ARTHUR MACTAGUE - The Scotsman

A CONSORTIUM led by former Dumbarton director of football Sid Collumbine has made a £500,000 bid to buy Third Division side East Fife.

Collumbine, a funeral director, spent 17 years as a board member with Stenhousemuir before joining Dumbarton.

"I made an approach to East Fife last year, but heard nothing," said Collumbine.

"Having been out of the game for the last couple of months, I miss the involvement. As it's no secret there has been unrest at Bayview, my partners and I thought we might be able to restore stability. We have sent a formal unconditional bid offering to purchase 160,000 shares at £3 each. The offer will be on East Fife's table for as long as they wish to peruse it."

If it gets rid of Brown it must be a good thing, although the chances of Brown replying are slim to none given his track record.

We'll await their response.

It is in the courier as well,please take the money and go this could be the lifeline the fife need

Thing is does this have anything to do with Brown? Surely the real owners have the say. They should take the money and go, rather than let Brown destroy their investment.

Dunno about anyone else but I would welcome this offer. Anything that de-chairs Brown would be a huge step forward and any group who has a proper investment plan and a clear way forward for the football side will be a bonus.

The end is nigh Deek, walk now and try to save what little bit of dignity you may have left.

Fans united will never be defeated.

It's not Brown's decision.
The offer must be put to and accepted by the shareholders and it remains to be seen whether the major shareholders (Rodgers/Twigg/Brown) will accept.
It may however be that enough people accept to allow this consortium to have a say in the running of the club.

But along with Brown's inability to raise the finance for the plastic pitch this certainly puts a lot more pressure on him.

Fantastic, let's hope they are successful and remove Brown and the board!

Wouldn't hold your breath yet though!

Anyone know how relations are between former dumbarton director Collumbine and Neil Rankine?

I see that Collumbine has been on SFA committes - is he another blazer wearer?

I hope this story is true - Brown's use by date has long since past!

I was aware of this bid and fully endorse it. Sid Collumbine is a very experienced football man who would be an asset to the club - and of course his promised investment would benefit the club tremendously.

Bruce, thank you for your post. Your remarks will put a lot of minds at ease. As well as giving us a glimpse of light at the end of the tunnel.

BtL

Agree. A Bruce Black endorsement does it for me.

Sid Collumbine attended a board meeting at Bayview justas,I believe,he had lost his role at Stenhousemuir.He asked about buying enough shares to become a director with us in order to maintain his SFA position.He told us he had a yacht on Loch Lomond which he spent a lot of time on and ideally would prefer a club over that way.I personally heard no more after that until his name was connected to Dumbarton.My first and only impression of him was that he was a man who knew what he was about.

is it just me, but didnt the article say 'last year' surely this means that the directorship and shareholders have already dismissed the offer, are we not clutching at straws here, or does it just take several months for this kind of thing to get out and about ?

and as for you dave surely this would have been more interesting news than your involvement over the sun tickets scam, i cant help but wonder about that.

sorry if i have upset anyone with my reply but i am just thinking out loud with a first reaction here.

Surely this is an ideal get out clause for Brown. He could walk with a nice pay cheque and claim it was for the future benefit of the club and nothing to do with the protests.............We wouldn't mind that Derrick......honest.

This might be off at a tangent but at a meeting with season ticket holders in the early part of last season, the chairman made a statement that all the major shareholders had a pact regarding the sale of their shares. I think it was along the lines of, if they got an offer they all had to agree to sell and they wouldn't sell individually. This being the case it would make it difficult for any other group to gain a substantial shareholding without someone breaking this pact or all of them agreeing to sell.

You're kind of right I think Ewan! However, I still do not believe that a council clerk had the money to buy all those shares. Someone will be walking away happy and I sincerely hope that it is not Brown (meaning I don't wish him happiness at the Fife's expense!).

Guys

I'd be a little more cautious on embracing this 'bid'.

Sid is an affable bloke, but in my view, steeped in the old ways that have ruined the Scottish game.

I'm always wary of people who jump from club to club and in Sid's case, it's becoming a bit of a junkie trip as he tries to get back into the game.

He is a Stenhousemuir fan and does not really hide that fact. I lost count the number of times in conversations with him where he mentioned "when at Stenny, we did it this way ........"

I suppose that when you have a dictator like Mr Brown in charge, any opportunity to have him removed will be seized upon, but like I said above, I would urge extreme caution.

Alan
Secretary
Sons Supporters Trust

Take a look on the Pie and Bovril website to see what fans of Stenny and Dumbarton make of the man. Would love to see exciting new investment coming in - does not look like this chap is the White Knight we all want.

Let's not end up with another idiot we want rid of within 3 months.

Wait a minute folks, this is a real opportunity to remove the single biggest problem to hit East Fife since the Second World War.

Bob the Builder - Collumbine made an approach last year, heard nothing, and has now come back this week with a formal offer. As for your dunt at Dave Marshall, I could not disagree more. Collumbine attended a board meeting and asked to become a director. A deliberate fraudulent claim was made to a newspaper for cash. How on earth do you think that the former is bigger news than the latter?

Stuart Kikcaldy - the agreement you speak of is worthless. Money talks. You will find that Rankine is a bigger friend of Collumbine than he is of Brown.

As for being wary about Collumbine - of course we should be, but don't try to kid us that there is a "white knight" out there. This is not an ideal world. This, however, is a rare opportunity.

The last thing our club or any other is one person or group having complete ownership of their club. The implications are enormous even if they are dyed-in-the-wool East Fife supporters and this man is a self-confessed Stenhousemuir man who for whatever reason transfered to Dumbarton. He now wants to jump ship again for our club. Why?

And why if he only wants to be involved in football, which is commendable does he need to purchase the total amount of shares? W Gray also wanted to be involved but he only purchased the minimum amount necessary to gain a seat on the board although more shares were available. His reasons as stated in the paper don't ring true and he is taking the opportunity of the discord at our club in my mind to make a quick buck or million.

It is dangerous for any one person to hold a commanding shareholding as was recognised by our founders as they put a limit of around 7.5% on the shareholding one person could have. This however has now been written out of the articles.

Now as supporters of East Fife we would recognise the desire to invest in our club as many have to a smaller or greater amount. I am thinking here of people like the Rodger and Stevenson families and many other who hold smaller amounts. But just consider would you want to for another club say Rovers or Cowden. Maybe if you thought it was a good investment decision but probably not for the love of your neighbour.

The stability that will come from this could be of destructive proportions. The price is also a joke. If you bought shares at £4.50 why would you sell at £3. This may be only an opening offer but as stated it has been on the table since last year. Why has it come to light now? Let us hope they do not increase their offer and it is treated with the derision it deserves.

Brown will go without saddling ourselves with a greater danger complete ownership would bring.

Are you mad! The guy is guaranteeing £50,000 new investment in the club. How could we, or the Board, justify turning that away? In any event, let's face it he won't get all the shares, but probably enough to be a restraining influence on DB. How can that be bad?

Go for It - I can hardly believe what I'm reading! We look for change and investment, and when it appears you want to bite the guy's ankle. Here's a good alternative - you put the 50 grand into the club instead. Frankly it seems to me we're lucky to find him.

Go For It - It was widely reported that Twigglet paid £2.25 per share to Danskin. An offer of £3 per share is a very considerable return.

Ah but Collumbine wants to buy all the shares, only a certain amount were bought at a discount. The ordinary punters with a few hundred who paid £4.50 per share are unlikely to sell at a loss of £1.50.

Whether Derrick paid anything like £4.50 per share is very doubtful, probably as doubtful as the shares he got in lieu of telephone expenses.

I have seen no mention of an investment of £50K in the club. And yes some were able to purchase shares at reduced prices but there have been quite a few who have paid the full price. The offer is for all shares whether bought at £2.25 or £4.50.

As Lord Taylor said in 1990 - "In some instances it is legitimate to wonder whether the directors are genuinely interested in the welfare of their grassroots supporters. Boardroom struggles for power, the wheeler-dealing in the buying and selling of shares and indeed whole clubs sometimes suggest that those involved are more interested in the personal financial benefits or social status of being a director than of directing the club in the interests of its supporter customers

This is a quote take from P&B and I am sure you all recognise the truth of this even 16 years later. If you stop to think about it instead of shouting with glee about the removal of Brown, is it possible it reflects the objectives of this bid?

Everyone is entitled to their opinions, mines is 100% support for this bid at present. Bearing in mind the situation we are in NOW, with the Chairman we have NOW, things cannot get any worse.

If Mr Collumbine is sincere (and surely he deserves the benefit of the doubt) then this will be great news for the future of our club. If not, then our fans are not fools, it would be to his benefit to keep on the right side of us. Brown didn't and look at his castle crumbling around him.

Go For It - please show us the alternative.

You know what the only other option is? Derrick Brown stays in charge. That's the logical conclusion of your argument.

Your argument about having shareholders who are genuine fans is a worthy one. But look where it has got us. What should be ideal for the club has turned out to be a disaster.

Hang around waiting for the ideal bidder and circumstances to come around, and you will wake up dead.

This bid comes with the approval of Bruce Black. That's good enough for me.

I've heard That Sid sometimes supplied and drove supporters busses at Dumbarton.

I refuse to make a judgement on whether this offer is right for East Fife or not on what I have read in two short columns in a daily newspaper.I would need to see a lot more meat on the bones before I started to make any judgement,for or against.In our need to see the back of Derrick we are in danger of making hastie decisions.The next decision to be taken about the future of our club is argueably the most important since the one taken in 1903 to form the club.We are dutybound,in my opinion,to think long and hard and to wait on the full facts to emerge before finalising our opinion.We can only hope that,at the end of all this ,that our opinions will indeed be listened to by those in a position,as now,to ignore them.

Being brutally honest Dave, our opinions matter f*** all.

An offer has been made - shareholders will either accept it or not. If enough do we will see a major change at Bayview and one in which I hope supporters whether Trust members or not will be able to play a part.

If they don't then we may simply have to wait a wee bit longer for the demise of DB.

I think David Marshall has the right approach here.

I'm not going to demonise Sid ; all I will say that I personally don't think that anyone who is just looking for a club to get back into football would be an ideal fit for East Fife's problems.

It's understandable to grasp at anything especially when you are under the current regime at Bayview.

We face the same problem at DFC!!

Eugene
I am well used to my opinion meaning f--k all.I spent 15 months on the Bayview board.
Oh and I have been married for 45 years.

I take it that EC response to DM is whats known in the trade as ''Real Communication''?

bob the builder
Was not intending to ignore you.
At no time whilst I was on the board did we receive any offer like that outlined in today,s press.As I said in my first post only personal shares were sought so 2000 would have been enough.Things were handled exactly as they were for Wullie Gray.Wullie progressed the matter,Sid Collumbine did not.
I hope that helps.

Well WP it's sometimes right to call a spade an fn shovel!

Childre, children. Lets keep this discussionon a sensible and fruitful way. And Eugene I am ashamed of you. With your command of the English language you should be able to put forward more descriptive and useful adjectives.

On the subject in hand, I have now read the offer of another £50K which is in fact "for additional shares that may become available". Of course this would be in addition to the 160,00 shares on which there is a bid. As EFFC has only a share issue of 160,00 shares this would require an new issue of around 16,000 shares. Of course these newly issued shares will probably be snapped up at a discount (possibly even for nothing). The recipients of these shares would then be able to sell them at £3/share. I wonder who would receive these? A tidy sum of £50K to be divided if the bid goes through!

Is it coincidence that this bid has been highlighted at this time? By an aquaintance if nothing else of Rankine who is trying to sell his shares.

Such cynicism I hear you say. This has come about since I have been finding out what has been going on at EFFC in recent years and hearing what is happening at other clubs.

What I am trying to say is that there is more to this bid that meets the eye.

Correct. There is indeed more to this bid than meets the eye. Of course there is. There always is.

But Brown is bricking himself. He didn't see this coming. Can you honestly imagine anyone worse than Brown running or owning the club? I can't.

Go For It, you should change your name. Go for what?

What are the worst case scenario's here? That he might alienate supporters and supporters groups? Too late. That he might starve the manager of funds whilst rejecting supporters money? Too late. That he might end up being so hated that hundreds stay away, 50odd fans end up on the mound every home game, and there's even a protest march with bagpipes to highlight what a complete shambles he is??

Lets face it, ANYONE is better than that little turd in the Chairmans blazer, NOBODY could do any worse than what he's done already, and if folk talk about 'club killers' then this applies to Derrick, he just uses different methods.

If we had an apathetic support, struck down with a bad case of "blind loyalty" then East Fife FC would be in its death throes right now.

Fortunately we do not, so hold your heads high at what you have achieved in these last few months and lets stay focused on what we set out to do, and what we are about to do.

It's the final chapter of this story, and there's a happy ending

Sid Collumbine(and backers ?)did not suddenly decide
to make an offer on the basis that " maybe there will be enough interest for me to be involved in EFFC".
This bid is almost certainly launched on basis that he
has a guaranteed tranche of shares. Probably not enough for full control but close.
Suppose the shares in Samantha Twigg's name do not really belong to her. Suppose there is another shareholder who does not really own the shares in their name and is not remotely involved in what is happening. Suppose there is another shareholder
much closer to home and actively involved.
Now suppose all these shares combined were available
then it could give anyone interested in buying the club a 50,000+ shareholding on which to build either a majority or a significant minority.

This however is pure conjecture and is probably a result of my bitterness at not being a shareholder.
I did ask to buy 100 shares about a year ago and was told by DB "give me your cheque and at the next board meeting we will decide whether to sell them to you or not."
An analogy is probably the salesman at a car showroom saying " give me your £15K and we will let you know somtime if we are going to sell you a car"

Typing with one finger is very tiring so I am off now to plot a takeover at Chelsea.

Why dont you set the ball rolling and sell your shares Dave Marshall if this is a breath of fresh air for EFFC. Igor you always think that anything that might see the stand down of DB is down to your pettiness, grow up.

Jim
I have just checked my posts on this thread and I cannot for the life of me see where I wrote that this was a breath of fresh air for EFFC.

Just in case anyone thinks that 'Jim' is me - it is not!!

If the stubborness of Derrick Brown rejects this or an improved offer to buy his shares then I hope the backers will sell theirs and the new regime can consign Derrick to the wilderness. That is little more than he deserves.

Judging by the general opinion on here, there will be very little season tickets sold despite some encouraging signings the major problem is still at the club. And where the hell is Derrick going to get £350000 for a plastic pitch without the help of his Fife Cooncil chums?

Yet another plea to The Rodgers family to see sense and hopefully Neil Rankine,sell up now before things get any worse. I've given up long ago on that spineless bunch of so calle directors at Bayview who couldn't organise a piss up in a Brewery.

Interesting that lap dog Hamilton found the Derrick Brown mobile phone video hilarious on Cup Final day in The Den Inn , I'm sure your master would dissaprove Davie.

Let's hope commonsense prevails here for all our sakes.

Well I'll be bowling for Collumbine that's for sure.

He mentions unrest at Bayview and bringing stability to the club - he will know that this means keeping the fans on-side and talking to supporters and the Trust. If not, he will get just as much grief as Broon and I'm sure this guy has more intelligence than him (not difficult granted). Anyway the alternative is what? There is no-one else out there with millions to put into the club and this is our best hope of removing the present regime. Frankly, I'll be happy to take my chances with Sid and his gang - anything, anything will be an improvement on what we've got.

"Igor you always think that anything that might see the stand down of DB is down to your pettiness, grow up."

You canny spoke right.

Well Bruce Black has given his consent,Now there is something,Here is the man who let Brown take over Here is the man who done the dirty on Gordon Dow so he could get to be the chairman,This is the same man who with Danskin,let Gordon do interviews for the the managers job when the two of them had already picked a manager,I was all for the Collumbine taking over until I read Bruce's consent,When he stabbed Gordon in the back I said to him I hope someone does it to you,and we all know someone did,And now we are all suffering for his dirty deeds,Blame Bruce for Brown's control.Sorry Collumbine has lost my vote before is begun,He will end up trying to sell our ground to build houses or factories,BEWARE OF FALSE PROMISES

Kenny,

Sometimes it helps to use "critical support" for cases that are perhaps not perfect but probably a step forward. If you limit yourself to such a rigid position you will get nowhere at all.

Zaks against it, gotta be a winner.

Lets see, Zak doesnt like Bruce Black, Sid Collumbine and even the supporters club got "£20 for nothing" from him.

Are you on drugs or just a bit dim

Well I don't take drugs so I must be a bit dim But not as dim as you calling yourself hopeful

Dave, I wasn't implying that you posted about a breatth of fresh air it was a general comment. However, you haven't commented on why your holding on to the substantial amount of shares you hold when you obviously want rid of Brown. As for you smartarse igor you are a prick full of your own importance who really isnt concerned with any issues unless they enhance your profile.

WTF is Dave meant to do wi his shares - burn them outside the stadium?

Really dont understand the point being made here

Jim, any credibility you may have had from your earlier post evaporated in that puff of spitefulness and abuse to igor who has put his time and effort where his his mouth is and provided with others the backbone and leadership neeeded for any organisation or group striving for change.

" what did you do to get rid of the evil empire of Derrick Boon grandad?
Nothing son but i went on tinternet and gave folk that helped get rid of him personal abuse". You will make your grand bairns proud!!

In relation to Sids buy out, if it is true then as one of the original moundies I would welcome the chance to go to Bayview and get back to supporting the club in every way I can. Most folk involved I suspect will feel the same as well as wishing Derrick a fond farewell A new regime gives a fresh start and a better opportunity to achive the turnaround of East fife into a genuine community club that respects and involves its fans and the wider community.

Yes, and you are a great guy too "Jim". At least you managed to make a bit more sense this time

"In relation to Sids buy out, if it is true then as one of the original moundies I would welcome the chance to go to Bayview and get back to supporting the club in every way I can. Most folk involved I suspect will feel the same as well as wishing Derrick a fond farewell A new regime gives a fresh start and a better opportunity to achive the turnaround of East fife into a genuine community club that respects and involves its fans and the wider community."

My feelings exactly

I am very optimistic that we will be back in Bayview for the start of the season.

A more expansive article in the "Courier" today with a better insight into the way ahead.
The Trust,and therefore the fans,are to be involved.
That is good,that is very good.

"The trust’s board hope to meet with Collumbine as soon as possible to discuss ways in which, should the consortium be successful, they can contribute to the club’s development."

Does not mean they will be involved!

Do not read into things that which is not there.

Jim which of the directors are you. Derrick himself, or one of the poodles, Diddy David, the Fishman or the Bikeman. Or maybe Betty goes by the name of Jim at weekends. At least Dave Marshall and Igor have had the bottle to stand up to asshole Brown, unlike yourself. Derricks favourite all time song must be Midnight Cowboy " Everybody's talkin' at me, don't hear a word they're sayin' "

Surely Deek's favourite song is "In The Cooncil" by the Village People?

Deeper in the keech, what kind of fish are you coz you don't half bite.

If anybody is in favour of hissing sid, you should visit the Pie and Bovril site and read what the Stenny and Dumbarton fans have to say about him. A takeover of a club with no debt and assests in the form of prime land once the Power station goes. Now thats the kind of business man that EFFC needs.

Anyone is better than Brown, 'Jim'! A fresh slate is what we need, Collombine is not a supporter of East Fife but neither was Brown, but maybe Sid will listen to the people who care about the club.. the fans!

"A takeover of a club with no debt and assests in the form of prime land once the Power station goes."

Then what, we sell New Bayview? How many East Fife fans would actually be sad about that?

Frankly, I'm at the stage now that I'd rather have no club than one that Brown still runs.

Sid Collumbine may not be an EFFC fan, but then there are precious few who run any club in the UK that are genuine supporters of the club they run. It doesn't really matter who is in charge so long as they have a bit of business acumen, are not corrupt, listen to their customers and put a winning team on the pitch. Brown and the present regime fail on at least three of the above points.

How about a Great White Shark Jim lad. Favourite meal any Derrick Brown supporters. Love live bait best!! Watch you don't fall over the sea wall next to Bayview!!

Just in fi a great night out n ma wife bumped into 1 oh ur directors she was askin about this collumbine guy n she wiz telt the board arent going to accept his offer whit diz that tell u aboot whos running ur beloved club not only wiz this guy adament that nothing will change a bayview in the near future he wiz trin 2 get aff wi ma wife since hes single again. What an arse if thats whts running ef god help u all nite nite

Heard yersterday that the board had a meeting and rejested the bid [Willie Gray was not in attendance]

Igor. Please e.mail me.

That is almost laughable. Do they think that this is just going to go away?

FAO The Board of Directors - your time is up. Kermit ran the Muppet Show better than you lot can run a football club.

Ta Ta.

Is it true that Willie Gray was that mad at Broon he cut short his holiday and returned back.

Just back from 2 weeks in Italy to hear this news.

Really don't know what to make of it all from what I've read.

I'd still say that things can't be any worse than having Brown in charge as the club is dead where it is.

Does anyone know who the rest of the consortium are and whether there are any actual East Fife supporters involved in it?

I just hope that something happens soon that will get us all back in the stadium from the start of next season as the team looks like it has a chance of doing something good.