The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
Fans call for takeover bid to be shelved
EAST FIFE fans hoping to gain control at New Bayview have called on existing directors to withdraw their takeover bid for the good of the ailing club.
The Methil outfit have been in limbo after the departure of former chairman Lee Murray earlier this year, but the East Fife Supporters Society (EFSS) believe an attempt by the four remaining full directors on the board to try to steady the ship will do little or nothing to solve the immediate financial crisis facing the club.
Sources have suggested the club is facing another hefty loss for 2014 despite sizeable gates against the likes of Rangers and Dunfermline last season, and that would be on the back of consecutive annual losses over the last few years.
With that in mind, members of the EFSS worried about what the future might hold for the Fife club insist that most fans want the directors to scrap their current plan and work together with the EFSS to create a proper business plan which would then form the basis of a joint bid.
Allan Duthie, chairman of the EFSS, hinted that losses in recent seasons clearly indicates a need for a change in approach.
“When we look at the club accounts over the last few years we see a pattern of considerable losses only being averted literally by the luck of a good cup draw,” he said.
“For example, in 2012 there was a loss of £13,000 but without the league cup tie away to Aberdeen that would have been over £50,000.
“Similarly, in 2013, the losses were £26,000 but that was after getting over £100,000 from the League Cup tie at Ibrox so the difference between income and expenditure that season was a deficit of £126,000.
“No football club ever includes in its plans any income from cup matches so this indicates a lack of financial discipline.
“These figures suggest that there needs to be proper business planning in place before any bid should be made.”
Existing directors Jim Stevenson, Dave Marshall, John Barclay and John Donaldson are behind the bid currently on the table, which would involve the setting up of a separate holding company which would buy the majority shareholding from the current owners — namely Lorraine Johnston and SamanthaTwigg.
Under that plan, the company would have 80 shares, of which 40 would be sold to others for £5,000 a share, and the directors would retain control of 50%-plus of the holding company for five years to give them continuing control of the club.
When that period is up, it has been suggested that the directors would offer their shareholding to the EFSS at the original purchase price, with the EFSS and others being invited to purchase the remaining shares if they desired.
When contacted by Courier Sport yesterday, Mr Stevenson did not wish to comment on the situation but did confirm the directors had “started the bid process”, although it is understood the directors see their bid as the best way to create a stable platform from which fan ownership could be achieved further down the line.
However, the EFSS have expressed a number of concerns over the directors’ plan, such as the fact supporters would be paying money into the holding company for five years or more without any control of the club.
They have also cast doubt on the near-£800,000 valuation on the club which the directors appear to be working to, citing the input of their own professional advisers who say the £400,000 valuation for 52% of the shares is “excessive”.
Those advisers, Begbies Traynor, have said the £800,000 figure is too high bearing in mind the value of the land at New Bayview, which is reportedly around £150,000, and the current financial state of the club.
Mr Duthie concluded. “We very much would prefer then to consider a joint bid with the existing club directors which would reflect a realistic valuation of the club.”