Insurers shun Methil men

East Fife chairman Jim Stevenson has revealed the club have been shunned by their insurers regarding the coronavirus pandemic.

The League One promotion hopefuls are reeling after being told they are not covered under their “Business Interruption” policy as there had not been a specific outbreak of Covid-19 at their Bayview stadium.

Stevenson released a statement yesterday just hours after his Aberdeen counterpart Dave Cormack said the Dons would not receive any financial aid from their insurers despite taking out similar protection.

Stevenson said: “East Fife do have Business Interruption insurance, including closure for diseases, however, when we inquired about this last week, we were advised that we would not be covered by that insurance as the stadium hadn’t been closed due to an incident of this coronavirus on the premises.”

Stevenson insists the parttimers will be able to ride out the financial storm in the coming months but concedes they will be in a precarious position should the shutdown run deep into the summer.

He added: “As you can imagine, the postponement of all matches will have a substantial impact on the club. At the time of the shutdown we had four home matches to play which has resulted in loss in revenue from gate admissions and sold-out hospitality as well as losses from club shop and bar.

“Our final scheduled home match of this season against Falkirk would have generated income of around £20,000 on its own.”