All good things come to an end. Or so they say. AFTN has been around since 1989, first as a fanzine and then making the jump to a website and forum in 2003. We've been through the many ups and down at East Fife in those 12 years but policing the forum has become a giant pain in the ass in recent years. As such, we made the decision not to renew it when it expired.
The forum is no more and will remain as a locked archive until it is eventually deleted by the host. We're looking in to try to save some of the content as an archive.
This is not the end of AFTN though. The site will continue and will be revamped and return in its full glory for the start of the 2016/17 season. Maybe even sooner. There will be a comment sections and possibly even a new, registered forum. Check our Twitter (@aftnwebsite) for all the latest info and we'll also post in on the EFFC memories Facebook page.
Until then, have a last browse here, thanks for all your support over the years, and 'Mon the Fife.
GoF
I only looked at this as,like many others, I long for a time when there was some optimism regarding East Fife. In the 1960s when I first started to attend games we were usually just short of being promoted to the top tier - which had 18 teams then.
In the fifties, when we were a force in the top league there was full employment and the local economy was relatively bouyant and there was little competition from other activities. In the 70s the spell in the top league co-incided with the oil rig jobs at RGC, DCL opening and the last few years of employment in the pits. Basically, the success of a team like East Fife is linked to the economy of the area, the effective stewardship of those running the club and their ability to garner resources for it to make progress.
Basically in the last 20 years these have not been present in any real degree for East Fife. The history of Scottish football is littered with teams from small communities who are no longer present in the senior game - although many of these foundered in the years before the last war. Levenmouth has no divine right to have a team in the senior leagues and the performance of the team shows that East Fife is very much a small team and unless something changes, it will remain in the lower echelons in a country where the game in general is in decline.
Personally, I share the despair of watching a team that is struggling to succeed against the 'dross' in the poorest league in Scotland. Whether Naysmith is the right man for this club in this situation is, in my view, debatable at least. However, until there are other changes, for example, in the ownership and stewardship of the club our ambitions need to be very moderate and the job of being East Fife manager will remain a bit of a poisoned chalice.
Since Archibald got promotion we have done well for a season and a bit with Jim Moffat ( who the board did not have the resources to support in Div2 as it was) and Dave Baikie ( who was supported by the then Chairman, Mr Gray).
Other than that John Robertson did OK for a while but since him, Crawford, Durie and Naysmithmight all have done better had the club invested (or been able to) in an experienced assistant. Maybe there's a role for a Dick Campbell figure now, or perhaps Davie Clarke might have provided a support for Crawford or Durie.
Not much will change under present owner or board. This is our level and as each season passes I become less bothered. I can't see how things are going to get better either and let's face it, the majority in the local community couldn't give a **** about EF and certainly wouldn't pay that kind of cash to watch that standard of football when you can watch it for free in a local council park. Tough times ahead indeed.
The problem is the constant bile on here is a refection of what's happening on the park.
Here we have it folks.
Its all the moaning fans fault.
Unbe*******lievable ****e you spout.