ST KILDA, does our name mean anything anymore?

[barks4eva]

At the St kilda Festival, the previous administration used to have tents set up in the gardens, with players in attendance, selling memberships etc...etc...

Obviously the current board sees itself more as a Frankston identity than anything to do with St kilda and I have no doubt whatsoever that in 2010, the St kilda football club will have a presence at the Frankston Festival or whatever it is they have down there and be all over it like a colony of ants in a sugar bowl!

This club is having it's soul ripped out by the current administration and that the club now chooses to have no presence whatsoever at the St kilda Festival is another inditement on this vacant lot who pride themselves on relocating an AFL club to a vacant lot in the backblocks of Seaford!

You can bet your bottom dollar that the St kilda Football Club will have a presence at the Frankston festival from 2010 on!

The most marketable suburb in Victoria and a club which was founded and has it's historical links with the place, now chooses to distance itself completely!

Under the previous administration the St kilda Football Club had a presence at the St kilda Festival!

When this club is once again near the bottom of the ladder when the inevitable cycle turns, located in the backblocks of Seaford at the white elephant otherwise known as Belvedere park, having trouble retaining and attracting star players, looking like the next Fitzroy with a membership figure lower than the Bulldogs, this will be the legacy of these blasphemous infidels who have sold this club up the river!

When asked PRIVATELY what he thought of the move to Seaford, a current long serving player said QUOTE " Yeah a few of the boy's are not real happy with it"!

Make no mistake, this will be the St kilda Football Clubs achilles heel, and locating the club in Seaford puts us one step closer to merging and relocation!

The best possible way IMHO for this club to have become a powerhouse, was to locate itself in the St kilda area, closer to the city centre, embrace the most marketable suburb in Victoria as it's spiritual home once again and in doing so it would also make St kilda a very attractive proposition for any future star players looking for a new club and give the club a real identity, a soul and something to market itself with, not too mention having a training facility located close to where it is that we actually play our home games, which could be easily accessed for after game recovery sessions if required etc...etc...

Even a small thing as having a presence at the St kilda Festival is now forsaken by the new administration!

The one tradition that the current board have kept alive and well is this club's propensity to shoot itself in the foot!

At least Butterss was looking to locate the club back into the St kilda area, IF staying at Moorabbin was not an option, but now we are consigned to the backblocks of Seaford and so typical of the current board's modus operandi, the relocation location wasn't revealed when the votes for the ballot were caste, even though their Frankston agenda was locked in, but preferred to keep the members in the dark, until after the result of the ballot was determined!

Disingenuous at best, but given their treatment of L2 reserved seat members and their literature which included the text " We have taken the liberty" to adjust your fees, tick this box or lose your seat without any consultation or warning etc...etc..., it's really just par for the course and obviously they need to dig deeper into the members pockets as the extra cash cow to balance their bottomline resulting from their own managerial incompetence!

Thanks christ for the NAB cup win or it was a a $745,000 loss!

Correct me if I'm wrong, but as I understand it, another $500,000 loss in 2009 and the club is in the red, to the best of my knowledge!

The club might as well change it's name now to Frankston or whatever, because the new board have distilled the essence of this club's origins, heritage, traditions and soul down the drain and left us up Kananook creek without a paddle!

How can a vacant lot locating an AFL club to a vacant lot in the back blocks of Seaford be a good thing, seriously!

Even the players are not real happy about it, but obviously they have to tow the line and not reveal their real thoughts on the matter publically!

The new board are a FAIR DINKUM disgrace and their tunnel vision for the future has sent the club one step closer to losing it's current identity!

When the club is broken up, divided and the shyte really does hits the fan, we will all have Gdanski and the current board to thank!

St kilda means nothing, stands for nothing and thanks to the current board relocating the club to Seaford, we are now one significant step closer to merging and relocation!

WAKE UP!

[GrumpyOne]

I'm taking that post home tonight and spreading on the vegie patch.

Should be a good crop this year.

[degruch]

Correct me if I'm wrong (seriously), but doesn't the Frankston/Seaford area represent a potential membership boon, given the demographic of the area? St Kilda's demographic has shifted and, in places, is more transient...is there a demographic in this area as interested in football? The St Kilda Festival is an arts festival, not an AFL expo.

I'm all for progress as well as history.

[Ghost Like]

It means the same to me as it did when I started following them 30 plus years ago, simply it's the team I love, the team I will follow until I die, through the good times and the bad, the good decisions and the not so good. It transcends administrations, players and 'supporters'. It is my team and it is not up for negotiation.

Homes come and go, we make good real estate decisions and we make bad ones. Just because I move my family from one home to another does not stop us from being a family, it may mean at times we move backwards to get a better home but in the end as long as we're all together, committed to each other then I cannot ask for to much more.

St Kilda is St Kilda is St Kilda, it's an honour and a privelege to say that's the team I support. I support the name, the history, the present and the future...regardless!

[fingers]

Frankston/Seaford - the ruck stats of 2009

[Go Sainters Go]

FAIR DINKUM - WAKE UP Barks4eva.

This post no. 8542 is your usual load of "verbal diarrhoea" and to think you are still at it makes me chuck. Get a life B4E and get out of here.

Unlike you, I happen to be passionate about all things StKilda and encourage positive reporting on the Club I love.

Once again, the Mods should block your garbage from this site.

[degruch]

It means the same to me as it did when I started following them 30 plus years ago, simply it's the team I love, the team I will follow until I die, through the good times and the bad, the good decisions and the not so good. It transcends administrations, players and 'supporters'. It is my team and it is not up for negotiation.

Homes come and go, we make good real estate decisions and we make bad ones. Just because I move my family from one home to another does not stop us from being a family, it may mean at times we move backwards to get a better home but in the end as long as we're all together, committed to each other then I cannot ask for to much more.

St Kilda is St Kilda is St Kilda, it's an honour and a privelege to say that's the team I support. I support the name, the history, the present and the future...regardless!

That's the way I feel too...Moorrabbin ain't exactly St Kilda either, neither was Waverley, nor is Epitaph Stadium, where the team played didn't matter, and where the receptionist parks he car doesn't bother me either. Red white black = St Kilda, even if we were stationed on the moon.

[fingers]

It means the same to me as it did when I started following them 30 plus years ago, simply it's the team I love, the team I will follow until I die, through the good times and the bad, the good decisions and the not so good. It transcends administrations, players and 'supporters'. It is my team and it is not up for negotiation.

Homes come and go, we make good real estate decisions and we make bad ones. Just because I move my family from one home to another does not stop us from being a family, it may mean at times we move backwards to get a better home but in the end as long as we're all together, committed to each other then I cannot ask for to much more.

St Kilda is St Kilda is St Kilda, it's an honour and a privelege to say that's the team I support. I support the name, the history, the present and the future...regardless!

+1

[st.byron]

Another emotive rant long on colourful language and short on substance.
Like I've asked you numerous times before Barks and you have on each occasion failed to answer -
What options exactly were there apart from Belvedere Park? You keep crapping on about Elsternwick Park, do you have any idea at all whether or not this was a viable option or is it just a geographically convenient wheel to push your barrow on?
Why am I even bothering to attempt to engage in a sensible debate with B4E over this issue he asks himself? Doh!

[yipper]

It means the same to me as it did when I started following them 30 plus years ago, simply it's the team I love, the team I will follow until I die, through the good times and the bad, the good decisions and the not so good. It transcends administrations, players and 'supporters'. It is my team and it is not up for negotiation.

Homes come and go, we make good real estate decisions and we make bad ones. Just because I move my family from one home to another does not stop us from being a family, it may mean at times we move backwards to get a better home but in the end as long as we're all together, committed to each other then I cannot ask for to much more.

St Kilda is St Kilda is St Kilda, it's an honour and a privelege to say that's the team I support. I support the name, the history, the present and the future...regardless!

That'll do me. End of story. Go SAINTS.

[cowboy18]

Barks4Eva makes a good point, which some of you have lost among the... let's call it "the extended argument".

There's a terrific chance to get a free hit at the St Kilda festival as the heritage and branding of our club meshes with the community feel and reach of the festival.We still have a strong local following and it presents as a real opportunity for the club to claw back some of the disenfranchised. We need to do that.


There's every reason for the club to have a significant presence there and no good reason for them not to.



For those of you defending the honour of Seaford/Frankston/Moorabin think of St Kilda as "Gateway to the peninsula".

[Little Dozer]

When asked PRIVATELY what he thought of the move to Seaford, a current long serving player said QUOTE " Yeah a few of the boy's are not real happy with it"!

Are you sure the player didn't say, "Yeah, nah"?

And if you're going to bang on about something you claim to love at least get the spelling right. St Kilda!

[degruch]

Barks4Eva makes a good point, which some of you have lost among the... let's call it "the extended argument".

There's a terrific chance to get a free hit at the St Kilda festival as the heritage and branding of our club meshes with the community feel and reach of the festival.We still have a strong local following and it presents as a real opportunity for the club to claw back some of the disenfranchised. We need to do that.


There's every reason for the club to have a significant presence there and no good reason for them not to.



For those of you defending the honour of Seaford/Frankston/Moorabin think of St Kilda as "Gateway to the peninsula".

Ya missed it in my missive Cowboy...I suggested no-one would care, the St Kilda Festival being essentially an arts festival 'n' all. Still, couldn't hurt...but then, neither would having a recruiting office outside the Espy.

[HarveysDeciple]

We haven't played in St.Kilda since 1964, (not counting away trips when it was Fitzroy's ground in the 70's.

St.Kilda has a strong supporter base in the whole south eastern suburbs....with the support we have in the Moorabbin area, combined with the Sandringham link and now the move to Frankston I see it as a chance to take a monopoly on the area.

[meher baba]

Our name never did mean anything.

There never was a Saint called Kilda: the name was given to the island in the Outer Hebrides through some sort of mistranslation of a local Gaelic name.

Like Cowboy18 and HD I consider that there is a geographic/cultural connection between the suburb of St Kilda and the whole of the S-E area. A lot of our star players have come from, or have chosen to live in the beachside suburbs (not to mention other celebrity Sainters, including a certain living legend of stage, spin and SMS!!).

Given all the fuss on here from those calling for the club to relocate to west Gippsland (aka Casey Fields), I can hardly rate the move to Seaford as being "un- StKildan".

[WayneJudson42]

MODS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[BAM! (shhhh)]

So, some honest questions, pretending for a moment that the OP could possibly raise some relevant discussion, in spite of the posters intent.

How many members used to sign up at the St Kilda Festival each year?
Was it an opportunity missed, or time not wasted? Is there a cross-demographic there of St Kilda festival patron/footy fans who would buy a membership from a player at the festival, but won't sign up otherwise? How many?

Do the people of St Kilda relate to the Saints as a result of the name?
Conversely, do the followers of the Saints relate to St Kilda because of the team? What's the level of cross marketing potential, either way? Of those who have been to "the Saint", how many have done it because of the name?

City or Suburbs?
Families are in the suburbs these days, so are producing more players, but does it follow that this is where the action is, and where the members are to be found?

Fortius Quo Fidelius Who owes who what?
Does the St Kilda footy club owe anything to St Kilda the suburb at this stage? Or are the Saints actually giving free sponsorship promotion in the form of a historical nod given by one of the oldest clubs going round. Not suggesting they drop the name by any means (I actually like tradition quite a lot) but really, the question does have to be asked:

Is it anything more than a name, and when we refer to them as St Kilda (other than making ourselves understood) are we offering affection to the place for anything more than the historical attachment?

[plugger66]

What is this guy on about. Didnt we play at Moorabbin for 28 years. Is that St.Kilda or is Waverley St.Kilda or is TD. No. We are training at Moorabbin and will train at Seaford. It doesnt matter if we train at the friggin moon. The club is called St.Kilda it doesnt mean we train in that suburb. That finished for our club 44 years ago. I doubt you even born then afterall you were the person who didnt even know where the named bricks were at the club. It is really effecting Hawthorn and Collingwood at the moment that they dont train in the suburb they are named after.

[cowboy18]

It is really effecting Hawthorn and Collingwood at the moment that they dont train in the suburb they are named after.

I think they (particularly the latter) are good examples of clubs that still have a presence in their original suburbs.

That's why I think the club has something to gain and very little to lose by being involved.

[evertonfc]

I'm out of sync here with most, but I'd like to see the club create closer ties with the suburb of St Kilda.

For starters, I'd like to see if we could stitch up a deal to have a few open training sessions at the Junction Oval. They'd be great for supporters who can't get to Seaford and good for the soul of the club - not to mention probably quite good financially if 1,500 people rocked up (which they would if you made enough of a song and dance about it).

It's a fairly transient community in St Kilda; people don't seem to hang around for more than a few years, but it would be nice to have the suburb more closely linked to the football club.

It is really effecting Hawthorn and Collingwood at the moment that they dont train in the suburb they are named after.

I think they (particularly the latter) are good examples of clubs that still have a presence in their original suburbs.

That's why I think the club has something to gain and very little to lose by being involved.

Great point. Hawthorn will keep close ties to Hawthorn/Glenferrie/Kew, as will Collingwood to Collingwood/Abbotsford/Victoria Park.

Do we give a continental about St Kilda/Elwood/Port Melbourne? I'd like to think we should, in addition to furthering our links on the Mornington Peninsula.

[plugger66]

I'm out of sync here with most, but I'd like to see the club create closer ties with the suburb of St Kilda.

For starters, I'd like to see if we could stitch up a deal to have a few open training sessions at the Junction Oval. They'd be great for supporters who can't get to Seaford and good for the soul of the club.

It's a fairly transient community in St Kilda; people don't seem to hang around for more than a few years, but it would be nice to have the suburb more closely linked to the football club.

Lets do what Melbourne do and train at 3-4 grounds. What about if you barrack for the Saints and live in Footscray. Maybe we train there as well. Why would we train at the Junction. We havent since 1964 nd no one has been advocating it in the last 40 years.

[evertonfc]

I'm out of sync here with most, but I'd like to see the club create closer ties with the suburb of St Kilda.

For starters, I'd like to see if we could stitch up a deal to have a few open training sessions at the Junction Oval. They'd be great for supporters who can't get to Seaford and good for the soul of the club.

It's a fairly transient community in St Kilda; people don't seem to hang around for more than a few years, but it would be nice to have the suburb more closely linked to the football club.

Lets do what Melbourne do and train at 3-4 grounds. What about if you barrack for the Saints and live in Footscray. Maybe we train there as well. Why would we train at the Junction. We havent since 1964 nd no one has been advocating it in the last 40 years.

Just saying, one or two sessions there couldn't hurt. I think it'd be a nice touch. Hardly nomadic.

What's wrong with that idea?

[Sobraz]

Agree B4E...

We should be moving closer to our roots, not further away... Northern Kangaroos have gone back to North Melbourne... It wouldnt surpirse me to see Western go back to Footscray...

St.Kilda is a highly populated, energetic suburb that people are attracted to... People want to be associated with vibrant, lively organisations.. This is what St.Kilda the suburb is, and what the club could harness... Not a grey, ho-hum, suburban struggle town...

With lots of tourists around, many of them staying for extended periods, and some permanently, their initial support is for the city they stay in... St.Kilda is the jewell in the Bay's crown, and we should be making the most of our naming right....

[cowboy18]

It's a fairly transient community in St Kilda; people don't seem to hang around for more than a few years, but it would be nice to have the suburb more closely linked to the football club.

You don't have to be there too long to develop a long-term connection to a club, there's scope for international members to be gained as well as just enthuse the locals, especially blow-ins from interstate.

I've developed interests in teams near where I live in Sydney (league, union and football, not aussie rules though) as well as connections after very short visits to the US (college, NBL, Major league and NFL, albeit in different cities ).

But mainly, I think it's a small effort to maintain a valid connection and generate interest in the club. As well as ameliorate some of the poorer efforts over the off season (Level 2 jumps out there).

[plugger66]

I'm out of sync here with most, but I'd like to see the club create closer ties with the suburb of St Kilda.

For starters, I'd like to see if we could stitch up a deal to have a few open training sessions at the Junction Oval. They'd be great for supporters who can't get to Seaford and good for the soul of the club.

It's a fairly transient community in St Kilda; people don't seem to hang around for more than a few years, but it would be nice to have the suburb more closely linked to the football club.

Lets do what Melbourne do and train at 3-4 grounds. What about if you barrack for the Saints and live in Footscray. Maybe we train there as well. Why would we train at the Junction. We havent since 1964 nd no one has been advocating it in the last 40 years.

Just saying, one or two sessions there couldn't hurt. I think it'd be a nice touch. Hardly nomadic.

What's wrong with that idea?

Well it isnt our ground anymore. Like i said no one suggested it when we trained at Moorabbin so why do it when we will train at Seaford. We need to get used to being the St.Kilda Saints who train at seaford in the same way we were the St.Kilda Saints who trained at Morrabbin. The name of the club has had no bearing on the suburb for 44 years why would it now. How many people watch training these days anyway? Most of them are closed sessions and when they are not 100 people at the most go.