PARS CHIEF: VACCINE HELP IS A THANK YOU TO LOCALS

DUNFERMLINE chief Ross McArthur admits handing over their stadium for the roll-out of the Covid vaccine is their way of thanking the community.

Record Sport revealed earlier this month the Championship club would be on the frontline of fighting the virus.

McArthur has now confirmed

East End Park will be utilised as a vaccination centre. Work is under way to transform their Halbeath Road home into a hub that will allow NHS Fife to deliver the vaccine en masse.

While McArthur is reluctant to unveil the exact details until the link-up has been made official, he insists it is a “no-brainer” to support the local community after the way it has rallied around the Pars. It is understood hundreds of doses per day will be distributed in the concourse of the Norrie McCathie Stand.

The chairman said: “I can’t say too much until NHS Fife make it official but that will be happening, yes. The community has been great to us and helped us through this particular period. We’d like to give something back.

“It shows the good that Scottish football can do in its communities and it was an easy decision for me to back.”

McArthur has revealed the absence of fans and hospitality plus a reduction in commercial cash have seen Dunfermline haemorrhage half of their income during the Covid crisis.

And he admits the six-figure investment from German consortium DAFC Fussball GmbH secured last year, in return for a 30 per cent stake, has been a godsend. He added: “It has been very difficult. As a club we’ve probably lost 50 per cent of our income this season and that’s hard to replace.

“You can’t take 50 per cent out of your costs because you still need to make the best of things as a football team.

“We are lucky enough to have external investment, which we managed to get in during Covid.”