On Scotland Today tonight. Reporter knocked on Twiggs door and guess who answered it? You can get it again on STV+1.

Rankine said he had an office in her house.

http://player.stv.tv/programmes/news-at-six-edinburgh-east-full/2014-10-07-1800/

Available for 24 hrs only.

Ye couldnae make it up! Who lives in a house like this???? Eh ..... two folk who have no shared interests at all, no sirree, nothing to see here, just pure coincidence that I run my affairs from my ex-girlfriend's hoose, she is so understanding, you see I can't get mobile reception in my own house so I drive here every day, I never knew she kept all those shares in a biscuit tin under the bed, what another coincidence - we both own football clubs, put those shares away Lorraine you'll get me into trouble, just imagine what people might think! Samanatha... Samanatha ... yer tea's ready. Oops, looks like mine is oot an 'aw.

Aye its game over for him,the fact he answered the door of a house he has an office in clinches it for me.

Ever so nice of East Fifes major shareholder to lend Livingston £40k when things were a bit tight for LFC

What a generous lady

Thanks for the link....missed it earlier.

For anyone struggling with government controlled internet , this link seems to work:

http://sport.stv.tv/football/clubs/livingston/294837-neil-rankine-his-dealings-with-dumbarton-east-fife-and-livingston/

What a fantastically thorough piece.

But also very worrying as how this is all going to come out in the wash.

The bit I possibly find most appalling is this:

"It's purely an investment. Mrs Twigg and myself have never been at any board meetings or had anything to do with the running of East Fife Football Club."

Not what you want from any owner at any club unless you have a fantastic board of directors in place. We've not had that. No wonder we're in a fucking mess.

I see that Dumbarton are looking to sell their ground and build a new one.....

Instead of making a statement like above GoF, explain how you come to that conclusion. Had the club been in a f'n mess before the board changes last year? Were you for the 'revolution', because if so, it is that revolution that has set the club back from the healthy financial position they were in beforehand, as far as I can see. Were you for Collumbine being binned for Lee and the others who came in with him, like McNeil?

It sounds like you now believe every word that Rankine utters, or is it just an excuse to have a go at the board? Maybe if people got behind the directors, instead of criticising them every chance they get, East Fife would be a far happier and successful club. Our wonderful supporters seize on any chance to have a go. Where were all our supporters against Threave? It costs the club the same to play against them, in fact it costs the club more in a cup game, but where were they? Only 417 bothered to turn up. Remember there are countless posts, yours above included, criticising the board for the current financial state of the club. How do they expect the club to get out of the alleged mess, if they won't even go to watch the team because it is a wee team they were playing? These same supporters hope for us getting drawn against the big guns away though and expect their supporters to turn out in large numbers to watch us, so we can benefit hugely. Threave Rovers didn't make much out of being drawn against us, did they? So both East Fife and Threave Rovers made little money and I would say that we ended up probably losing money staging this game.

We now have supporters saying they will forgo the Clyde game to watch Scotland with ticket prices starting at £32 plus all the transport costs, yet they don't want to pay £13 to watch the team they say they support, because it was 'just' Threave Rovers! What chance do East Fife have with supporters like that? What chance does Scottish football have? Me, I'll watch East Fife v Clyde at Bayview, then go home and watch Scotland on the telly.

Instead of going home, why don`t you stay at Bayview and take the club up on the offer of listening to Gary Naysmith then Billy McPhee etc then stay and watch the Scotland game with your fellow East Fife and Scotland supporters. The bar is open and there is food available. With more dedicated fans like yourself doing this, the club make a bit more money. I`m sure you have already thought this through though.

I forgot about that, so that is exactly what I'll do.

Maybe Lorraine Johnston and Samantha Twigg will turn up and serve the food.
Maybe Neil Rankine will turn up for the Q and A.
Maybe the directors will answer questions about the current fianacial plight and tell us how far away they are from saving East Fife.

Maybe not.

Rab...sorry..."intrested?"..... it now seems you are accepting that the club has debt and indeed the size of the debt is a concern.

While I recognize the difficult job that the board have, I have to agree with GoF that the responsibility of the debt situation lie with the board and the owners.

To blame the "customers" for this situation is simply ridiculous. Any idea where the 100K from the Rangers game went?.......

I didn't see Lee Murray come in and blow a load of cash - in fact he cut the operating budget. Perhaps he should have cut it further. Lee was neither the solution to nor the cause of the problem.

The club needs new owners and a fresh board. Yes the same challenges will be faced but to succeed we need to tackle them in a new way. The approach taken over the last 15 years has not been good enough. Yes it is hard, yes a lot of effort and money has been spent......but when the outcome is 4th tier football and the possibility of going bust, it is clear something is not right.

I'd like to see EFSS succeed in getting ownership of the club, with Lee Murray (+others) come in to run the club. We need people who have the interests of East Fife at heart.

Sorry SPF... eh NC, but it has been quite clearly stated on this site that the club was in a healthy financial state prior to this season and had been for a while, so clearly something has changed to have caused that, agreed? What changed before the start of last season? Work it out! The club will go bust if it doesn't bring enough money in to cover its operating costs and as a fan, I hope I am doing my bit by going to games, buying merchandise, pies, bovril, donating to the managers fund and buying a season ticket fully in the knowledge that it does not cover cup games and friendlies. East Fife survived well enough for over 100years without Noisy Crossbar, SPF, 'Supporter', Feeling Fleeced, Randy Grandad et al and probably will continue to do so after the half dozen or so guys who post the shite on here have long departed.

BTW, I think the people who have East Fife at heart, are prepared to put their money where their mouths are, are you?

What changed......massive drop in revenue from the league due to the servco situation. The 100K from the rangers game either burnt through or something else.

The question on where the debt has come from still needs answered.



That's right - businesses that have been around for over 100 years are exempt from going bust. I forgot about that.

Good to hear you are doing your bit.....but remember there are some in the east fife fan base who would love to put more money in but can't due to their own financial plight. It doesn't make them any less a fan that you or I.


I've only got one mouth......and one active username.

Interested? you say that there were no problems before the arrival of Murray and McNeill. That is not true. The Rangers money of 2012 was spent that same season after very poor budgeting left a serious shortfall, and even having done that, there was still a deficit at he end. There was no money to pay the players in the Berwick and Peterhead play-offs.
Please stop trying to defend the old board. They could not balance the books even with a huge cheque from Ibrox, and some of them are still here, running the show.

NC & Supporter, the two of you are nasty pieces of work who seem to want to de-stabilize the club. I am sure any sane minded supporter can work out the reason for that. If you didn't see Lee Murray and Brian McNeill coming in and blowing a lot of cash you must be looking through rose tinted glasses. When they took over the club was ok financially, no worse than some but better than most (at least we own the stadium) and were in the 2nd division (not ideal but given our place now great). Last season we floundered about with a lot of great ideas, a youth team manager and coaches and less than great French / Scottish players and eventually went down. At the last AGM there was no mention of great debts, now apparently there are huge debts. Now who's fault was this exactly, it must be the boards fault (forget that Lee, Brian, Davie and Eugene left though), lets just blame the old board who as far as I have been told had a say in nothing all of the last season.
Don't keep on going on about the Rangers money from two seasons ago, that has been explained long ago, what about the Rangers money for last season, what happened to that. We had two Rangers and Dunfermline games and are apparently in debt now, strange, given we had cut the player budget. How can we cut budgets, take in more money and still run at a loss. Talk about pea and ham fae a chicken, now that is something.
Now who is going to take over the club, I assume Lee is not interested otherwise he would not have left, Eugene, Alan, Liam and Kerry Anne. That would be an interesting combination, young, not so young and nae experience of running a club, maybe GOF could come over from Canada and help out. Where is not money coming from, why has a deposit not been put down with the major shareholders if we are really interested? All we have is a load of talk, talk but no money. Where is this list of artisans who will fix everything that has broken down at the club? Show me a list if there is one. Leave "Interested" alone for supporting the club and put your hand in your pockets, my hunch is that the Trust will pull out of this take over of the shares and state the reason was that the club is in so much debt it was not financially viable. As someone said a few days ago, the proof will be in the pudding. Let's wait and see.

How come this lack of money in the club before never showed up at the AGM? They had to travel by coach to Berwick and Peterhead and even stayed at Peterhead overnight I think. If the players never got paid do you think they would have been overjoyed at staying up, or even played to stay up. They certainly looked like it to me because I was there. (A wee Birdie told me Peterhead were on £500 a man to stay up) I think I would have to get one of the players to tell me they never got paid before I believe it, I wouldn't take your word on that.

The players were paid for the play-offs after the club was given help.
The same problem is happening this season.

Whoever is calling Noisy Crossbar a nasty piece of work who wants to destabilise the club needs to see a psychiatrist. Once again, the harsh reality at effc is too much for some people to handle.

So you have no idea where the debt has come from? Strange, when you mention it so often but then again, you haven't a clue if there is a debt, or if there is, how much of a debt it is. You are merely reading shite posted on here and taking it as gospel and based on that, you want the people who have invested large sums of money in the form of shares to be replaced by people who have sweet FA invested in the club. If you know different, tell the rest of us how much we are talking about.

A point I would like to make is why would anybody wish to buy the club if the debt is unmanageable? The directors apparently have said, they would like to buy the club and are happy to do so with the trust. Why would the current board want to spend a substantial amount of their own money, if the club is doomed already? Why would the trust want to spend substantial amounts of money, that will have to come from the likes of you, me and the other fans (mind some of these fans don't want to pay the going rate for a bus, or £13 to watch us play Threave Rovers, in fact how many fans are actually members of the trust even?), if the club has such a large debt?

The reason is because the directors and those running the trust want it to survive because they are all supporters with the clubs interest at heart, contrary to your perception of the current board. The trust have also been vilified on this forum don't forget!

Your point about those who would love to put money into the club is valid, but if they can't, why would they want to rid the club of people who DO put money into the club, eg the directors? There would be no club! The fact is, a lot of people posting the shite on here are well able to put more money into the club, but don't. They can afford a computer, laptop, ipad, or a smart phone obviously, so they are not so skint they can't pay for a bus, or to go and watch us play Threave Rovers if they have the club's interest at heart.

It looks like you want the club to be run by people who haven't put any of their own money into the club, apart from paying to get in to Bayview. People who have no experience whatsoever in running a senior football club. That will probably include yourself. I note how you avoided answering the question about putting your money where your mouth is. You have no intention of doing that have you mate?

Who exactly gave the club help mate?

Ask around the club and you will find out. If you tried harder to find out what is going on at effc you would not be so angry with people who post on this forum

The classic answer!! What a surprise! You don't have a clue, do you?

Throw in a statement you obviously don't have a clue about and let everybody else's imagination get to work. I am not angry, just pee'd off at you and others who have absolutely nothing positive to say about East Fife. Just because someone challenges your views, they must be angry.[ If you look at your posts and others with your views, that is where you will find anger and baseless accusations. It will still go on no matter who owns or runs the club. Perpetual whingers/internet trolls and you won't change unfortunately. Are you absolutely sure you support East Fife?

Do you? Your arrogance in calling people out simply because they are asking difficult questions and seeking some answers is breathtaking. They are as big East Fife fans as you Interested (btw that is a terrible username, could you not think of something, well, a bit more interesting?) and to call them trolls because their opinion differs from yours is frankly insulting.

And why would more than 400 odd turn up for foregone conclusion cup match against feeble opposition? Across the UK less people go to cup matches anyway and our proportionate drop is no more or less than other clubs. People make choices in these tough economic times and I don't blame them for missing that game and nor should you.

Ignorance is no excuse. Do what others do. Speak to people at the club. That's where you will get the answers that you don't want. Easier not to ask I suppose.
The people at the club who know the situation will tell you the score but they do not want their names here. Go on, I dare you. Ask a question in private. You will feel better about yourself after that.

What is 'answers you don't want' got to do with who helped out the club as per your statement? I would want to congratulate him/her/them for doing it. Why would that be an answer I don't want? You are going off at a tangent mate. Tell us who to ask, how about that, if you feel unable to advise?

It's rather simple that EFFC cannot survive on the income it generates from normal games. In season 2012/13 the club received a six figure cheque from Rangers at Ibrox, yet even at the end of that season, just 9 months later, that money had gone.

Season 2013/14 did see 2 home games v Rangers but these are expensive games to put on. I don't know how many stewards were employed but it must have been substantial, plus the police presence was significant. In addition the crowds v Rangers were only possible by the erection and hire of temporary terracing.

The temporary terracing was in place for 2nd Dunfermline game but my recollection is that the whole crowd would have fitted in the stand.

In recent years the structural deficit in EFFC finances has been covered up by games v Rangers, and going back to earlier years a couple of seasons with decent cup income including a cpl of games at Pittodrie for example but the fundamental lack of income is still there.

report said that Twigg put £100k of Rangers money into a long term bond.

I want to send Christmas cards to Rankine and the Twiggs; anyone know their addresses?

Bob, I've speculated £60k to £150k of a debt with perhaps a portion of that being due very soon - perhaps to HMRC. My reasoning - the debt must be of a size that the present owners don't want to pay or can't afford to pay - hence the need to sell it (like a car you know is knackered and has a big repair bill looming). There is also a sense of urgency about the sale. I know Bruce tells us otherwise but it seems he is acting in the interests of the owners to ensure they get as big a price as possible. I've seen nothing yet to suggest my speculation is way off the mark. In fact the latest EFSS newsletter does not continue the thread of raising the 400k asking price - suggesting to me that having seen the financials that route is no longer being considered. Just a suggestion mind - I'm only reading between the lines.



To save the club from closure.

The business is not being bought in the pursuit of profit - it is being bought because we LOVE this club and do not want it to die. The ONLY 2 interested parties are the fans and current board members. Does that not tell it's own story regarding the profitability of the business. I'm pretty sure the financial advice would be "don't touch" - but as fans who love this club we don't have that option.



Yes the current board have the club's interests at heart. But they also have their own interests at heart and that might conflict with what I perceive as the best interests of the club. Did Stevenson have east fife's interests at heart she he was at Cowdenbeath? We'll find more on how our interests are aligned (or not) when the details of the current board's proposals are presented to us on Saturday.



I want the club to be owned by EFSS and run by Lee Murray (should he pass the interview).

And you'll note again that I'm not answering you on "putting my money where my mouth is". That is not something for your concern.

Very true.

To keep the club a float is very difficult, but to keep run at a surplus (as proposed by the EFSS) will be an amazing accomplishment. I'm interested to see what the proposal is.

Perhaps we need a change in taxation laws to help community clubs? Something like the first 300k of revenue is free from VAT.

Hot off the press -

Noisy_Crossbar (NC), the well known Fife based financial guru has speculated that East Fife football club, are around £60k - £150k of debt!! He bases this on his hunch, even though he has no idea of his speculated figures, which he very specifically stated at £60k low end to around 150% higher at £150k, so he is putting his reputation on the line by keeping it to such a narrow band. He has also stated that the club may be due tax - crivvens, what a shockeroony that is. A business having to pay tax!!!

NC goes on to state that the clubs directors want to save the club from closure along with the fans. The fans have the clubs interest at heart, but at this moment in time, there is no evidence of NC, or any of these other alleged fans who have the clubs interest at heart, having actually put any more money into the club apart from gate money and buying a Pie & Bovril sometimes! It is evident outside the stadium on match days, that many black & gold clad fans walk straight past the programme sellers, eyes fixed on their smart phones, avoiding eye contact. Some say, NC is one of those 'fans', but we have no proof of that - YET! He says, that only the fans have the clubs interest at heart, yet crowd figures tend to contradict this statement, as only 417 fans attended the recent Scottish Cup tie played at Bayview, NC again, is alleged to have been one of these missing EFFC lover fans. He is also thought to have not attended yesterdays league game against Clyde?

NC believes the directors have the clubs interest at heart, but states it is their own interests at heart as well? He "perceives" (another speculation of his), that their interests are not in the best interests of the club. We (The Sunday Bullshit newspaper) have analysed that statement and we think what NC is saying, that if the directors can save the club by putting more of their own money up front and actually save the club, it is bad for the club? Let's just think about that for a few moments.......................................................................................................................................................... yes, you are thinking what we are thinking - NC is talking pure shite and totally contradicting himself!

For the record, NC has not made public his own investments into the club or EFST/EFSS. Therefore, it is thought by us at the Bullshit, that he either has put zero into saving the club past or present, or is a secret investor who has only his own interests at heart, using the respected and unbiased AFTN fans forum for his own ends.

We leave the readers with our own question - is this man/woman an honest fan, or has he got his own agenda? We will wait and see.

Well that's me telt.

Aha, so are you suggesting he's Lee Murray? As well as SPF? I'd be 'Interested' to know.

And just because I like to do a little dress up in the privacy of my own home doesn't make me a man/woman.

I can confirm I have been male for a very long time.

We actually thought about adding a disclaimer to that final statement, but thought (wrongly) that it would be misconstrued by mentioning LM. So, for the avoidance of doubt - There was no pun intended, or any of the report directed at Lee Murray, by the Sunday Bullshit!

Thanks for pointing that out KotS. Would you be 'interested' in commenting on our report about your close friends statements?

"Our" report.

You do know that the voices in your head are all yours!?!?

I can vouch for that

You are obviously not in the tabloid newspaper trade are you?

Hey Dude! Could you back up your statement on crowds with figures mate, because I don't think you have spent any time researching that before your post and you are simply chancing it, hoping that everybody thinks you just know these things. I don't! A typical statement oft seen on AFTN with no basis in fact.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/competitions/fa-cup/6932850/FA-Cups-average-attendance-flatters-to-deceive.html

http://www.express.co.uk/comment/columnists/matthew-dunn-/384437/FA-Cup-hits-new-low-with-dwindling-crowds

http://www.celticminded.com/showentry.php?e=98

There's plenty more, but I'm not going to encourage your laziness, have a look Jocky, you may find other things that don't agree with your blinkered views.

Make things even easier for you Interested. Just check out the attendance at the recent Arbroath Montrose cup match and compare it to the same league game a few weeks earlier. Check out the Berwick game against non league opposition and their two previous home league game crowds. Elgin against Forres certainly attracted more than their usual for league games but that was against traditional local rivals who they don't play regularly anymore so there was naturally a big interest in that game. Point is you compare any like for like cup match against their league equivalent and cup matches nearly always attract less.

In fact 417 for a match against Threave was more than I thought we would get. And when we play Berwick in the cup at home soon do you want a wager there will less there than for our league game a couple of months back?

Y'see I do know these things.

If only I knew our saviour was at last seasons play-off, I could have let him know my gratitude for all he has done for my fine club. Under his leader-ship and guidance we have achieved less than any person could have imagined in the last 15 years and yet the shares were bought as an investment ? surely this investment has decreased in value as a football club ?

What happened to the fans who reputedly "have the clubs interests at heart"? Remember, we are supposed to be in dire straits financially and our fans did not come out in their numbers, to show how much they had "the clubs interests at heart" now, did they? As for the wager, why would I want to bet on those fans who "have the clubs interests at heart" turning up in their numbers? Get real please.
In any case, Arbroath were playing Montrose for the third time in 6 weeks and the attendance gradually dropped from 1100'ish in the first game to lows of 900'ish to 800'ish which doesn't look like their diehard fans with "the clubs interests at heart" didn't bother to turn up. Their normal regular attendance figures are usually LOWER than the cup games they have played. So I would argue that their regular support ALL indeed, did turn up for both of the home games. The Links park game was also well above Montrose's normal regular home attendance figures. The reduced crowds were due to the part time irregular supporters not bothering to go to all the games, the regulars did with a few more irregulars as well.

So away and find another excuse for our so-called fans with "the clubs interest at heart", for not turning out in decent numbers to help their financially challenged, much loved club.

As for your examples Frank, the Blackburn attendance was not expected and was a midweek replay, quote - after their website heralded the average quarter-final attendance – ahead of the replay at Ewood Park – as the best since 1977 - unquote. So it seems quite obvious that it was an unusually low attendance and not certainly unexpected, going by the clubs own statistics since 1977.

Your other two examples are soooo last decade.

The person called Interested? is an embarrassment to East Fife. I would rather the club had one supporter fewer. Please go away, you are making a fool of the club and making people upset.

Bob, you are sounding very much like Derrick Brown these days. If things are bad "it's the fault of the fans", "it's my club, I put the money in".

History shows how that mindset plays out.

Today we will hear Mr. Rankin news over the clubs he runs or used to own while taking care of the Almondvale club.

I hope you and your family are found guilty for carry the can. Time to sell if found true we shall hear news today or tomorrow folks

Due to the volume of evidence the case goes to a second hearing on November 7th.

Obviously there is enough here to keep the SFA intrested. I wonder if HMRC are looking at this also ...