what are you going to volunteer as then?

It was suggested that the Club hold a database (email list/mobile phone number list) of all willing volunteers that can be approached if and when they're needed for tasks.

I'd give me details.

To add, Sid was willing to answer all questions put to him. Didn't refuse to answer any.

Thanks for the update

I've moved this from other thread, started at about 6pm by which time SPF had started this so here goes, covered much of the same here.

I'll try and cover most of what was said at last nights meeting but feel free to correct me if I got owt wrong.

Meeting hosted by EFSC with John Steele, Cazza, Sid Collumbine and Dave Marshall at top table.

Not a bad turnout with approx 30 odd supporters and another couple of directors in the audience.

Meeting opened with SC giving a few minutes background on his footballing history from Stenhousemuir to Dumbarton and then on to EF.
He then set out the current share and ownership situation, emphasising that Samanth Twigg is not the majority shareholder anymore and Neil Rankine has absolutely nothing to do with the shares or the club. SC has a number of shares along with the Johnston/Twigg consortium holds proxy for 102848 shares.

The situation regarding the new ground was outlined with Tesco being the preferred option with Muir Construction. Planning permission is the sticking point with this still dragging on. It was emphasised that Muirs would pay for new state of the art ground with 4G artificial surface and everything would be spot on before moving in. It was stressed that this would be a massive boost in terms of income having facilities to use 24/7 instead of every 2 weeks.

The first question was why did SC choose to come to East Fife? He was asked and he liked the club as it had a good family feel similar to what Stenhousemuir had been. Asked why Samantha Twigg bought into East Fife? SC had recently spoken to Lorraine Johnston Twigg and she reiterated the family bought shares as long term investment, SC then said that it was possible that ST could be on the board at EF in the future. Asked about the original Johnston/Twigg investment SC stated that the £106,00 had been kept but had to be used up recently to cover costs stemming from Wullie Gray era which were still affecting the club this season.
The question of covers for the pitch and cost came up. £15k was apparently the cheapest but this still did not guarantee games would go ahead and Dave Marshall stressed that many volunteers needed at short notice, perhaps 20 to cover and then lift from pitch and despite repeated requests from the club, the response was always poor. Summarising it seems both cost prohibitive and lack of manpower to operate covers means a non starter. The idea of a database of volunteers willing to help out was put forward without any recognition from the board and nothing was agreed.

Question asked as to why club was in so much financial trouble after one game called off as finance should have been in place to over one or two call offs. The question was never fully answered and veered off on a tangent about overall costs to run the club and costs per game etc etc.

Questions about financing for players from fund set up. Poor response from fans but one direc debit set up and funds pased to manager. Asked if Manager paid out of players fund? SC answered that Robertson not cheap but here till end of the season, not on a contract and wages paid for by the board, not likely to continue after end of the season for private reasons.Good publicity generated from Robertson in the papers but it was pointed out that the likes of the Record pretty much ignore us and more publicity needed.

Full time football was asked about. Outright no and no potential for it just now. Crwaford had been given £140k budget this season and had taken this to over £180k before leaving. SC made clear that Crawford resigned as manager and wasn't sacked.

Asked if the club would be in serious financial trouble if we hadn't got Aberdeen in cup. Answer was the crowd was smaller than anticipated and we got aapprox £25k out of it, not sure if that meant yes or no?

The question of shirt sponsorship was raised. Club working on one or two things, were let down last season late on, hence the last minute raffle and previously the Largo Trust fiasco. Asked how much for the sponsorship deal basically as much as they could get but preferred option was one big sponsor.

Questions about incentives to get fans into Bayview through posters in shops, pubs etc advertising and flyers through doors resulted in a bit of debate. Fans had done flyers for years without any noticeable increase inattendance, it was felt by some that more perseverance was needed, again the question of volunteers came up.

Question about season ticket and admission prices and initiatives such as kids for a quid and season ticket payments spread over 10 months by direct debit brought up. Not much response from board but Eugene as new Trust Director to look at and pursue various options with regard to this and targeting new fans.

A supporter made the point that a few questions were being put forward by a few fans to the board but were being given negative responses or were being turned back onto the fans for them to come up with the answers. With things turning a bit negative it was decided to carry a few points over to the supporters club meeting next week and the database idea would be taken up by the supporters club.

John Steele thanked the supporters and Sid Collumbine for attending and agreed that it had been beneficial and could be done again if everyone wanted this.

Meeting finished about 8.45.

To summarise I would say that it was good to have the chance to question SC although still a lot of progress to be made before the board fully embrace the supporters wishes, the appointment of Eugene as Trust Reps Full Director can only help achieve this.

Well done to John Cazza and the EFSC for organising.

Seems like a productive meeting then.

Disgraceful that only one DD for the players fund. 30 people at the meeting who obviously love the club, but not love it enough to give something each month over and above the regular costs.

Disgraceful that you take a pop at your fellow east fife fans over this. Money is tight and some people will be struggling to afford the gate money let alone additional monthly donations.

Not only that, some fans (myself included) disagree with the DD principle. Hardly a disgrace!

Divisive comments trying to shame your fellow supporter will end up doing more harm than good.

Mary. Im not having a Pop at my fellow supporters. I am a family man and worked in the pits when i was bringing up my kids. I know what its about when it come to being skint, believe me. The people im having a pop at are the ones that CAN afford 5 quid a month. less than 2 pints of beer. C'mon Mary.

Mary. What is it about the DD that is putting you off?

Times are hard,fuel prices up,energy prices up,inflation is up,wages (if you still have a job)are frozen.So the bold Fifeybob`s solution is to slate fellow EF fans for not setting up a direct debit, further depleting their family income and calls for utterly unsustainable full time football.Genius.

Fair point family man. But not for Full time footie, never dreamed that the small contributions would lead to that.I could drink 2 pints of beer a month less and do it, so why not you?? Or is alchohol more important to you.
20 cigs is 6 quid, more important to you?? A few fags a day less will save you 5 quid. You have a point on things being tight but too lazy to do anything aboot it.

This will come as no surprise to most people but I'd rather put any spare cash I have in through the Trust. We are fully regulated and constituted and where our money goes is fully transparent. I don't believe the same would happen with a player fund.

I haven't been to games for a while because I struggle to justify £40 for gate money for us to get in. I have other, more pressing matters to spend the cash on. I think Stew tried to come up with some suggestions to boost crowds but it wasn't received too well.

For the record too, I buy wine but have stopped smoking. I enjoy wine and I enjoy football, there shouldn't have to be a 'what's more important'.

Surprised at that post by you. Read it a few times and still think you are out of order.

I dont smoke but I do have to feed my family.

It might seem harsh, but it seems to me anyway that a managers fund is a good way to help the boss get the players he needs, stress the word help. I am an honest guy and my heart is on my sleeve when it comes to the Fife and my reactions to negativity will always come out as harsh. I am an optomistic guy and hate negativity and the give up attitude.

1. Being against a DD to a players fund smacks of distrust of the board.

2. And this is mainly to Family man.
If i were so skint i could not manage a fiver a month, i would still get the fiver made up by asking a pound from 4 other close relatives.

People like family man have no drive, no ambition but expect the team to go out ever week and win. To say the fulltime football is unsustainable is correct at this moment in time, but i go back to my above statement regarding Family man. If the rest of the supporters and the board had his attitude, there would be no scottish and league cups in our history.

I quote someone famous. Think not what East Fife can do for you, but what YOU can do for East Fife.

As for the Trust [Kerry] Yes, i agree that is the right way to go with DD, but nobody from the trust has come forward and said that if you give us the DD, we will take care of it and give it to the manager every month.
I do contribute to the players fund as i dont want any of my or others contributions sitting building up waiting to give to the board, or buy the club something when the monthly DD can help the manager increase an offer of pay to a prospective player. Were all shouting for a defender, our defence is our weakness in this league. If we have a DD amount ontop of the Club budget, it gives Robbo more chance of getting the men he needs. Is that not True, can anyone not agree with that??? Other contributions, like to the trust, for projects, sponorship, buying shares, fine!!! But a small monthly amount from a lot of fans can get us the players we need. Cant see any problem with that.

The managers fund on the face of it seems a good idea, and I to love East Fife, however I do have some personal concerns regarding this. I am not comfortable giving money to an organisation that may profit from my investment where I receive no tangable return. I pay my season ticket for the love and entertainment of watching my team, I buy the 50-50 draw tickets and programmes to try and put more cash into the club, for these I get a chance to win some cash and a good read. I also have a DD to the Trust, and have done for several years, where I know from their constitution the money will go towards purchasing shares to give the fans a say in running the club. All of these things I am comfortable with as I know what my cash is for. However as long as there are question marks over the ownership of our club and the owners ultimate intentions, I am reluctant to give them my hard earned cash, from which the following results may occur, a reduction in the clubs investment in players i.e. the players fund being used instead of the monies previously ear marked for this purpose, or the monies donated increasing the profitability of our club where the only benefactors of this would be the same shareholders we have question marks about. This post may seem skeptical and negative, but these are my thoughts and my feelings, and I suspect the feelings of others as well.

There's some double standards with the player fund, its okay for fans to give up their time to voulenteer time and effort to help out at the club, pay their gate money, buy drinks, pies etc and even now put money into a transfer fund.

Yet its not okay for the fans to own or run the club. Its okay for this club, which we are asked to contribute everything to, to be a "nest egg" for a 13 year old girl who has probably never been near Methil in her life.

If Sid genuinley runs the club, and wants supporters to do and pay for everything, then I suggest he starts talking to the fans about the sale of the shares of people he represents (answers to) and that these shares are made available to supporters and supporters groups.

The whole DD thing stinks, ask us to pay for everything then defend the right of the shareholders to "get a return on their investment" and make a profit at the clubs expense.

It is not the responsibility of the fans to provide regular funds to a professional football team over and above their weekly admission.

If it was fan owned or we were in the red, then perhaps yes, but we're neither at present.

I could not agree more with uA, Snarf and GoF. I don't even feel comfortable with the Trust putting money into the club, unless they get shares in return. Some of those at the club who have (presumably) put money in for shares are treating supporters as second class citizens who should give up their money for no return, seeming to ignore their own circumstances. Either there are dirty tricks going on, or some very small brains are at work.

I can see i am outnumbered and obviously the reasons are there. I understand the pont, but again, you are not against the idea, but dont trust the board to give the money to the manager.
Ok, why hasn't the trust come forward and offered the same thing? Would you contribute to the trust so as the trust can pass the money on? If so, who will the trust give the money to? Chairman, Robbo?
I know that most fans just want to pay the gate, buy the program and have a few beers, half time draw and im sure the club appreciate the support. However, we are a small club and fundraising is the only way.
You are presuming guilty without evidence regarding the board.
When we are so far behind raith and cowden and cant compete, sometimes the fans have to help and i dont see a problem with paying the regular money plus a wee bit more if we can afford it.
We can still fundraise without paying out individually if we cant afford it. fans want to pay something to the players fund but dont know/trust who to give it too.
Catch 22.

The trust do not simply hand out money to the club. Don't know where you get that idea from.
Can you clarify the bit about shareholders treating supporters as second class citizens as well please.

You miss the point completely Bob, its not that people believe the money wouldn't be used for certain things, its the fact that we are asked to subsidise everything yet we not allowed to have a genuine control over the club because it is being used as a "nest egg" for a young girl, and an investment for a number of unseed, unheard of shareholders to make a profit out of.

The comments about doing your extra bit on top of paying to get in is not exactly an argument is it?

I go to the pictures regularly and buy the usual drinks, food etc when I am there, but I do not buy that stuff because it is helping out the cinema owners. I am buying it for myself, just as I am buying the ticket to get in to watch a film for myself.

I find it very strange that people are trying to put across the notion that they are buying food and drink at Bayview to help the club and not because they enjoy say, a pie and bovril while there??

Very true and point taken. We need to attract those whose contribution will be to pay their money at the gate and buy a programme/ refreshments. Not every supporter can be expected to contribute anything more. At East Fife we have a hard core of people who are willing to do a little extra for the love of the club. That might be joining the Trust or Supporters Club, organising fund raising events, volunteering at the ground, selling 50-50 tickets, helping in the club shop, writing for the programme etc etc. Some of us even try to encourage the team on the park. Everyone helps. Including the spectators.

there was support within the trust to change the constitution to allow money to be given to the club without receiving shares in return, in certain circumstances

And have we?

i don't think whether it has or hasn't happened yet was part of the comment that first mentioned this. supporter said -

I don't even feel comfortable with the Trust putting money into the club, unless they get shares in return

you cannot deny that trust members have considered doing this. supporter is not comfortable about this as a course of action. why are you so defensive?

I have seen the light!Fifebobby,the greatest supporter of East Fife there has ever been, has made me realise that I am a lazy good for nothing, that sponges off all and sundry including the club.I now know that buying a season ticket,a programme,half time draw ticket,lucky numbers,drinks in the bar,pies,paying for travel to all away games,joining the trust/SC,buying club merchandise and even helping clear snow off the pitch is not enough,no I must get money off family and friends for the direct debit scheme.The thing is they won`t give me it,the lazy good for nothing bastards!!!Please help me Fifeybobby they don`t even know about the great direct debit scheme of 1938 that won us the cup.WHAT CAN I DO???

Not getting defensive just clearing up an inaccuracy in the allegation that the trust is simply handing over cash to the club to do with as they see fit. This has not happened. There is a contingency available to us to contribute in the event of some unforeseen occasion. The trust board would I'm sure treat such an a situation with the necessary caution before making a decision.

It must have been hard for you actually having to pay for your own travel eh? What about the hassle it must have been for you to actually drink the drinks and eat the food as well! I bet you haven't even won anything on the half-time draw, or the lucky numbers either? You obviously are not interested in winning the £17000 or so on the Lucky Numbers!

What a shower of relations you must have? I assume they sort you out alright for the cost of going to the matches, but not giving you anything extra? I agree, they are mean!

I sympathise, because when I go to the cinema, theatre or go on holiday anywhere, nobody helps me out at all!! I have to pay for all my own food too! I mean, why should I have to pay for my own food and drinks when I go to watch the football, eh? After all, I have paid for my own travel to get to these places and that cannot be right! By the way, I don't mind buying my own food when I am at hame or anywhere else on the planet! It's only Bayview that I don't like to pay for it, even though the drink is generally cheaper there, than most other places.

It's a good job there are people like me and you (or your friends and relations), that do pay for our own travel, food and drinks, otherwise the likes of the Odeon Cinemas company, The Playhouse and East Fife would fold!

Just a thought Family man. I take it you would be sitting at home with the heating off, telly off etc and not eating or drinking anything, in other words spending no money, on a Saturday afternoon if you didn't go to watch East Fife?

LISTEN CAREFULLY: NO-ONE HAS SAID OR ALLEGED THIS, THERE IS NO INACCURACY, THERE IS NO NEED TO 'CLEAR IT UP'. SOMEONE SAID THEY WOULD BE UNCOMFORTABLE IF THE TRUST HANDED OVER MONEY TO THE CLUB FOR NO RETURN - THAT IS IT. NO MORE NO LESS.

What if someone else said that they weren't uncomfortable?

The way I understand it, if there was support for handing over money to the club without it having to be in exchange for shares or anything else then the trusts democratic proccess can be used to bring it about.

Put simply, if the majority of trust members want the trust to do something they can make it happen. As yet I've heard nothing about something like this even being considered though. Personally I'd be dead against it, but would accept the view of the majority.

Alternatively, I could do none of the things I have previously spent my cash on at the club,( benefitting me in my quest for entertainment,and the club through generating an income)so releasing funds for me to attend the cinema instead,(benefitting me in my quest for entertainment,and the Odeon through generating an income).Who then gets my direct debit money? East Fife or the Odeon?Fuck!I`m confused now.

Family man. I think your totally missing the point. Iv'e already said my piece, but i'll put it another way. You want a succesfull East Fife, God, we all do. If the club has a budget and needs to stick to it to survive in these unusual times, we, as dedicated supporters, [and you are obviously a supporter as you go to away games, helped clear the pitch, etc] can do a wee bit more to help the club.
Like i said earlier fundraising is the best we as fans can do!! I cant manage the team, im not good enough or experienced enough.
I cant play, to old, and again not talented enough.
What i can do is try to raise money, somehow. I put ideas on here and to the club. The agent idea for the manager fund would work but there are a good few who are killing it at the start because of hatred of the board and worried about a wee girl who owns shares!!!
We want a team on the park and the best way to do it is to have monthly amount that the manager can negotiate with prospective players. That way we get the players now!!!
If we went up a league or at least were challenging and the locals that dont go see the effort, they may increase the attendence. Attendence up, more money, improved squad again.
If the trust started a DD scheme and used the funds to sponser a player, or two's wages, would that change the doubters mind? If the trust had his contract??? Would the board accept that.
You have to keep thinking Family man, if you cant give, thats fine, we are all strapped during these times. Have you asked your firm if they will sponser players or the shirts???
Im not trying to be nasty, but the world luvs the tryers.

Rankine's not involved in the Club he might no be but still has an interest with East Fife FC and Dumbarton FC. Regarding Twigg's there is Lorraine Johnstone Twigg and Samantha Twigg that are major shareholders at East Fife FC along with the others that are mentioned on the Lee Murray topic that Murray says on STV News on resigning still Julian Danskin holds the key and got others involved that won't ever sell that holds the problem his sex fair and he going to jail two years after the new stadium opened in 1999 has came back to hunt the club and in year of 2000 East fife nearly went bust under Neil Rankine who then sold the club to you know who and in that year of 2005 a girl at the age of eight claims she has a major share with East Fife FC and her name probably be Samatha Twigg. The whole thing is a mystery and no-one in the years between 2000-06 we signed players from the free-transfer like Paddy Kelly who can blame the club for buying lesser players when a few years the club nearly went bust like Gretna.
We have seen Willie Gray and Lee Murray who brought in a fresh of air to the club but never took the club fully and Gray did have a bit of success left, Murray lasting a year didn't either do the same though and has resigned yestarday as shareholders could not sell and will still be a major problem and still have shares in the club it goes back as far as Mr.Danskin and Rankine these share issues and the people who have shares at the club. All we can now is hope the SFA tells Mr.Rankine to end interest and shares with the club and he is fined for his breach though Mr.Rankine says he was viewed by SFA in 2004 but nothing happen thats because the SFA did not look into your matter and you did not owned or have interest in three clubs so they did not think it was an issue maybe if you did not go to livingstone and stayed with us and invest the problem would not be a issue. but as of today we will support the team on the park than off it and achieve our goal on the park under Gary Naysmith as Manager thats all we can do and how i look at it on this matter.
also if the current shareholders had an interest you would of thought they care about running the club - go to matches - invest in the club - have to suffer what we are all suffering and going to Stranraer and Elgin at the moment we dont ever see those people that have a share at east fife do any of those and ever go to bayview its been a mystery from the start and you only have to go back as far as that man Julian Danskin to see why.

So where do we go from here? Who will the next puppet on a string be? Clearly the majority shareholders have no interest in taking East Fife forward so what's the point in supporting a club that are happy to fart about in the lower leagues? Pretty much sums up what my Dad has been saying for years, the club are a sinking ship who are going nowhere. A lot of supporters gave up when Archibald was punted, it will be the same this time round! Brutal

my guess is support the club on the pitch the supporters who support and actually follow the club are the main reason but can we go as fan club and join clubs like Stirling albion who are a perfect example of this but can East Fife FC become a fan based club, can the fans have a impact on the day to day running of the club, can we stay together and not have people hating each other because of the way the club run a night event in the past and say they wont be back and can it work my view it would in a way if we want to still go down as a community club and still run activites for the kids in leven-mouth is vital and making a community club, running youth teams and have coaching courses at the club to improve their coaching skills or employment in sports like i am on at a SPL club and this can be achieved if we all stay together and help each other and make a good final decision for the club. I guess Jim will take the orders from Twigg girls and others going back to Danskin in taking east fife fc forward on a short term basis under the board reshuffles under the shareholders again. The sfa should take action on Mr.Rankin he likes three clubs and should be fined and say no fit to run a club and others should be named and shamed and fans and the current board should stick together and fight for the club feel sorry for Jim to take orders and the board who has been with us over these few years ie stevenson, marshall etc...because of the shareholders and probably even during derrick brown time when we couldnt spend as much because we were nearly bust in 2000 according to Rankine in the Daily Mail as well before we thought it was him that killed the club the shareholders are and lee murray has left as they wont sell up suggests to me that they hold the problem and it all started when Danskin was chairman and he left and became someone elses problem without telling the fans or the supporters they all like to keep the matter quiet until it comes back to hunt them few years on and we see the real picture.

at the moment for Jim i see that its someone else to pick up the pieces that have been left and its no there or his fault than the shareholders and the people in the past really