Tag: AGM

  • 2018 AGM

    2018 AGM

    It wouldn’t be an AGM without technical difficulties.

    The laptop was unable to connect to the onboard, so we have to take the audio from the GoPro onstage for what we have here.  It’s not the best, but better than nothing.

    Hope you were one of the several hundred in attendance and this is just a recap of a great day.  And if you were or were not, hope this helps get you excited for the friendly in Evansville on saturday and the upcoming season.

    It’s gonna be a good one.  Bird still won’t say it’s back on though.

  • AGM Podcast

    AGM Podcast

    The AGM (Annual General Meeting) was a monstrous success!  So many joined us that we couldn’t see how far back the crowd went.  iTap was full, almost the full team was there, and GM Jeremy Alumbaugh and Coach Dale Schilly both spoke as well.

    A lot of topics covered, a lot of fun was had….so for those that couldn’t make it, here it is!

  • Offseason? What offseason?

    Offseason? What offseason?

    Ok, I haven’t completely lost it. I know Saint Louis FC has an offseason and it’s just begun.  But, just because there are no STLFC games to attend doesn’t mean there’s nothing to do.  First and foremost, pat yourself on the back for helping to make the 2015 USL season so great. I realize we didn’t make the playoffs, but this summer was a lot of fun for soccer fans in St. Louis and all of you played a part in that. Whether you came to one game or made it to all of them- we proved that St. Louis is still very much a soccer town. Sell outs (or near sell outs) for half of the home games for a team that wasn’t exactly lighting up the scoreboard is a testament to the passion of our fans.

    So what’s next? Obviously the front office will be working on putting together a team for next season. Deciding which pieces of the puzzle to keep, which pieces to let go and looking at who to bring in to improve our standing in the league. I know we’ve all come to love some of our boys, but sadly this is the business of pro sports- some really good guys will be moving on and we have to make peace with that.  If any of the players are reading this I just want to thank you guys for your efforts.  Even if you won’t be rejoining the squad for next year you were a part of something very special and we’ll always remember that.

    In the meantime the Louligans will be having several events during the winter break. Some will be functions with STLFC and some will just be silly reasons to get together for a beer and talk soccer.  First and foremost we’ll be organizing a 2015 season review town hall.  We’ll have some representatives from the team out to answer fan questions and we’ll talk about some of our plans for next season. We plan to record this meeting and release it as a podcast episode so those of you that can’t attend will still get to hear the discussion.  No firm date has been set, but we’re hoping to do it in October (depending on the schedule of STLFC participants).

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    Speaking of podcasts we’ll be doing more public recordings. Our #PizzaGate fundraiser got some donors that ponied up enough money to host and sponsor a podcast at the location of their choosing.  We’re going to start scheduling those soon and will let everyone know where we’ll be so you can get together and witness the magic live. (Mitch even bought a fancy speaker so you can listen live.) And some of you will be guests on the podcast too- $100 donors to #PizzaGate will be invited on for 15 minutes to talk about whatever they want.  That could get SiLLy.

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    We’re also going to be setting up watch parties for the USL championship game and MLS Cup final. We may do this in conjunction with STLFC or just on our own. We’ll provide more details as they become available, but this will be another good time to get together with the group for some fun.

    In November we’ve got another great reason to get together for a little tailgating and live soccer.  The USMNT is coming to town to kick off their World Cup Qualifying Campaign at Busch Stadium.  We’ll be partying and working with the St. Louis American Outlaws. This is going to be HUGE.  Night before party will be at the AO home bar Amsterdam Tavern and the tailgate party on game day will be outside Busch stadium.  Everyone will be welcome, but I encourage you all to become members of American Outlaws for all the perks you get. More details on these events as they become available.

    After the USMNT game it won’t be long until Christmas is upon us.  Andi and the St. Louligan Ladies will be organizing their annual Christmas party with us and American Outlaws. It’s always a good time. I think this will be the 3rd or 4th annual and they get bigger every year.

    Once we cross into the new year is when STLFC stuff starts to get rolling.  Season Ticket Holder events will start happening. Meet the staff, pick your seats, open houses, etc.  Seriously if you aren’t a season ticket holder you should really consider it- click here for info.  If you want to stand in section 8 (or 9 or 10) with us, season tickets are the way to go. $150 for GA tickets is a bargain and I have a feeling tickets in our corner will be harder to come by on game day than they were this year. Plus you get tons of perks as a season ticket holder.  Matt Bird did some math last year, by the time the season had actually kicked off you had already recouped your $150 in free food & drinks at the various season ticket holder events. Plus you get to meet your fellow season ticket holders and have one on one time with the players and coaches that you don’t get if you’re not a season ticket holder.  Seriously- we were on a first name basis with most of the players before a ball was even kicked. If you’re new to our group these events are a great opportunity to get to know everyone.

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    Last season we held our AGM (that’s Annual General Meeting, Kyle) in the lead up to the kick off.  It’s here where we address issues coming up and plan for the season.  We discuss all kinds of things and drink beer. It’s at this meeting where we talk about road trips, scarves, shirts, tailgates, tifos, and anything else that comes along with being in the corner.  This is the meeting that lets you know what’s expected of you as a Louligan and a place for you to suggest things in a public forum for the group to weigh in on.  Since we don’t charge dues- this is the time we usually ask you to take a blood oath to swear your allegiance to being SiLLy.

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    After that the player signings start really happening and pre-season games get going and our worlds become soccer centric again. Spouses and families wonder where you are on Saturdays and why you can’t be bothered with household chores.  It won’t be long.

    Finally- I need to address something that comes up every winter, but even more so this year. We have been approached by at least 10 different local colleges or universities about bringing our SiLLiness out to support their team. While flattered, we simply cannot do it- as a group. We all love soccer and want it to succeed at all levels in this country and in St. Louis. The fact of the matter is that we A. Cannot choose one local college over another- we all have loyalties to different schools and it would be a huge internal battle if we chose to support one and not another.  B. We need an off season ourselves. Our families put up with a lot of our soccer madness and they deserve some of our weekends. And most importantly C. This takes far more work than you realize. We really do a lot of things behind the scenes to make our presence successful. It’s not as simple as showing up on game day. To do what we do without 100% commitment would be doing ourselves a disservice.  The same could be said for the local indoor soccer teams. Some of us hate indoor soccer, some of us love it.  You wouldn’t get complete support if we chose to back an indoor team.  What we will do is support other supporter groups for these teams.  Especially if there is a student group supporting their college.  We’d love to give you some promotion from our Social Media outlets. Send us a message and we’ll tell others who might be down to support your school about your group. We’d also be happy to provide any advice on how we do what we do if you need help getting your group going. We’re always available at Twitter or Facebook to answer your questions.

    The St. Louligans are NOT a mob for hire. In the past some have approached us that way. Offering free tickets or discounts to get us out to yell and scream.  We don’t do that.  We show up to STLFC because we all believe in what they’re doing.  If we show up without that passion it will show.  So, while you may see Louligans or shirts and scarves at various soccer games around town- those people are there because they want to be there and are having a good time.  It will not be a Louligan event, but we’re all soccer fans and will find places and ways to express that. 

    Going forward our support will be primarily focused on our highest level local professional team STLFC. We will also always love and support the St. Louis Lions PDL club because they sustained us when we had nothing else.  And we’ll always hold a special place in our heart for Fire & Ice SC as the top women’s soccer side in our area.  Anything else is just a bonus.

    So, in the meantime- Listen to our Podcast (itunes & stitcher). Follow us on Twitter. Like us on Facebook. And check out our Instagram account. Those are the easiest ways to keep up with what’s going on with the St. Louligans. Can’t wait to see you all again. Hang in there- the new season will be here before you know it. #SeeYouAtThePark

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  • Days Away From the First Friendly, and Days After the First AGM!

    Days Away From the First Friendly, and Days After the First AGM!

    Not to mention, Mark Gardner of Your Electric is giving away a season ticket to one lucky fan of the podcast!

    We talk about the AGM, about the upcoming first friendly vs. SIUE, and get into a USL v NASL discussion.

    And Matt Bird’s Reckless Challenge is an expected topic….

    Listening time for you!

  • The 2015 Louligan AGM in an Electronic Nutshell

    The 2015 Louligan AGM in an Electronic Nutshell

    It’s impossible for me to convey everything that happened at yesterday’s event. If you were there I hope you had as much fun as I did. We met a lot of new people and had some laughs. STLFC was kind enough to have players and front office staff out to meet the fans and answer questions and they even unveiled a new pre-game sponsor, Mission Taco. Which is great because everybody loves Mission Taco and they just so happen to be physically connected to iTap (our partner bar). So basically away game watch parties at iTap with Mission Taco food is something we would be doing anyway, but now we can claim its to support the team. (Drink a 2nd Shift beer while you’re there just to show some love.)

    So, all that was great, but here are the topics we covered and the details:

    1.  MEMBERSHIP– Membership in the St. Louligans continues to be FREE. No one ever wants to hear that you can’t afford to go to a game because you paid for a Louligan membership or you can’t afford to be a Louligan member because you spent your last $20 on game tickets.  If you want to be a Louligan all you have to do is show up and stand with us in section 8. Done.  But there are times that Louligans get special perks and if you want to be on that list we need to know your name. You can send an email to info @ Stlouligans.com with your name and just say you plan to be in Section 8.  If you are a season ticketholder please let us know that in the email.

    2.  LCFC Roadtrip– Game #1 for STLFC is on the road vs. Louisville and it also is the first game in our Kings Cup rivalry series.  We will be making a road trip.  We are determining some of the details. Basically we have to see how many tickets LCFC has allotted to us.  After we get that total we’ll go through our list of members that have already expressed the desire to buy tickets to this game. IF there are any extras we will post on facebook or twitter and they will go on a first come first serve basis with Season Ticketholders getting priority.  The team will be providing bus transportation.  We hope this can be done without spending the night (saving us money on hotels) and we are checking to see what the bus policy is.  More details will be provided after we know how many tickets we will have.

    3.  T-shirts & Scarves–  The Scarves have been ordered and are being made now.  As soon as they come in we will post when they will be available for pick up.  Most likely it will be at a pre-season match or any other Louligan event after that.  If you haven’t paid for your pre-order your scarf will be held for a reasonable amount of time but will be sold if you do not pick it up.  (I still have shirts that haven’t been picked up from last season.)  We will also be doing another run of the Blue Louligan/Fighting Chupacabra shirts. They will be available before games during the regular season while supplies last.  Again, if you pre-ordered but haven’t paid they will be held for a reasonable amount of time.  If you ordered a scarf to be mailed, they will be mailed the day after the first local pick-up party happens.

    4.  TIFO–  Yes we will be doing a Tifo for the opening match. If you don’t know what we’re talking about, these are the large painted banners that you see supporters groups raise before games.  Obviously we don’t have the budget or personnel to match what Timber’s Army or ECS pull off on a regular basis.  We’ll start simple and move to more complex and larger designs as we grow.  The first design for our home opener has been approved.  We will announce the day, but we will ask people that want to come out and help us paint and form a Tifo committee from that group for future projects.  We won’t do a big banner for every game, but for important matches we will have things planned.  We will also have a day before the season starts to help people make their own signs/banners. A workshop of sorts so people know how to do smaller personal ones for whenever they want.

    5. Chants/Songs–  Jack & Liz will be our Capos for the season.  If you’ve been to any of the chant practices you’ve already met them. We will have a few more practices before the season starts, but we encourage everyone to at least become familiar with some of the basic ones. They have been recorded and are available on our site to listen to.  Click here.  If you have ideas for songs or chants I encourage you to go to one of the practices or talk to Jack or Liz at a game.

    6. Tailgating–  STLFC has designated the very back of the lot at Soccer Park for our tailgate area.  The park will open at 5:30 for 7:00pm games.  That gives us an hour and a half to have some fun before we walk in.  We will be allowed to bring in our own food/drink but the team will also be selling food/drink.  Food trucks from around the city will be involved and they will also have beer available for us.  This will be a work in progress. Times and policies are subject to change depending on what works and what doesn’t.  Basically do not abuse the hospitality being shown to us.  As long as we work together we can iron out any problems that arise.  We will also be doing a march to our section from the tailgate area.  Our section will be reserved so no one takes our area, but we will walk in together singing and chanting.  There will be a process for us to get ticketed and into the stadium quickly and with our drums/flags etc without slowing up the general public entrance.

    7. Gameday–  During the matches we will be expected to police ourselves.  I don’t expect perfect behavior, but I expect us to behave ourselves to the extent that we get along with the rest of the fans.  We will not have any organized chants or songs with profanity. Obviously there will be language used in the stands during the heat of the game, but we will try not to offend our neighbors.  We’re still checking on things like smoke bombs.  That will be an issue that the team has to work out with the city and we will abide by whatever decision is made and try to find a reasonable compromise if smoke is not allowed.  During the game there will be a few designated gameday captains that will sort of patrol our area and be in charge of interacting with stadium personnel or other fans if there is an issue.  These gameday captains will have the right to tell somebody to quit doing something that is determined to be disruptive to the group.  Again all these policies and rules will be in flux.  There will be incidents where we do not agree with the team or security.  We will work through these things together.  DO NOT do something stupid that will jeopardize the group’s relationship with the team.  If someone is consistently a source of disruption they may be asked to leave our section or if it really becomes a problem asked not to come back to games.  (I do not expect things to get to that level because all of you are good people. We all have a bad day or too much to drink occasionally- you will be given the appropriate warnings.)

    8. Postgame– Still completely up in the air. The team may find a local place to sponsor after game get togethers and we will follow suit.

    9. Away games– Yes we will road trip when possible and the team will be helping us when possible.  For most road games we will gather at iTap Soulard (which is our partner bar) and watch the USL HD stream of games on one or more of their TVs.  iTap always has different specials but maybe we’ll have something for our watch parties. Similarly we’ll work with Mission Taco to have some sort of STLFC special.

    10. #PackThePark–  Once single game tickets for the home opener go on sale we will be blasting twitter & facebook with the hashtag #PackThePark.  LCFC has been using #SellOutSlugger for their home opener and it seems to be doing some good. So we’ll be encouraging friends and enemies alike to #PackThePark.  We want the home opener to be sold out and provide the best possible game day experience so the people keep coming back.  We need everyone to help make STLFC games the hot ticket in town.

    11. Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, email list– Please follow, like, subscribe to our social media efforts. I know not everyone uses social media, but it really is the easiest/most effective way for us to communicate to our fans.  If nothing else, just set up a twitter account (its free) and follow just us and the team.  You don’t have to ever interact but at least you’ll see what’s going on.

    12. Podcast– If you haven’t ever downloaded “This is SiLLy!”,  our podcast, give it a try.  It’s Brad, Mitch and Bird being silly but we generally have some good news and information about the team mixed in along with interviews with important people in STL Soccer. We will be moving to a weekly format and a shorter show once the season starts with game recaps and previews.  We hope you’ll give it a listen. It’s available on our site, iTunes and Stitcher.  We will also be doing one episode a month on location at iTap so you can come out and be a part of the show.

    13.  USWNT Game– Coming up on April 4th the USWNT will be playing at Busch Stadium.  Most of us will be there sitting with American Outlaws (most of us are members of that group).  There are a few tickets remaining in the section so if you’d like to sit with us you can hit them up on facebook or twitter.  Ryan and Andi run the local Outlaws chapter and they’re also Louligans.  We will be promoting STLFC at the pre-game party and we’ll also be having a great time. I hope you can join us.

    14. Your Electric– Mark Gardner is a longtime St. Louligan and his business Your Electric has been a sponsor of the podcast for quite a while. Mark is giving away a season ticket to STLFC.  We will announce the winner on Monday night’s episode of the podcast.  If you need electrical work done, call Mark.

    15.  Thank Yous

    Jack & Liz for running the Chant Practices

    Ryan for being the Drum Commander

    Ryan & Amanda from Adrenaline Prints for making our tshirts

    iTap for being a great host whenever we have events

    2nd Shift Brewing and Kyle for making Brewligans happen

    Jeremy Alumbaugh and the rest of the STLFC staff for everything

    Andi & Sarah R. for being our new Time Travel Secretaries for Road Trips

    Matt Bird for having an English accent and making the podcast sound more English

    Erich & Mark for being Tailgate Bosses

    JP & Pat for being the Chiefs of Charity Events

    Andi & Ryan for coordinating our efforts with AO

    Andi & Malia for helping our diversification efforts and running Louligan Ladies

    Mitch for being somewhat a voice of reason

    And Thanks to all of you that come out to our events and have fun.

    I’m sure I’m forgetting someone. I’m sorry. Thank you.

    Update:

    Here’s the video of the AGM.  We ran out of battery before the players came up and joined in the fun.