Jamie Swinney on Falkirk's 'dream' title-winning season and rebuilding trust with the Bairns' fanbase

After a five-year spell in the third tier, which was finally ended last month after John McGlynn’s unbeaten champions sealed promotion, Swinney admits that the “disconnect” between the supporters and the club was the worst he had ever seen it during his first season at the helm.

And that 2021-22 campaign was without a doubt the worst in the Bairns’ history, with the team posting a lowly sixth-placed finish after a disastrous season on and off the park.

“When I came in in September 2021, it was under a previous board. And within two months of me starting, that whole board resigned,” Swinney recalled.

"The first question I was asked when I was offered the role as CEO was what I felt the hardest challenge was for the club going forward. I think the previous board thought I was going to say the obvious, getting the club out of League One, but I didn’t.

“The biggest challenge was fixing the disconnect between the fans and the players and the club. It was certainly the worst I had ever seen it in my lifetime. We had to rebuild trust with the fans.

“Not only has this season been brilliant on the park, we have managed to get to a point off it where the trust is back. There is real energy and synergy about the place. That is just as important as getting back into the Championship in terms of the club’s long-term future.”

With the current crop still undefeated heading into the final matchday of the campaign this weekend against Alloa Athletic, Swinney hailed management team duo John McGlynn and Paul Smith for what they have brought to the table.

He says that he couldn’t have imagined such a successful season in his wildest dreams – and that he expected automatic promotion to go right down to the wire.

Swinney added: “It has been a dream season. In all honesty, it has probably gone beyond that. We knew that we were making progress last year but we did fall short in the big games against Dunfermline and in the play-offs.

“We went into this season with confidence that things were going into the right direction. John (McGlynn) and Paul (Smith) recruited players that we knew would be better than what we had previously.

"The minute they came into the football club, they improved us. They have improved us tenfold on the pitch every transfer window but they have also played a part in so many things that supporters probably don’t see.

"The standards and demands that they have set really demonstrates the fact they are both leaders. A club like Falkirk, one of the biggest in Scotland, needs that and you can see the impact from afar.

"Off the park, they have driven the standards up too and our non-footballing team have gone from strength to strength. There is a real unity.

“But the truth is that we went into the season with a lot of unknowns. The league has four full-time sides and nothing is a given in football. We have no devine right to win it.

“I must admit, I thought we would get it over the line but I didn’t see us doing it in this style. I thought we’d get first over the line probably late on. I thought it would go right down to the wire.

"The players have been exceptional from day one. They have been great ambassadors for the club on and off the park.”

As part of club’s new era of transparency, with the Bairns now majority fan-owned thanks to the Falkirk Supporters’ Society, Swinney says he will continue to be totally transparent with the fanbase.

“The history of the club has certainly been a bit ‘us and them’ and we needed to change that. We’ve certainly done that and we are transparent about everything we do,” he said.

"The fans own the club. It is that simple. And to be fan owned, you can’t just take that for granted, you need to demonstrate the values of that open ownership. The fans expect honesty and sometimes you need to tell some negative, hard-hitting stuff.

"We’ve been really open about finances and how the club is looking off the park.”

He added: “We had to tell our shareholders and our fans that the likelihood was that if we didn’t get promoted this season that our only option going forward was to go into that next campaign as a part-time football club.

“We weren’t hiding from that possible reality. The truth is that this was a win or bust season. I think that actually just adds to how impressive the achievement of going the season unbeaten up to this point actually is.”