I have attended East Fife matches since I was at primary school in the early 1960s. My attendance was more sporadic during the late 1970's (I was out of the area studying) and 1980's (when I played football on Saturdays). I have had a season ticket for each season since the "Archibald" promotion winning season and have, until midway through this season, attended most away matches.
Football, for me, is a method of escaping from the "pressures" of everyday life and therefore I have no interest in becoming "involved" in the politics surrounding the running of the club or the game in general. I have therefore not become involved in any of the "protests" concerning the performance of the Chairman or his colleagues on the Board. That does not mean to say that I do not care about our club - nor indeed that I am less of a supporter than the Chairman or those who seek his removal.
My personal view is that Derrick Brown genuinely believes that he is right and that he feels he is the best person to take East Fife forward. I think that he is wrong.
I would also accept that he does put many hours of effort into working on behalf of East Fife. I agree with his view on the "What next?" question as I am not aware of concrete plans or a realistic vision for who would come in with a big enough bag of sweeties to buy out our pre-pubescent major shareholder. Who is poised to invest enough to take over East Fife and take the club to the next level?
When reading about the recent decisions by other clubs regarding the structure of their finances then, if the claim that East Fife is in the black is correct then in that respect the board can claim to have done well. (But Scottish Football is in a terrible state.)
However, the board do not seem to have the personal wealth to invest to move East Fife forward, nor, more importantly, the ability to generate significant sums of money, whether it is through investment from business or through increased attendances to improve the club. The main "plank" of their strategy for the future seems to be getting a plastic pitch to hire out to others. When I drive past Kirkland (which is more centrally situated and not surrounded by "wasteland") after matches on a Saturday the pitch there is not being used!!
The Chairman claims that he wants East Fife to be a community club - and then states that it belongs to the shareholders. I can reconcile the dichotomy in this statement only if the club is making real efforts to listen to the community it claims to serve. Mr Brown and his colleagues are not.
The attitude of the board to recent events, their lack of appreciation of the supporters (I don't want £10 off a season ticket - I want to attend matches where there is an atmosphere, a sense of optomism, a sense of togetherness and identity which is evident on the field and off), and their lack of vision have all contributed to a situation where attending matches this season has become a chore. Some of the more personal attacks on Mr Brown and David Hamilton by protesters have added to this.
There needs to be a radical change in how East Fife are run in order that the poor image that the club now has can be improved. There needs to be real leadership but I cannot see the present set of "turkeys" voting for Xmas and going despite the pressure of the protesters. I also cannot envisage Mr Brown or his fellow board members having the integrity (or confidence) to allow real community (or supporter)involvement in the running of the club. As I see no solution to the "difficulties" I will not be renewing my season ticket and my attendance at the Arbroath game will be my last until there is a change in personnel in the boardroom, a clear change of direction or a much more positive atmosphere at Bayview.
In short, I've had enough!
Those who have taken to protesting on the mound might feel justified in accusing me of not caring as I am simply "walking away". They are well aware that many others have done the same.

Saturday will be a very sad day for me.

Protesting is not for everyone and I respect that.

The people who are protesting are doing it for the reasons that you have put in your excellent but very sad post. It makes terrible reading but is sadly true. The club is at rock bottom.

On that note, I say that things can only get better and truly believe they will. Roll on the day when all we have to do is turn up and watch the fitba!

Tamsun, don't get too used to not going to the football on a Saturday, it won't be long until you return to watch the mighty Fife (I hope!).

Tamsun, no one would doubt that it is a sad day for you, but you are preaching to the converted with most of your points. You need to address them to the chairman and the major shareholders. Sad as you may feel, most of us reached this point some time ago.

The one point where I have to disagree is where you say you agree with the chairman's view on the "What next?" question. It is a red herring. It is no rational basis for persisting with the present chairman. There would be an immediate improvement in the club's short and medium term fortunes if he was removed. As for the long term - why worry about the alternative when we have all the evidence we would ever need that the present chairman is going to kill the club stone dead?

We should not be worrying about getting to the 'next level' at this stage. The immediate priority is to arrest the dramatic decline before any further damage is inflicted. As you say, Brown is not capable of taking East Fife forward. I believe that there are several strong and willing candidates who would revitalise the club - if they were given the chance.

Never nice to hear stories like your own Tamsun, but sadly thats what we have come to under Brown the Clown's stewardship. I do however echo Ladyfan's sentiments, I don't think you will need to stay away for long, we have Brown on the ropes and he is fast losing the small band of friends he did have.

The problem for all clubs is exactly that - getting the people who have stopped attending back into the habit and encouraging youngsters to go and watch their local team (and identify with it).
Where is the vision?
An incentive to take youngsters to the last home game so that they will be encouraged to go back in two months. Don't think that'll put many on the gate at the start of next season.

Sympathiser.
They won't be given the chance to contribute when Derrick is in place. I doubt if anyone with significant ability and standing would want to be associated with East Fife with Derrick as Chairman. However, he is not for moving, and his backers seem disinclined to arrange for his replacement.
Similarly, noone has gone public with a desire to "take over" so it appears that we are stuck with the status quo and all of the bad feeling that this has attracted and engendered.
We are rock bottom. however, the "next level" is not purely a reference to the position of the first team. It is also a reference to the level of community involvement (which seems to be limited to requests for volunteers), the level of professionalism in the running of the club (remember the tannoy problems and the efforts to borrow a megaphone last season) and the contribution of the club to the development of football (compare the depth of the youth set up at East Fife compared with Cowdenbeath).

Tamsun
No-one will accuse you of not caring when you so obviously do.I do feel for you.You will soon see that there is vision out there,I promise you.I resigned because of the hurt I was causing people like you and I will do all I can to get you back supporting your team.

I have to agree with the comments from Tamsun. Since I moved abroad, I have seen very few matches but have continued to follow the fortunes of EFFC. In the last 2 years I have seen 3 games, which were all absolute sh#te. The ball in completely in the court of Brown and his backers and by the looks of things, nothing will change in the near future even allowing for the protests and the inconviences caused , which I can fully understand from you diehards. I also feel that some of the threads posted against certain board individuals, whether correct or not, border on downright rudeness .
But again it's easy for me to make that assessment, from a distance.What's next is a valid question. Until a sound backer is prepared to put money into the club, then there will be no progress booked. Brown has stated that extra money at the gate will give the manager funds to get new ( better) players but if attendances continue to dwindle, no funds for the manager. Baikie says that the current squad is good and only needs a few additions. From which kitty ? Gate money?

I can fully appreciate why people who stayed away from Bayview for whatever reasons, are loathe to return and pay 9 quid for entrance to watch utter sh#te and I also am seriously contemplating not going to a game next time I come over. Better to give the money to my niece and nephew- they would love and appreciate that.

I do not know Brown of now, only from his refereeing days in the old juvenile leagues when he was a complete asshole and arrogant twat, but from the sound of things, the more flack he gets, the deeper he digs in.

Lets hope that dialogue will help resolve the status quo but again I fear the worst.

Tamsun, no one should make you feel bad for walking away and I don't think they will.

I know the feeling.

I walked away at the start of the season and although tempted back by the protests, my love for the club has been hit and it was very easy to find other things to do on a Saturday.

I'm sure the Rovers fans that walked away and haven't come back will say the same.

Protesting isn't for everyone and everyone should respond to the current situation the way they feel in their hearts.

I haven't been going to many away games as protesting every week is draining and demoralising to me, but I know it's important to keep the pressure on week in, week out.

I know Brown is on the ropes but it's a tricky stalemate at present and the longer it goes on the harder it is going to be to heal the wounds.

Community involvement is a key and all the current board seem to have done is alienate nearly every aspect of the Levenmouth community.

As previously said, just take a look along the road to Cowdenbeath.

They are a shining example of what can be done with a club of limited means. Their youth set up and sponsorship from local businesses is fantastic.

They have an ambitious board, a tremendously talented young manager, are playing the best football in the league in my opinion and are going to be Fife's number 2 club (status wise) in no time.

What's happened to us?

Another Fife fan bites the dust.Derrick you should be very proud ov yourself.These are guys that go to watch our team play regardless ov the results.They go for the LOVE ov watching there team play.How many more people like Tamsun will not turn up next season because they are sick to the teeth ov the crap you come up with.How many more peoples Saturdays will you ruin.If we are in the same league place next season as this season you'll be lucky if theres 130-150 Fife fans in the ground.There WILL BE a breaking point Derrick,when poeoples disapointment turns to dam anger.Please just go and let us SUPPORT OUR TEAM AGAIN.

Unfortunately,It's not just Tamsun with these feelings. It's 20 years since I lived in Fife, 10 where I only attended the occasional game due to work commitments etc. But I've been to most games Home and Away for the last decade, have been a Season ticket Holder since we moved to New Bayview.

I've brought my son up to support the Fife despite the pressures on him from his friends to support one of the "big" teams in the area.

BUT at the moment I CANNOT see myself inside Bayview again, the appetite has gone, it looks like the local junior club for me.

I sincerely hope that the protests are successful before it's too late.

Tamsun's analysis is spot on, and his decision to walk away is one many of us very reluctantly also came to. Broon is there to stay for as long as he can, and he'll do that at whatever cost to the club's football standing. He shows all the signs of any dictator clinging to power, including contempt for public opinion and surrounding himself with cronies and (now) heavies.

By all means protest, but that's the kind of fight he relishes and it won't move him. I'm not sure either that staying away, even in droves, will make much difference. He'll just cut expenditure to match. Staying away, though, seems to me to be a principled stance that makes me feel that I'm doing what I can, but I'm sad that a lifetime's interest and emotional attachment has gone, probably forever.

What I don't think Herr Broon can cope with, and what we should also focus on, is anything that jeopardises his standing within football circles - and anything that stretches his limited intellect. Preferably both.

My own suggestion would be for a strong and organised alliance of all the interests in the club - supporters, shareholders, Trust, protesters etc - who would both get a plan for the future sorted out and then take that plan our worries and concerns about the present and the future to the people Deek really worries about - the SFA, the Fife Football Association (who put him on the SFA - why do you think he's so keen on the Fife Cup!), the Council, MSPs, the media, and major shareholders (Rankine/Twigg, the Rodgers etc). That would really put him on the back foot and make him think. And a dictator under pressure is a dictator on the way out.

Terracing Tam. I agree fully with your comments but I wonder. Is Brown a dictator doing what he wants without any intervention from the majority shareholders or is he just a foot soldier fronting for the majority shareholders ?

The first part I fail to grasp and cannot fathom out. How can shareholders sit back and let a man dictate so much without taking any action. They must have read about the unrest amongst the plebs and the protests as there has been plenty of national coverage. But apparently no action taken. So what's the score ?

Secondly, Brown may be like a puppet on string for the majority shareholders doing exactly what he is told to do and say.

So what is the correct scenario ?

Good points exile.Whats the chances though ov any ov the said groups you've mentioned finding out?Rankin,Twigg or whoever else is involved are taking the piss out ov us.There making a mokery out ov the club.Why can't THEY come up with a meeting between the protesters,supporters to give us there views.And PIGS WILL FLY,i suppose!!!!

I will be interesting, should Dumbarton be relegated, if more attention can be directed towards investigating alleged dual ownership of two clubs in the same division.

Might be an uncomfortable time for Neil Rankine

the first scenario is accurate. there are three significant shareholdings: twigg, the rodgers, and the browns.

twigg's mother has said that the shareholding is an investment and she wants nothing to do with the running of the club

the rodgers have also said they want nothing to do with the running of the club, and trust brown.

which leaves the browns to do as they see fit.

how did all this happen? easy. in the push to remove danskin, brown was given authority to find a buyer for danskin's shares. he cut a deal whereby he sold the shares at half price, on the basis that the recipient would support him in the future. consequence: the club is shafted

there are two mysteries. the first is the rodgers, fish merchants in brown street(!), buckhaven. they are regular attenders at bayview, and are content with what they see. amazing but true. they are the ones with the power to call time on this shambles

the second mystery is how a payroll clerk has built up, since 2000/01, a shareholding with a value of £120,000

Did Derrick not sell himself some cut price shares aswell? Or perhaps a parting gift from Julian.

I gave up many months ago and its very easy to get out of the habit of even looking for the score on a Saturday night! This is the first season in about 20 that I have missed more than a couple of games, home or away.

Having said that, with a change in regime, I will definately be back. I am East Fife to the core, as are my whole family who gave up at the same time as me. Thats 5 adults for about 15 matches, a reasonable sum of money when you add it up.

Faraday
Danskin definately did not provide D'ick with any shares as a parting gift. They split under unhappy circumstances. Maybe be an interesting investigation into the real reason behind D'icks departure from employment by Danskin.

Also was it not Jim....... (owns a number of local boozers and involved with collapse of Airdrie) who was involved with the sale and distribution of Danskins shares?

Totally correct PM.Brown and Danskin parted on bad terms and allegedly a member of Browns family was involved.

Be also interesting to find out why Danskin put forward a motion to remove Brown from the Board, but Brown resigned at the last minute before we could find out the details at the agm.

So just why did Danskin feel you weren't fit to be on the board back then Deek?

And what's changed to deem you fit to now run the club?

We should invite Danskin to the mound

Didn't think he was interested in mounds.......

Come on Igor, who's going to bend over and pick up the empty cans !!!

wonder how any of Derricks family could ave an involvement wit Julian Danskin????

We can but wonder, maybe someone swapped a BB uniform for a refs uniform????

A heard that the child Twiggs mother,was related to Danskin.Great uncle or something like that.

"the second mystery is how a payroll clerk has built up, since 2000/01, a shareholding with a value of £120,000"

what would the total purchase price of these shares be over the alleged time period ?

how much disposable income do you think a payroll clerk would have over this time period ?

anyone know anybody in the inland revenue ?

Could be as simple as the family had inherited some money and D'ick sold himself some cut price shares.

could be inherited. but if you know brown, you will also know he is not from a wealthy family.

and if he had come into a substantial amount of money as he approached retirement, why would he continue with his miserable existence as a payroll assistant at the council? it doesn't add up