St Johnstone Chairman and club owner Adam Webb has been facing fan criticism up in Perth after he announced plans offer both Celtic and the Rangers fans THREE stands at McDiarmid Park next season…
Now Adam Webb has posted an open letter on the official St Johnstone website signalling that a u-turn on his decision is possible IF enough of the protesting Saints supporters put their money where their mouths are and purchase season tickets for next season.
Simo Valakari has build a decent Saints side who bound straight back up to the Scottish Premiership after winning the Championship comfortably this season.Â
In their dismal relegation campaign the  year before St Johnstone played Celtic and lost heavily with the Hoops hitting them for six in their first visit to McDiarmid Park.
That afternoon the Celtic support was situated in the two small stands behind the goal. The East Stand – directly across from he main stand at McDiarmid Park was sparsely populated by St Johnstone supporters and there was also a sizeable Celtic support in the Main Stand that day – that’s where I was sitting myself.
Fast forward to Celtic’s second visit to Perth that season and Adam Webb took the decision to offer Celtic supporters THREE full stands, which were as you would expect, all sold out. Â Did it give Celtic an advantage?
The last time with two stands Celtic won 6-0, this time with three stands housing the Hoops fans, St Johnstone won 1-0!
Adam Webb has communicated well with St Johnstone fans since his purchase of the club. He spoke frankly at the significant cost of relegation and he acted promptly to back Simo Valakari to get the club back into the top flight for next season.Â
Webb has explained that his decision to maximise the revenue this campaign by giving Celtic and the Rangers THREE stands and Hearts two when they visit McDiarmid Park this season will cover this losses and allow him to invest in the squad to hopefully reduce the chances of going straight back down into the Championship.
But as the moan and groans continue, Adam Webb has called the bluff of the Saints supporters and has set a season ticket sales minimum number that if reached will see him re-think his plan and keep the East Stand for St Johnstone fans only when their Glasgow rivals are in Perth.
Here’s the full text from the St Johnstone owner’s open letter to the club’s supporters, as posted on the official St Johnstone website…
AN OPEN LETTER FROM ST JOHNSTONE CHAIRMAN ADAM WEBB…
In my two years at the club, I’ve had a steep learning curve, but never steeper than the past week. The knowledge and passion of our fans have been on display as I have communicated with dozens of supporters about our season ticket launch.
Most, but by no means all, of the comments have been negative. As always, we endeavour to communicate frequently with supporters and to be transparent about our plans. We failed to maintain these standards leading up to the recent launch. For this, I want to apologise. As I’ve stated to many over the past week, it was our eagerness to advance the club that led to these missteps, but they were missteps nonetheless and we will learn from them.
I have spoken with the board and club officials, and we have approved the following actions and clarifications in response to the legitimate concerns stated by supporters:
In light of the general displeasure with the prospect of giving Celtic and Rangers three stands, we have analysed the numbers to determine how many season tickets we would need to sell to be able to make the financial decision to keep the East Stand as a home stand for those matches, which we would much prefer to do.
We have agreed that if we sell 3,800 season tickets, we will give Celtic and Rangers only two stands. This will not equal the profit to be made from selling three stands, but it is close enough to warrant reserving the East Stand for Saints fans. We acknowledge this should have been communicated to fans from day one. We should have announced this as a challenge to our fans and made every effort to achieve it. Hopefully this statement is deemed as better late than never.
If we do not sell 3,800 season tickets, East Stand ticket holders will receive a roughly equivalent ticket in the Geoff Brown Stand for Celtic and Rangers games, most likely three or four times during the season.
We promise to explain in detail the process by which East Stand season ticket holders will be allowed to choose their comparable seat. We have tasked our new ticketing partner with perfecting this process as soon as possible, and we will communicate in due course. We have demanded that supporters will be permitted to pick their equivalent seat and you will retain that seat for any such matches throughout the season. We will update you soon about this process.
If all home fans cannot be sat in the Geoff Brown Stand for a fixture, then we will open another area of the stadium for home fan seating. We want to fill the stadium but not at the expense of excluding any Saints fan who wants to attend. Rest assured, all areas of the stadium are being explored and again we will communicate in due course should this situation arise.
The safe standing area will be COVERED for Celtic and Rangers fixtures (unless opened for Saints fans as noted above). We understand the importance of this new area to our fans and accept the feedback we have received that only Saints fans should occupy it.
While the Family Stand is only open to families with children or grandchildren under the age of 13, adults will be allowed to attend even if their child cannot attend the game by informing the ticket office ahead of a fixture of the intention to attend without your attached U13. You can do this by emailing ticketsales@perthsaints.co.uk and receiving a pass to show the turnstile operator.
Our beautiful fan tiles will be protected during matches of concern this season by placing a wooden covering over the entire surface area. We do not believe opposition fans would harm our display, but it is not worth the risk at some matches.
Our stadium shop will be relocated to the Fan Zone area in the near future. Our stadium shop is not fit for purpose due to size constraints. If anyone knows of a port-a-cabin that could be reconfigured for this use, please notify the club. In the meantime, we will have a sales kiosk for the most popular items – including our new Puma kits – near the Fan Zone. We will evaluate whether the stadium shop should be open on match days and for which matches.
At the conclusion of this season we will announce a supporter survey and we will evaluate your opinions of all the changes made this season, including tiered pricing, the Family Stand, our under 13 policies, and all other points. We will have an open mind to making any changes that will advance the club and improve the matchday experience going forward.
We are working hard to meet and exceed your expectations between now and the first match in July, by signing a great squad of players, rebuilding our pitch, and making some important improvements at McDiarmid Park. We can’t do this without you. Please know that we will learn from our mistakes, of which there will be many, as we strive to grow the club that you love.
Adam Webb
Chairman, St Johnstone FCÂ
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