be a bit of a drop off after the buy-out, but member numbers have held up.
“To still be at that level is fantastic and, therefore, financially the trust is doing well and the money is there to pay up the old board and to buy out Scott in year 10.
“Gordon admitted that it probably couldn’t have been a tougher year. He felt that in those first six months we had actually gone forward about two years, in terms of some of the stuff we had done.
“The set-up of the new ownership structure, bringing in a new manager – which was something we hadn’t wanted to do so early – and a lot of work has also been done at the academy.
“Doing all of those things in the first four or five months was a lot more than anyone had planned to take on, because when you come in you don’t want to upset things.
“We wanted to come in and make a few incremental improvements, but it became apparent that we just had to get stuck in.
“I think we’ve made a lot of great changes and, hopefully, the supporters see that as well.
“You can also look at a lot of things that the club has done in the past 12 months.
“We have established supporter liaison officers, a singing section and the open day run by the Fans Council too. I can’t take any responsibility for that, that’s all the supporters.
“I think we have won people over. We have lost people from memberships, but we have also brought new members in.
“Between May and June we actually increased our total memberships for the first time since the takeover. We had always factored in a drop off but we never thought there would be an increase.
“That actually means we now have an objective to increase it further by this time next year, to try and get to 1,400 members.
“But the number one objective when we did this was to protect the future of St Mirren Football Club. All the other stuff we have achieved this year has been a bonus – but what a bonus.”
Under the terms of the takeover, SMISA contributions have gone into the club every quarter, with £2 from each £12 subscription put into the discretionary pot put towards a vote among members.
And for Nicol, the first spend, which went towards the construction of a longrequired disabled platform, heralded a new beginning under the stewardship of Scott and SMISA.
And he highlighted the other hard work and contributions that the group have put into the Saints over the course of the year.
Nicol said: “Introducing the disabled platform was great and I am really proud that it was the first thing that we did.
“That had been talked about for years before we took over and I’m pleased that the first thing we did when we came over was improve the match-day experience for our fellow supporters. What a great way to announce the new regime with that.
“Hopefully, we continue in that same vein.
“We obviously had the quarterly spend that we would rather not have spent, with the contribution towards the manager’s budget.
“But it helped and the second half of last season was incredible. It was something that I think all of us will never forget, though I wouldn’t say that we are in a rush to repeat it.
“I’ll never forget being involved in that three or four-month run in the lead up to safety and the SMISA members can know they played their part in that.
“I know that the manager was incredibly grateful for that.
“And that we have the members’