Our biggest game
Jefferies implores fans to pack stands on Saturday or all may be lost for Pars
DuNFErMLINE boss Jim Jefferies last night pleaded with Pars fans to pack East End Park this weekend for what he rates as the most important game in the imperilled club’s 128-year history.
With talks ongoing with interested parties to save the troubled club, points are secondary to pounds when Dumbarton visit on Saturday.
The struggling Fifers aim to raise enough money to help see off a threat from Her Majesty’s revenue and Customs to close down one of Scotland’s great old clubs.
A winding-up order filed by HMrC on Tuesday means Dunfermline officially have until close of business next Wednesday, March 27, to settle an immediate unpaid tax bill of £134,000.
A further £450,000 is due to creditors, while players are owed £35,000 from February’s wages, with the £95,000 March wage bill imminent.
And, while Jefferies and his Pars host bitter derby rivals Falkirk in a potential money- spinner next Wednesday — on the evening of the taxman’s deadline — it is cash from the Dumbarton game that will be most crucial to whether the 1968 Scottish Cup winners and 1969 uEFA Cup semi-finalists can survive in the short term.
Dunfermline, who are saddled with debts of £8.5million, largely owed to owner Gavin Masterton’s complex business empire, took 17,000 fans to Hampden for the Scottish Cup Final in 2004. With the club’s very survival at stake, rather than silverware, Jefferies believes games do not come bigger than the First Division clash in 48 hours against Dumbarton.
And the Dunfermline manager duly made an impassioned plea last night for supporters to put aside their many grievances against controversial club owner Masterton and cheer on their beleaguered team — while they still have the chance.
‘We need the fans that used to come along for the promotion games and the cup finals to come along against Dumbarton to try and save this club,’ said Jefferies.
‘The place was packed when we played raith rovers for promotion in 2010, but this is far more important.
‘The club’s future is in doubt and I think that is a bigger occasion than anything else.’
A consortium consisting of club sponsors the Purvis Group and former directors, including ronnie Weymes and Craig McWhirter, have offered to part-fund a fan-ownership based scheme.
They hope to seize power from 94-per-cent shareholder Masterton, with 50 per cent going into the hands of the Pars Supporters Trust (PST).
Due diligence proceedings were ongoing at East End Park yesterday, with a progress report on the long-term sustainability of the fan-ownership model expected by tomorrow.
A statement from the steering group charged with rescuing the club, led by Dunfermline legend Jim Leishman, confirmed: ‘Progress has been made regarding funds being put in place to clear the HMrC bill.’
It is also believed headway has been made by the steering group in their bid to secure a commercial lease for East End Park, which is owned by another of Masterton’s companies, East End Park Ltd.
A positive outcome in those talks, taking place with Lloyds Banking Group, would eliminate one major hurdle in any takeover bid.
Yet, while the Dunfermline steering group have expressed cautious optimism regarding finding the funds to ward off HMrC, Graham Watson of The Pars Community (TPC) last night claimed it would be nothing more than a short-term fix and warned of an ‘evil’ day approaching.
The Fife outfit needs around £750,000 to survive until the end of the season and TPC, whose bid to buy the Pars collapsed in a bitter war of words with former chairman John Yorkston last weekend, now aim to resurrect the club if it finally drowns in its sea of debt.
Watson said: ‘The debts are far greater than £134,000. This is an evil day which has been coming.
‘Even if the club gets some money over the course of the next few days we will probably be here again in a few months.
‘If the club does go into liquidation then the Pars Community will be speaking to the liquidator right away to try and find a solution to ensure the club continues to play.’
To add to their woes, Dunfermline will discover today if they are to be handed any punishment from the SFA over an alleged breach of Scottish Cup competition rules that relate to their failure to hand over an estimated £7,000 in gate receipts to Hamilton from the February 2 tie.
The Pars also owe Fife neighbours Cowdenbeath £4,500 in ticket revenue, although the Blue Brazil have said they will write off the debt if at least 200 Dunfermline fans attend their forthcoming home match against Livingston.