HSL - Q & A's

[OfficialHSL]

Question and Answers

We are delighted to report a very positive response to recent initiatives and it is pleasing to note that more and more supporters are choosing to support our Management Team.
Over the coming months we will be making every effort to get as much additional funds to the Club to help bring in more players. We are also closing in on our target of £1.25m and many supporters want to have their names on our Founders Board and our official strip. With this in mind we thought it would be helpful to be available to answer as many questions as we can to help supporters decide if they want to help. We will kick things off with a couple of questions :
Q1. You seem to have had a few technical issues with your web site, are these all now sorted ?
Answer - Yes we have had a number of issues with our web site and needless to say we have had very serious words with the Company who developed this. In particular the password reset function and the contact us button have not worked but we understand that these issues are now fixed. We still have one or two minor things that we are working on to make Supporters lives easier.
Q2. How do I find out if I am already a full Member or how much I have contributed to date ?
Answer - via our web site go to the Menu page and click on “log in”. Use the email that you used when you joined and then enter your password. If you have lost the email that we sent to you please use the reset password function and follow things from there.

Over to you......

HSL

[Ray_]

I have two accounts on the go, I only have access to one [0Z5S2VWX0D], both have been going for close to 4 years and the second was for my student son and I'd like to let him know what it's status is, both my direct debits go out routinely every month. The account I can access naturally only gives details of the direct debit payments that are linked to that account and not the other one.

I have made several requests via email and on here, which have been ignored [including on the last thread on here!] to see how I can get access and also to change my email address as that has changed since I started the accounts and the website won't allow me to update this information.

Ray

[OfficialHSL]

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I have two accounts on the go, I only have access to one [0Z5S2VWX0D], both have been going for close to 4 years and the second was for my student son and I'd like to let him know what it's status is, both my direct debits go out routinely every month. The account I can access naturally only gives details of the direct debit payments that are linked to that account and not the other one.

I have made several requests via email and on here, which have been ignored [including on the last thread on here!] to see how I can get access and also to change my email address as that has changed since I started the accounts and the website won't allow me to update this information.

Ray

Ray
Could you put this in an email to info@hiberniansupporters.co.uk
HSL

[Ray_]

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Ray
Could you put this in an email to info@hiberniansupporters.co.uk
HSL

Will do.

Thank You.

[kevinc]

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Question and Answers

We are delighted to report a very positive response to recent initiatives and it is pleasing to note that more and more supporters are choosing to support our Management Team.
Over the coming months we will be making every effort to get as much additional funds to the Club to help bring in more players. We are also closing in on our target of £1.25m and many supporters want to have their names on our Founders Board and our official strip. With this in mind we thought it would be helpful to be available to answer as many questions as we can to help supporters decide if they want to help. We will kick things off with a couple of questions :
Q1. You seem to have had a few technical issues with your web site, are these all now sorted ?
Answer - Yes we have had a number of issues with our web site and needless to say we have had very serious words with the Company who developed this. In particular the password reset function and the contact us button have not worked but we understand that these issues are now fixed. We still have one or two minor things that we are working on to make Supporters lives easier.
Q2. How do I find out if I am already a full Member or how much I have contributed to date ?
Answer - via our web site go to the Menu page and click on “log in”. Use the email that you used when you joined and then enter your password. If you have lost the email that we sent to you please use the reset password function and follow things from there.

Over to you......

HSL

Hi HSL, I have some questions,

Q1. Have you decided what the contribution level and cut off date is for being becoming a founder member.

Q2. Have you considered having more of a presence on match day, not everyone goes on line and having the ability to capture new members at the matches may result in an increase in members.

Q3. Can I swap my personal shares to an HSL contribution

Thanks.

[OfficialHSL]

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Hi HSL, I have some questions,

Q1. Have you decided what the contribution level and cut off date is for being becoming a founder member.

Q2. Have you considered having more of a presence on match day, not everyone goes on line and having the ability to capture new members at the matches may result in an increase in members.

Q3. Can I swap my personal shares to an HSL contribution

Thanks.

Kevin
If you have 1875 Franks (£225) you will be a full and Founding Member.. We have not finalised the cut off date yet. The Club will let us know the latest date we can give info to the shirt manufacturer and we want to give ourselves a few weeks to ensure we have everyone’s name for the shirt. We are are working with 30th September but we are hoping to push this date back if we can to give Members and potential Members as much time as possible.
We have had a presence at Match days in the past but this has not proved popular. Having said this given the increasing interest in HSL we plan to do this next Season.

HSL

[OfficialHSL]

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Hi HSL, I have some questions,

Q1. Have you decided what the contribution level and cut off date is for being becoming a founder member.

Q2. Have you considered having more of a presence on match day, not everyone goes on line and having the ability to capture new members at the matches may result in an increase in members.

Q3. Can I swap my personal shares to an HSL contribution

Thanks.

Kevin
Just realised we did not answer your third question :
Q3 - yes, you can donate your existing shares to HSL. Simply write a letter to the Club telling them what you want to do. We would always suggest retaining a couple of shares for your mantle piece as well as ensuring your right to attend AGMs

HSL

[Iggy Pope]

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Kevin
Just realised we did not answer your third question :
Q3 - yes, you can donate your existing shares to HSL. Simply write a letter to the Club telling them what you want to do. We would always suggest retaining a couple of shares for your mantle piece as well as ensuring your right to attend AGMs

HSL

A nice sentiment.
It might be worth a word to the admins to request that your thread is kept to Q&A.
It’s a good initiative and it would be a shame if opinion rather than fact come into it and clouded the content. There’s plenty of other threads for folks to air their viewpoint.

[Bangkok Hibby]

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A nice sentiment.
It might be worth a word to the admins to request that your thread is kept to Q&A.
It’s a good initiative and it would be a shame if opinion rather than fact come into it and clouded the content. There’s plenty of other threads for folks to air their viewpoint.

Totally agree, a good idea for a thread restricted to those who'd like clarification on certain things and ONLY official answers from HSL. Not sure that's doable on a public forum though?

[OfficialHSL]

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Hi HSL, I have some questions,

Q1. Have you decided what the contribution level and cut off date is for being becoming a founder member.

Q2. Have you considered having more of a presence on match day, not everyone goes on line and having the ability to capture new members at the matches may result in an increase in members.

Q3. Can I swap my personal shares to an HSL contribution

Thanks.

Kevin
Just realised we did not answer your third question :
Q3 - yes, you can donate your existing shares to HSL. Simply write a letter to the Club telling them what you want to do. We would always suggest retaining a couple of shares for your mantle piece as well as ensuring your right to attend AGMs

HSL

[kevinc]

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Kevin
Just realised we did not answer your third question :
Q3 - yes, you can donate your existing shares to HSL. Simply write a letter to the Club telling them what you want to do. We would always suggest retaining a couple of shares for your mantle piece as well as ensuring your right to attend AGMs

HSL

Thank you , very helpful and I appreciate your suggestion.

[Baldy Foghorn]

In what way is gifting your own shares to HSL better, than holding onto them yourself?

[Pagan Hibernia]

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In what way is gifting your own shares to HSL better, than holding onto them yourself?

Everyones different. Some people might like the idea of being part of a collective and helping HSL achieve their target of 25.1% ownership. Others won’t. No one is wrong (except the ones who spread malicious lies about HSL).

[Hamish]

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In what way is gifting your own shares to HSL better, than holding onto them yourself?

It gets HSL nearer the target detailed on their website -
Our target is to achieve a meaningful stake, such as 26%. This will allow our Members to be represented at Board level and of course provide a blocking vote in the event of any future majority shareholder having dishonourable intent.

[kevinc]

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In what way is gifting your own shares to HSL better, than holding onto them yourself?

For me it is better as they are not really anything other than a piece of paper, for HSL they add to the current shareholding, for all the negativity surrounding HSL I am still not seeing any alternatives being offered; loads of sniping and reluctance to invest but little in the way of credible options to keep us competitive (financially) with Aberdeen and Hertz.

[DaveF]

I know the AGM is before the Aberdeen game but what time and where? (I deleted the email)

Thought it might have been posted on the HSL site but latest news is almost 2 months old.

[MSK]

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I know the AGM is before the Aberdeen game but what time and where? (I deleted the email)

Thought it might have been posted on the HSL site but latest news is almost 2 months old.

The Meeting will take place at 12 noon and will be held in the Captains 1 & 2 Suites which can be entered from the Main Reception in the West Stand 👍

[DaveF]

Thanks MSK.

[MSK]

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Thanks MSK.

👍

[matty_f]

1) How much money does STF make from each share purchased by HSL?

2) What is HSL for (e.g. is it just to raise funds, is it fan ownership, securing the club, signing players etc)?

3) How much of the donations do Hibs get?

4) What is the benefit of having an HSL presence on the board?

5) If fan ownership is a goal, what does that mean in practical terms?

6) People draw comparisons with Foundation of Hearts, we all know that that worked because they had to save their club, so comparisons might not work - is there anything that you can learn from St Mirren or Motherwell's schemes?

7) Why should people donate to HSL?

8) Does HSL dilute STF's and Petrie's shareholding?

9) What do you get if you're a member?

10) What is the difference between an HSL membership and buying shares direct?

[Danderhall Hibs]

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1) How much money does STF make from each share purchased by HSL?

2) What is HSL for (e.g. is it just to raise funds, is it fan ownership, securing the club, signing players etc)?

3) How much of the donations do Hibs get?

4) What is the benefit of having an HSL presence on the board?

5) If fan ownership is a goal, what does that mean in practical terms?

6) People draw comparisons with Foundation of Hearts, we all know that that worked because they had to save their club, so comparisons might not work - is there anything that you can learn from St Mirren or Motherwell's schemes?

7) Why should people donate to HSL?

8) Does HSL dilute STF's and Petrie's shareholding?

9) What do you get if you're a member?

10) What is the difference between an HSL membership and buying shares direct?

Good questions - these seem to come up a lot when HSL post so it will be good to put some myths to bed and hopefully encourage more to sign up.

[hibbydad]

I cannot believe these questions are being asked again they have been answered so many times. STF is making nothing out of this his shareholding is being diluted and all the money goes to the club

[Danderhall Hibs]

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I cannot believe these questions are being asked again they have been answered so many times. STF is making nothing out of this his shareholding is being diluted and all the money goes to the club

They keep coming up though and are blocking the progress of HSL. An official answer and somewhere to point to next time it’s being dragged up by someone would be great.

[matty_f]

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I cannot believe these questions are being asked again they have been answered so many times. STF is making nothing out of this his shareholding is being diluted and all the money goes to the club

Handy to have that on one Q&A thread, though.

[Criswell]

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I cannot believe these questions are being asked again they have been answered so many times. STF is making nothing out of this his shareholding is being diluted and all the money goes to the club

I see Sir Tom's wealth is quoted in today's Sunday Times Rich List as being worth £126 million. No point being made here, just saying like.

[NAE NOOKIE]

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I see Sir Tom's wealth is quoted in today's Sunday Times Rich List as being worth £126 million. No point being made here, just saying like.

That's a bit of a shocker then, coz I recall a few years back reading that he was worth 400 million. How do you become a millionaire? Start off as a billionaire and buy a football club

[OfficialHSL]

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1) How much money does STF make from each share purchased by HSL?

2) What is HSL for (e.g. is it just to raise funds, is it fan ownership, securing the club, signing players etc)?

3) How much of the donations do Hibs get?

4) What is the benefit of having an HSL presence on the board?

5) If fan ownership is a goal, what does that mean in practical terms?

6) People draw comparisons with Foundation of Hearts, we all know that that worked because they had to save their club, so comparisons might not work - is there anything that you can learn from St Mirren or Motherwell's schemes?

7) Why should people donate to HSL?

8) Does HSL dilute STF's and Petrie's shareholding?

9) What do you get if you're a member?

10) What is the difference between an HSL membership and buying shares direct?

MattyF

1. No. The shares being bought by HSL are new shares issued by the Club rather than being bought from existing shareholders.
2. The principal purpose of HSL is to raise new funds for our Club. More particularly to put that money directly to our Manager to spend on new players and improve our prospects of success on the park.A by product of this however is that we receive shares in our Club and therefore become part owners.
3. Nearly 100% of the donations to HSL goes to the Club. A very small amount is spent on admin.
4. As with most other Clubs in Scotland our biggest challenge is finance. We want to significantly increase this source of additional funding to the Club it it will help if we all work closely together with this common objective.
5. Our goal is to achieve a meaningful stake in the Club. This is 25.1% and equates to £1.25m. At this point ordinary supporters will be in a position to protect the Club from situations such as Mercer or Duff/Gray.
6. Direct comparisons aren’t easy because as you say each set of circumstances are different. However, the issues in front of the Clubs that you mention are similar I.e. lack of money. Unfortunately Scottish football does not attract the kind of commercial funding as England and so we are left to our own devices. A significant source of funding is therefore the ordinary fans. While money can not guarantee success it does help in the long run. Hearts and Aberdeen fans are donating huge sums of money to their Clubs because they want to be better than us.
7. See above. If you want to help Paul and Robbie improve the product on the park, donate to HSL.
8. Yes. HFC’s shareholding is now down to about 62% from a previous 98%
9. Ownership. When you are a fully paid Member you are a joint, and equal owner of HSL along with your fellow Members. HSL as an entity now owns almost 20% of the Club.
10. Both ownership methods have full legal status.
As this is an HSL thread we make no apologies for expressing our preference for providing additional financial support via HSL. We have many Members of HSL who could have bought significant shareholdings in the Club but they chose not to as the felt it was inappropriate in the context of fan ownership. The principal of one Member one vote was paramount. This means that whether you are paying £100pm to HSL or £7.73pm , all our voices are equal.


HSL

[matty_f]

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MattyF

1. No. The shares being bought by HSL are new shares issued by the Club rather than being bought from existing shareholders.
2. The principal purpose of HSL is to raise new funds for our Club. More particularly to put that money directly to our Manager to spend on new players and improve our prospects of success on the park.A by product of this however is that we receive shares in our Club and therefore become part owners.
3. Nearly 100% of the donations to HSL goes to the Club. A very small amount is spent on admin.
4. As with most other Clubs in Scotland our biggest challenge is finance. We want to significantly increase this source of additional funding to the Club it it will help if we all work closely together with this common objective.
5. Our goal is to achieve a meaningful stake in the Club. This is 25.1% and equates to £1.25m. At this point ordinary supporters will be in a position to protect the Club from situations such as Mercer or Duff/Gray.
6. Direct comparisons aren’t easy because as you say each set of circumstances are different. However, the issues in front of the Clubs that you mention are similar I.e. lack of money. Unfortunately Scottish football does not attract the kind of commercial funding as England and so we are left to our own devices. A significant source of funding is therefore the ordinary fans. While money can not guarantee success it does help in the long run. Hearts and Aberdeen fans are donating huge sums of money to their Clubs because they want to be better than us.
7. See above. If you want to help Paul and Robbie improve the product on the park, donate to HSL.
8. Yes. HFC’s shareholding is now down to about 62% from a previous 98%
9. Ownership. When you are a fully paid Member you are a joint, and equal owner of HSL along with your fellow Members. HSL as an entity now owns almost 20% of the Club.
10. Both ownership methods have full legal status.
As this is an HSL thread we make no apologies for expressing our preference for providing additional financial support via HSL. We have many Members of HSL who could have bought significant shareholdings in the Club but they chose not to as the felt it was inappropriate in the context of fan ownership. The principal of one Member one vote was paramount. This means that whether you are paying £100pm to HSL or £7.73pm , all our voices are equal.


HSL

Thanks

[McD]

Hi HSL,

I’ve been pondering the recent political situations we’ve witnessed/been part of in recent years, which got me thinking about how Hibs and HSL could work, so I have a couple of questions:

- when HSL reach 25.1%, and have a permanent seat on the board, will the nominated board member be obligated/bound to vote on board matters as the HSL membership indicate? And if so, will there be regular votes/polls for the membership?

- as the brexit referendum has shown, a tiny majority in a vote/poll can cause a real split amongst people. Considering this, will there be a minimum criteria for votes to meet in order to guide the HSL board member, for example, at least 60% of members vote to fill in the corners in order for the board member to vote this way in a board decision? (I’m not suggesting a poll of the membership for every board decision btw)


apologies for bringing politics in to this, and it’s not aimed with any slant, I’m genuinely curious, and I think it’s important that whomever is nominated and steps onto the board on behalf of HSL membership is supported fully in making it a productive working situation. We’ve seen the criticism that the fans reps concept has attracted, this person will have a fair bit of clout behind them in terms of voting weight, and as such needs to be given the best support from those they represent.

Thanks in advance

[OfficialHSL]

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Hi HSL,

I’ve been pondering the recent political situations we’ve witnessed/been part of in recent years, which got me thinking about how Hibs and HSL could work, so I have a couple of questions:

- when HSL reach 25.1%, and have a permanent seat on the board, will the nominated board member be obligated/bound to vote on board matters as the HSL membership indicate? And if so, will there be regular votes/polls for the membership?

- as the brexit referendum has shown, a tiny majority in a vote/poll can cause a real split amongst people. Considering this, will there be a minimum criteria for votes to meet in order to guide the HSL board member, for example, at least 60% of members vote to fill in the corners in order for the board member to vote this way in a board decision? (I’m not suggesting a poll of the membership for every board decision btw)


apologies for bringing politics in to this, and it’s not aimed with any slant, I’m genuinely curious, and I think it’s important that whomever is nominated and steps onto the board on behalf of HSL membership is supported fully in making it a productive working situation. We’ve seen the criticism that the fans reps concept has attracted, this person will have a fair bit of clout behind them in terms of voting weight, and as such needs to be given the best support from those they represent.

Thanks in advance

McD
Thank you for your question. You will appreciate we are going into new territory but we will do our best to answer :

- the main purpose of non executive Directors is to assist the Executive Team in whatever way they can so we would anticipate taking a steer from that Team at the time. Given that most of the work of the Board is dealing with routine work we would not anticipate regular polls. Do remember we are simply taking an ownership stake, we are not here to run the Club

- as previously advised we would intend to operate on a simple majority basis. Clearly if this proved to be problematic our Members May wish to review this. The reality is that we simply don’t anticipate have many votes. If a future Board felt that ER Stadium would be perfect for luxury flats and this proposal was put to shareholders in such a scenario we would take instructions from our Members. One would not imagine too much of a split in our vote.
We hope this helps.

HSL