MONTGOMERIE HOPES PENNY DROPS AT KILLIE
Montgomerie: Jobs will be axed if Killie are relegated
As the man tasked with attracting sponsorship, corporate support and investment to Kilmarnock, Ray Montgomerie has professional reasons for hoping that they come through the Play-Off Final with their top-tier status intact.
However, he admits that they pale beside his personal reasons for hoping that Lee Clark’s side manage to prevail against Falkirk over the two legs. Killie announced losses of £724,406 for the previous financial year — and that was with Premiership football.
Montgomerie does not need to be told that those losses are likely to increase should the Ayrshire club drop into the Championship. Cuts across the board will, inevitably, lead to reduced salaries at best, and redundancies at worst, but that wouldn’t be the most painful part.
Montgomerie loves Kilmarnock Football Club. Born in Irvine, he grew up supporting them and, after joining from Dumbarton for £12,000 in 1988, he made almost 400 appearances for his boyhood heroes, captaining them to scottish Cup glory in 1997.
now, though, he is reduced to hoping that the current team exhibit the same passion he displayed every time he pulled on the shirt as they attempt to salvage not only their season, but also, in some cases, their Rugby Park careers.
‘It’s a tough week coming up and we’ll soon find out where we are going to be playing next season,’ said the 55-year-old. ‘Fortunately, it’s still very much within our own hands. We have two cup finals, so it’s up to the lads.’
Like many supporters, Montgomerie fears that, if they are relegated, it could be a long time before they are able to return to the highest level.
‘It’s imperative we stay in the top division, there’s no doubt about that,’ he said. ‘You look at the teams who’ve gone down and found it hard to come back up — some of them with more resources than ourselves.
‘Look at how long it has taken Hibs. It took Rangers two seasons, and now Dundee united will be there next season. It goes without saying that, if you drop a level, the money you can attract on the commercial side — where I work — is not going to be what it has been.
‘Last year, we attracted sponsorships for the Premiership. That’ll take a hit if we can’t stay up.
‘Livelihoods are at stake. You can only cut so much and we have a professional club to run. We just need to see what happens and take it from there.
‘At the moment, I don’t want to contemplate what it would be like in the Championship. You need a positive mindset and I’m looking for Kilmarnock to be in the Premiership next season.’
scotland’s oldest professional club have been a constant in the top flight since winning promotion under Tommy Burns and Billy stark in 1993, with Montgomerie wearing the armband.
‘I can remember us coming up through the divisions 23 years ago, I was part of it,’ he said. ‘I can also recall being relegated to the third tier in 1989 after losing to Queen of the south.
‘even now, I can see the Kilmarnock scarves lying on the road that fans had chucked away on the road back from Dumfries that day. You don’t want to go back to those days.
‘I remember, before we played Hibs on the final day of the 1993/94 season, going into training and Tommy telling us: “If you don’t stay in the Premier League, there will be no full-time football next year”. I know exactly what’s at stake.
‘I would like to think it wouldn’t be as bad as that, but who knows? The players involved have to realise it will be the biggest game they’ll be involved in. The ones at the coalface have to realise that.’
Kilmarnock’s decline, which many observers trace back to the unnecessary split with League Cup-winning manager Kenny shiels in 2013, has pained Montgomerie.
‘It’s hard just now, it’s written all over my face on some match days,’ he confessed. ‘I remember playing Cowdenbeath at Rugby Park and there were 9,500 people in the stadium.
‘When you see it now, with average crowds of 4,000-4,500, it’s heartbreaking. In fact, it’s heartbreaking seeing a lot of things around the club right now, but it is what it is and I’m not in a position to do anything about it.
‘It’s influenced by the people on the pitch and those responsible for putting them on the pitch. Bringing the fans back? I don’t know. I don’t have a magic wand.
‘We have not been successful. We are where we are for a reason. now we’ve been given a second chance and it’s up to everyone to muck together.’
“It is imperative for Kilmarnock to avoid the drop”