A group of East Fife supporters have suggested the four directors behind the proposed takeover at Bayview have done little to allay their fears following a meeting of the parties.
Members of the East Fife Supporters Society (EFSS) had hoped to have various issues clarified by directors Jim Stevenson, Dave Marshall, John Donaldson and John Barclay ahead of the club’s annual general meeting on January 5, but revealed they had been left disappointed by the talks.
The four directors have had an offer for the 52% majority shareholding held by Lorraine Johnston and Samantha Twigg agreed in principle, although the EFSS revealed that the fact only general heads of terms have been signed suggests to them that there may not be a quick resolution of the deal.
A spokesperson for the EFSS went on to say that their questions over the club’s purchase itself, the proposed holding company that will be used to hold the majority stake, supporter representation on the new board, and the current state of the club’s finances had been left largely unanswered.
“It was made clear by club chairman Jim Stevenson that the directors were not in a position to provide much detail in response to the questions we had emailed them beforehand,” the EFSS explained.
“This was either because they did not know the answers or, in the case of current financial data – they required to have this approved by the shareholders at the club AGM on January 5.
“He did indicate that the data would be available after that date.
“But it is clear that at this stage there is not enough information available to allow us to come to any conclusion about supporting the directors’ bid or becoming involved in any other way.
“It may be after the club AGM that the situation will change but our concerns remain about the future plans, especially in relation to the future running of the club and its financial stability.”
Chairman Stevenson has previously suggested that the club’s current finances are “not good”, and appealed to fans to use the facilities at Bayview and get behind the team as much as they could.
However, exact details about any loss made in the last financial year will not be made public until January 5.
The directors did inform the EFSS that they aimed to increase supporter involvement through the creation of a community board which would include two representatives from the EFSS, the Supporters Club, East Fife Ladies, the East Fife Academy and the EFFC board.
The purpose of the community board would be to identify and feed back concerns and issues to the main board, with a promise made that the only thing excluded from their deliberations would be club finances.
A replacement on the main East Fife for recently resigned Trust member Eugene Clarke was also welcomed, according to the EFSS, with nominations welcome before or at the Trust’s own AGM scheduled for January 8.