Question and Answers with the Directors: March 31 2012

The meeting was held in Sid’s Bar and the directors present were Jim Stevenson, John Donaldson, Dave Marshall and Eugene Clarke. There were about two dozen further supporters though this varied as time went on.

The Board would like to thanks all those who attended and who submitted questions

The following matters were raised:

Car Park
Discussions have been held with the local police about temporary closure of the access road after matches to allow two-way flow of traffic but this has been ruled out as public access has to be maintained and it would be too expensive to continually apply for a temporary permit. There are several exits that lead on to the main access road and these are monitored by the club cameras which allows staff to let 20 cars at a time to move from the various feed in sections. It was felt that while there can be a delay of up to 20 minutes there is not much we can do about it other than suggest fans relax in the lounge after the game till it clears!

Plans for Ground
The club is exploring the possibility of all-weather surfaces both for the main pitch and for the training ground. A number of parties including Youth Development and the JSC and others are currently exploring funding options.
In terms of facilities off the pitch there are no plans to extend the clubhouse but building some terracing is a possibility albeit one that is not a priority.

Sale of Ground
There are absolutely no plans to sell any part of the land owned by the club and the Board’s policy is that should for any reason this happen, the money raised would go back into the club and not distributed to shareholders.

Segregation at the Ground
There are no plans, on police advice, to change this but our security staff take a common sense relaxed view of where people sit.

Five Year Plan
The Board does not currently have a written plan for the next five years but progress is being made, for example with the current work being done on creating a marketing strategy. People often underestimate the demands running a business like East Fife makes on those involved so perhaps it is sometimes difficult to devote time to less immdediate matters. It’s also difficult to make financial forecasts when we don’t know from one season to the next what division we’ll be in or what our income sources will be for 12 months let alone longer.

Admission Prices
These will be reviewed once we know what division we’ll be playing in. It is intended, however, to review our approach to concessions and to make sure everyone knows what we offer. For example, at the moment anyone with official proof of being in full-time education is eligible for a concessionary rate.

Future Q & A Meetings
A useful suggestion was made to have perhaps three of these per season and we’ll arrange these once we know next season’s fixture dates.

Eugene Clarke Supporters’ Trust Director, EFFC Director.

Thanks for this.

It is really appreciated that the board have made an effort to increase communication with the supporters.

No doubt it wont be good enough for some, but its certainly a move in the right direction.