Falkirk chief executive Jamie Swinney has described the club's remarkable transformation from a League One 'carcass' to genuine European hopefuls, as the Bairns sit third in the Scottish Premiership table after successive wins over Aberdeen, Celtic and Hearts.
Swinney, a lifelong Falkirk fan, was present for the club's lowest point in the 21st century, a 6-0 defeat to Queen's Park at Firhill in 2021. He initially turned down a job offer from the club, unable to foresee that five years later they would be sitting directly behind Celtic and Rangers in the top flight.
Speaking after Thursday night's AGM, where he announced record profits and the club's highest-ever revenue for a financial year, Swinney reflected on the depths from which Falkirk have climbed.
From Carcass to Golden Goose
"The place was a mess," Swinney admitted. "And when I did have a change of heart and agreed to join Falkirk, the situation was even worse than I thought when I started work. I would have described the club at that point as a carcass lying in the bottom half of League One."
Now investors are keen to grab a piece of the action, and Swinney dares to dream of manager John McGlynn taking the team into Europe next season. "Why not be allowed to dream?" he said. "After all, Falkirk are the only Scottish club with a 100 per cent home record in European competition. I say that tongue-in-cheek because we've only played one home game in Europe. But we did beat Vaduz at our ground in 2009 before being knocked out at their place."
McGlynn's Impact and Ambition
Falkirk's rise has come under McGlynn, whose back-to-back promotions, including an Invincible season, have brought him manager of the year awards and attention from other clubs. Swinney is determined to keep him. "We want John to be our manager until he decides to retire from football," he said. "Falkirk are a well-coached side and John is anything but a one-trick pony."
Swinney recalled the surreal feeling of watching Falkirk lead 5-0 at Tynecastle last Sunday. "I sat in Edinburgh last Sunday, when the score was 5-0 in our favour, and thought to myself, 'This is just surreal.' But then I remembered Brockville in 2003, when we played Hearts in a Scottish Cup tie and beat them 4-0. Collin Samuel got a hat-trick and Owen Coyle scored our other goal."
Rebuilding the Squad
The club sold Calvin Miller and Barney Stewart in the summer transfer window and brought in 17 new signings. "All I can say is our head scout Alan Fraser knows a player when he sees one," said Swinney. "Not only that, every player who leaves the club is better than he was when he joined Falkirk."
The sales helped pay for the conversion of the pitch to grass instead of a synthetic surface. "We didn't want to sell Calvin and Barney but that helped pay for the conversion," he said. "Now we're looking at outside investment on top of fan ownership to take the club even further."
Swinney acknowledged the raised expectations, noting the contrast between last season's opening-day 1-1 draw at Tannadice and this season's loss to St Mirren, which drew rumblings from fans. "But look where John has taken us now," he said. "That's why his fellow managers keep voting for him to get awards. And why we want to hold on to him for as long as he remains in the game."
