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Kingsmills

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Even before the pandemic struck I was concerned by the fact that we were increasingly struggling to make full time football work in it's conventional way on dwindling financial resources.

Part time football was and remains an obvious destination but that is far from ideal and would make it all but impossible to get back to the top tier in the short of even medium term.

A combination of full time and part time seemed a much better solution but, although we have had part time players in full time squads in the past, Jimmy Calder and Paul Ritchie notably come to mind, that is very difficult to work with the full timers training during the day and, due to work or educational commitments, the part timers only available in the evenings.

So, I wonder if we could think a bit differently. Since the beginning of professional football, full time players have tended to train daily for about four hours almost invariably in the morning and very early afternoon.

Is there any reason at all why they couldn't put those same hours in in the late afternoon and evening on a daily basis ?

That way, they would themselves be able to combine full time football with some other employment or, in the case of the younger full timers, education or apprenticeships to supplement the very modest full time salaries we are now able to offer.

Those full time players and coaching staff who were not otherwise engaged would have more time for community work in schools and elsewhere during the day thus bringing the club more closely into the community.

The biggest benefit though is that we could then bring in some of the country's best part time players and fully integrate them by being able to train with the full timers for two or three hours two or three times a week.

There are thirty or forty part time players in the lower leagues who are more skillful and have more potential than very many of the full time players playing in the Championship or the lower reaches of the Premiership who do not, for very understandable reasons, want to give up good careers or relocate to the Highlands for our very modest full time wages.

However, if we could help find them employment in their own line of business or a place at college combined with what would be a very generous part time wage and the opportunity to play with full time colleagues at a higher level that could be a very much more attractive proposition for them.

Could this be a way forward not just in the Championship but even if and when we are fortunate enough to return to the top tier or am I barking up the wrong tree entirely?

 

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I think our location will be the sticking point. There are many good part time players in the central belt. Because they know they don't need to move house, their family or job but can still change teams easily enough. Nathan Austin is a prime example, came up from part time to full time at Falkirk (still local), moved up here but next move was back to part time and close to home and family even though we offered him a full time contract.

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28 minutes ago, Stirling Observer said:

I think our location will be the sticking point. There are many good part time players in the central belt. Because they know they don't need to move house, their family or job but can still change teams easily enough. Nathan Austin is a prime example, came up from part time to full time at Falkirk (still local), moved up here but next move was back to part time and close to home and family even though we offered him a full time contract.

I still think back to Austin's game against Dunfermline in the last home game of the season in 2018, he was outstanding, and should have scored more...then he got injured and went off, and we weren't the same team after conceding a gutting last minute goal against our play-off rivals. That was Austin at his peak for us, but I reckon he knew his limitations and wisely decided to combine a career with football

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Grand thinking Kingsmills, the current situation is going to need a lot of thinking outside the box as we strive to find ways to deal with the new normal. I like it but probably a bit too radical for some players. Not too sure many of the full-timers would want to give up most of their evenings, especially if they have young kids at school. I know from past experience that long term evening work can be quite disruptive to life at home for some of us.

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I think it's a sound idea and a lot better than fully part time football. It won't be easy though in securing job transfers etc if we got lads from the central belt. 

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Referees train in the evenings. In terms of fitness levels, referees in Scotland have the most stringent fitness levels in the whole of Europe. I guess it depends on the players. I feel we've always been a window club, with players signing for us in the hope of moving on to clubs who can offer higher wages. OP makes a good point. 

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10 hours ago, Stirling Observer said:

I think our location will be the sticking point. There are many good part time players in the central belt. Because they know they don't need to move house, their family or job but can still change teams easily enough. Nathan Austin is a prime example, came up from part time to full time at Falkirk (still local), moved up here but next move was back to part time and close to home and family even though we offered him a full time contract.

I dont think the Nathan Austin situation had anything to do with location. I think the doubling of wages had everything to do with it !!!!

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A hybrid model...will this save us enough money in reality?

Getting part timers jobs in the area was something we did before, whether it was kosher employment or just slotting someone into a directors/shareholders company.

Subsidised accommodation too.

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10 minutes ago, TopSix said:

Look at the Marius Niculae debacle. It was clear the guy oozed class on the pitch. Did his wage divide the dressing room though? 

The only debacle with Marius was when our then Vice Chairman came out in the media to say we could not afford to keep Marius -  subsequently his

value dropped considerably.   

Edited by Caledonianfc1885
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12 hours ago, Kingsmills said:

Even before the pandemic struck I was concerned by the fact that we were increasingly struggling to make full time football work in it's conventional way on dwindling financial resources.

Part time football was and remains an obvious destination but that is far from ideal and would make it all but impossible to get back to the top tier in the short of even medium term.

A combination of full time and part time seemed a much better solution but, although we have had part time players in full time squads in the past, Jimmy Calder and Paul Ritchie notably come to mind, that is very difficult to work with the full timers training during the day and, due to work or educational commitments, the part timers only available in the evenings.

So, I wonder if we could think a bit differently. Since the beginning of professional football, full time players have tended to train daily for about four hours almost invariably in the morning and very early afternoon.

Is there any reason at all why they couldn't put those same hours in in the late afternoon and evening on a daily basis ?

That way, they would themselves be able to combine full time football with some other employment or, in the case of the younger full timers, education or apprenticeships to supplement the very modest full time salaries we are now able to offer.

Those full time players and coaching staff who were not otherwise engaged would have more time for community work in schools and elsewhere during the day thus bringing the club more closely into the community.

The biggest benefit though is that we could then bring in some of the country's best part time players and fully integrate them by being able to train with the full timers for two or three hours two or three times a week.

There are thirty or forty part time players in the lower leagues who are more skillful and have more potential than very many of the full time players playing in the Championship or the lower reaches of the Premiership who do not, for very understandable reasons, want to give up good careers or relocate to the Highlands for our very modest full time wages.

However, if we could help find them employment in their own line of business or a place at college combined with what would be a very generous part time wage and the opportunity to play with full time colleagues at a higher level that could be a very much more attractive proposition for them.

Could this be a way forward not just in the Championship but even if and when we are fortunate enough to return to the top tier or am I barking up the wrong tree entirely?

 

Absolutely. The club had already taken those tentative steps previously with most of the famous Fort William 10 being signed on a part-time basis .  I maybe thinking out of the box here but if we cut the budget for the employed Heathmount (non Board)members and the non employed  Heathmount (non) Board Members ..maybe we can spend more on those who count - the players . 

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Who's this part time players better than the players in our or even the lower reaches of the prem most part timers are at the only level they can reach u really think they set out to be a plumber and play in front of 200 fans every week basically they've usually failed miserably at bigger clubs!

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17 hours ago, Alan Simpson said:

Who's this part time players better than the players in our or even the lower reaches of the prem most part timers are at the only level they can reach u really think they set out to be a plumber and play in front of 200 fans every week basically they've usually failed miserably at bigger clubs!

I think saying their a miserable failure is incredibly harsh and disrespectful. 

Most to get that close will have trained and played for nearly 12 years. You need ability but also a huge amount of luck for it to be the right time and place with managers who will trust youth and give them a chance.

Frankly speaking playing at any level be it full time or part time is a massive achievement when you consider how many people attempt it.

Once they drop to part time its always going to be the case they struggle against full time players. If you gave some of the part time players two years training full time at a club they will undoubtedbly improve.

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