The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
Win or lose, Montrose will survive
Montrose chairman Derek Sim has dismissed fears that relegation out of the SPFL would be the death knell of the Angus club.
The Links Park side face a home and away play-off against Brora Rangers of the Highland League to preserve their League Two status, the first leg of which will take place away from home on Saturday.
Sim, who has issued a rallying call for supporters to get behind Paul Hegarty’s men, has responded to local speculation that the club’s very survival is at stake.
He said: “As this would be a first for any League Two side, we have nothing really to compare it with as far as building a business case is concerned.
“A number of Highland League clubs are financially strong and with 18 teams and extensive travelling it would be a tough league to compete in and win.
“It would be a real challenge but one as a club we would face head on.
“Obviously we would have to look at cutting our day to day running costs and carefully consider where we look for players so as to reduce their travel commitments.
“But our fate is very much in our own hands and all our efforts are focused at this time on winning the play-off.”
Sim, who confirmed that all of the Montrose players are out of contract after the play-off, stated that after next weekend they will discuss with manager Hegarty and his assistant John Holt whether they will be staying at the club.
He pointed out that the pair have “done a great job in galvanising the squad” since taking over from George Shields.
Sim also addressed the matter of their synthetic pitch and the need to upgrade it.
He pointed out: “Our 3G artificial surface, laid back in 2007, has come to the end of its natural life and has failed its recent Fifa tests. We have moved quickly and appointed a contractor to replace the top layer with a state of the art surface during the close season.
“This has required significant efforts by the directors to get to this stage in dealing and negotiating with a number of vendors. We have also worked extensively on funding arrangements for the project.”