From the Official Website...

STATEMENT - 22nd August 2006

To all supporters of East Fife FC . . . . . . . .



As you will know, I was recently appointed to the position of Chairman. It is a great honour for me to hold such a position at a club with as proud and as colourful a history as East Fife FC. Though I have never claimed to be a lifelong supporter of the club, I have learned much about it in recent months, the great history and achievements of the past are something that few clubs can boast. The challenge to bring some long overdue silverware back to Methil in the present day is one that I will relish, and I’m sure the fans will too.



I think it would be fair to say that this club has been brought to its knees in recent years. Frustration and anger amongst the support has been understandably high, and rightly so. The protests and demonstrations by the supporters show a great passion and desire for change at this club. This is something I commend, and now that the wheels of change are in motion, I hope that the supporters can unite with Sid and I, in order that we can bring about the changes needed to get the club back on its feet.



We have drastically improved the on-field situation at the club with the appointment of a quality manager, David Baikie, and investment in a talented squad of players who will hopefully achieve promotion this season. We are also well aware however, that essential changes in the boardroom are needed to allow the club to flourish. Supporters can rest assured that we are doing everything in our power to bring about these changes, but they don’t happen overnight.



I feel that the East Fife Supporters Trust has a big role to play in the future of the club and we look forward to working closely with them to achieve long term success, both on and off the park, for East Fife FC. I would

encourage all fans to join the Trust and give them your support, I know I will be!



It is also important that we work closely with other groups connected to the club, the East Fife Supporters Club, The Fife Fans for the Future group, the East Fife Ladies team and the Junior Supporters Club. Every one has a role to play in this new era, and we welcome the input, support and participation of everyone with a desire to see East Fife FC reach its full potential.



I understand that many hundreds of supporters are still staying away from Bayview on match days. It is the responsibility of the club to win these people back, and I am sure that with the changes underway off the field,

and the success on it, we can soon hope to see people coming back to watch their team in large numbers. I would appeal to all supporters who were not thinking of returning, in the near future or at all, to attend our next

home game so come and introduce yourselves to me, tell me your opinions and views. I want to be as open as possible and I will always give an honest answer.



If anyone remains unconvinced at this point then please write to me at the club, and again I will always do my best to explain things and ask for your support. For the first time in a good few years East Fife FC is taking

giant steps forward. With your support, input and our hard work combined we can keep this success going on and off the park. The past achievements of East Fife FC are something huge to live up to, but if we do it with the same spirit that this club held in days gone by, then anything is possible!



Willie Gray

Chairman

mines were always better!

Sounds encouraging. Will await to see what essential boardroom changes are made before jumping for joy though.
However credit where it's due, welcoming the trust and other supporters groups is a massive step in the right direction.

A positive message from Willie. This is the most encouraged I have felt in a while. However, we need to see DB moved out of the club to truly clear the way for a brighter future.

It is an encouraging statement, but all that the chairman is trying to achieve can be done by removing Brown. The sooner he does that, the sooner he gets everyone back on side.

Until he does that, the statement will be treated with caution and an inevitable amount of doubt. What if we all go back - and for some unforeseen reason, Brown is NOT removed? I won't be back until Brown is gone, and I will be writing to the chairman today to leave him in no doubt about that.

We only need to refer back to the last couple of Chairman's statements on the official website (and not so long ago either) to look at how things have changed at our club! No, we are not there yet, but we are a million miles further than where we were at the beggining.

Best quote has to be...

"Though I have never claimed to be a lifelong supporter of the club..."

That's the best dig I've heard in ages.

I'll have you know i've been a supporter for fifty years!!!!

Makes good reading - a very positive statement.

As a matter of interest, anyone know who wrote it for him?

Willie's wife will probably have wrote it with (not for) him, such statements are usually disected bit by bit on the interweb so you can hardly blame him.

I commend this positive statement from the Chairman. It does in my opinion show commitment to moving our club forward. Anyone who has had to have a wart removed will understand it does take some time to achieve, so I can trust that Deek will soon be gone. What will remain is the anonymous posters who will be the 'prophets of doom',we just have to live with this. I see some hope for my club now,it will take a lot of hard work and pain to get the atmosphere and belief back into our club. At least the journey has begun and I for one will be part of it

If your wart is a bad one doctors recommend that it is cut out with minor surgery. It's not a lengthy procedure.

Time to administer the scalpal.

I like this, it looks like finally a real attempt is being made to improve relations between fans and the board. Once Derrick Brown goes, it'll be full steam ahead. Really looking forward to next year!

Excellent statement....

That's such a positive and optimistic statement.

Hopefully any fans that still have issues or concerns will take him up on his offer and air these.

Have added the statement to the News section of the site.

It's still early days in all the changes but I feel a spring in my step at long last

Wonder what Zak thinks?

Very positive statement. East Fife Ladies will be in touch with Mr gray to discuss issues.

Pah, thats nothing, one hundred women phoned me all the time!

I think that the statement is good, but I'm just a bit sceptical that WG or his good lady actually wrote it. It has more the rather more polished look of something someone has put in front of him to agree to being issued since he was being criticised for being too silent since his appointment.

So it may not reflect too closely what he really thinks!

Interested.

Just give the man a chance instead of continually looking for something underhand.

Come on Rabhaw, after all that has happened can you really blame anyone for saying that actions speak louder than words? At least that shows we have learned our lesson.

Its an encouraging statement as far as it goes - but at the moment it is only a statement of intent!?

Willie and Sid were asked at the meeting last week (before the Ross County game) if they could make an official statement on their plans for the future.

Willie has now done this and it seems that some people still want to give him pelters.

There's no pleasing some folk.

FF is right. We asked last week if there was anything he could put in writing that would reach the supporters.

Not everybody is going to believe what he says and that is the right of any individual that doesn't want to. I give him credit for carrying out a request by fans to do this as it shows that he is listening.

Whether he wrote the statement or not is neither here nor there. It is in his name therefor it should be taken as his words. Some people are good at the letter writing thing and some people aren't.

I think the statement is very positive and I for one welcome it.

A very promising statement, and I for one am a little excited for the season ahead. It would be great to see all the fans return to the stadium and give the team the support they deserve. I also know that there is a better atmosphere in the dressing room, and that the players also have a lot time for Gray, and very little, if any for Brown. So come on ALL Fife fans lets get behind the club and back our very promising bid for promotion.

Very good positive statement.

Its very easy to be cynical - lets grasp the opportunity of supporting a chairman who seems to give a stuff about what many fans think.

One little thing on saturday heartened me - Scott Crabbe came in to see the East Fife JSC (AKA Young Fifers) at half time to discuss the game with the Kids and get photos taken etc.

Scott told us that the players had been instructed that at every home game, at least one player was to visit the club room at half time to meet our young fans.

For whatever reason, it was rare to see players meeting the young fans on a regular basis in previous seasons.

This step is a welcome chance to let the Kids see and meet the players, and only good can come of it.

"Its very easy to be cynical"

It's far easier to be naive.

I can't believe that some of the people posting on here are so unquestioning in their acceptance of what they are told. I hope every word of the statement is true but like so much of what has been promised in the distant and not-so-distant past, I will believe it when I see it.

Well FF this is what I think it is a very good letter,and really encouraging, but I will stay away until brown is gone completely,then I can start my protest inside the ground to get rid of the others who have backed brown, I will not go back just for the sake of going back,god only knows how much I miss going into the ground and cheering on the team,until everything is done and dusted I will continue to stay outside,there is nothing willie or sid can say or do to change my mind.BROWN MUST GO

Is it too much to ask those who are still sceptical to put their doubts to one side and try supporting the team again in the most positive way, by going into the stadium?

I myself have been unhappy at what has happened in recent seasons, but no way can Willie Gray be held accountable for these problems. I believe WG now provides free drinks & sweets etc for the Young Fifers at games. Seems like a guid bloke to me!

I am not naive and I do not hide behind a name that is not my own.

I still want Brown out the club completely and I am willing to call a personal truce with the club until the AGM to see if what has been said will happen. As I say, it is a personal choice and I will not berate others for staying away until the job is complete.

I applaud the club, which has for once, taken on responsibility to entice fans back. Brown would have put out a statement saying that all stay-aways were evil and had no right to do so.

I now look forward to a Saturday once again. I am not sitting on my laurels to 'wait and see' if what has been said is true. There is alot of work going on behind the scenes to ensure our future as a club. I am willing to give the current regime a chance.

Long live the Fife.

'god only knows how much I miss going into the ground and cheering on the team,'


Zak, you are not going to achieve anything by staying away. You have made this a personal issue within yourself and need to put it behind you mate. Nobody is going to look on you as giving in, which I think is your real concern, ie what others think of you. On the contrary, you will be admired for being resolute during the protest era. But by continuing, you will soon be seen as being stubborn.

Do you think that if WG really intends to con the support, that he will change his mind because 'ZAK' is not going into the stadium? You are only hurting yourself if your statement above is genuine, which I am sure it is.

By continuing your stance, Derek Brown will be laughing at you!!

No comment from the Mole I see. Unless you're Brown out, fans in that is....

No show by me before broon is oot. If even then.

if you cast your mind back a couple of weeks Blair, the Mole's target was Gray. he would be unlikely to call himself Brown Out. where is the Mole now? i think he must have given up in despair

good for you zak, you have not had to make any excuses. if the rest of the protestors had kept up the pressure then the changes they wanted would have happened much quicker than they will happen now (if they happen at all)

i've said it already, but I will repeat that willie gray's statement is encouraging. but it does not give the promise that so many people said they would accept as a temporary compromise _ a promise that brown will be leaving sooner rather than later

I'm also encouraged by this statement.
I wonder if this was handed to the club secretary to type out onto the club website?

"It is a great honour for me to hold such a position at a club with as proud and as colourful a history as East Fife FC. Though I have never claimed to be a lifelong supporter of the club, I have learned much about it in recent months, the great history and achievements of the past are something that few clubs can boast".

Looks like my idea of handing a copy of my book in to Bayview for Willie was a good idea then. Seems to have had the desired effect!

Brown out fans in
"the changes they wanted would have happened much quicker than they will happen now (if they happen at all)"

If you can't see the absurdity of the contradiction between the first part of the above and the bit in brackets then there little hope for mankind in its quest for intellectual rigour!

there is no contradiction. you just don't want to admit the possibility of a lose-lose scenario

the brackets only acknowledge that brown's departure might not even be a case of 'sooner or later'. if you remove the pressure from the new regime now, and everything returns to normal, there is a fair chance that they won't feel the need to remove brown. in fact, they could turn round to you and say: we're making progress, let's not rock the boat

how about reading the post again without trying so hard to be smart (and failing). and i hope my further use of brackets has not put you under too much intellectual strain this time

What a difference from the last chairmans rants un putdowns.Gray looks like hes treating the protesters as humuns and not "trouble makers" like Broon did.Just a pitty Derrick just walked.Would save alot ov hassle and time.All in all though,i'm happy with this statement.

"I think that the statement is good, ...It has more the rather more polished look of something someone has put in front of him to agree to being issued....o it may not reflect too closely what he really thinks!"

I don't agree.I can understand your sceptism, but in his statement, WG has offered to dicuss issues face to face with fans - Why open yourself up to the possibility of being expossed if you had a hidden agenda? For me, I think his intent is genuine. And to deliver on this intent, the club needs the support of its fans. They have mine.

"Brown out, fans in" why were you not on the mound on Saturday if you feel that a protest from outside the ground must still take place?

Igor,

You don't need to be stood on the mound to protest,
non-attendance is also a form of protest and may even be better than shouting from the mound, The mound
provided the only atmosphere at bayview last season
so without the fans in the ground or on the mound and
simply staying away will give the current regime an
indication of what to expect.

I am not trying to play devils advocate with this
statement but standing on the mound isn't the only
way to protest. Hence the reason i aint attending.

BOFI said "good for you zak, you have not had to make any excuses. if the rest of the protestors had kept up the pressure then the changes they wanted would have happened much quicker than they will happen now (if they happen at all)"

There is no pressure coming from stay away fans at all, many people will simply put low attendances down to the state of Scottish football as a whole.

BOFI seems to be angry that the mound protest has ended, yet a large factor in it ending was the fact that the attendances on the mound were dropping rapidly, with some people going back in and others staying away altogether.

If he is the latter, then I don't see how he can complain when he was also a factor in the descision being made.

I fail to see how stay away fans aren't putting any
pressure on the club.
The club has been under pressure for survival for
many years now going back to when Baxter was the
chairman. If last weeks attendance which i think was
around 507 was suddenly dropped to 250 or 300 in the
space of a week then that would put tremendous
pressure to take drastic action.
I know a visable protest(the mound) would and has had
excellent success but how much more success would
that have if all stay away fans were to be stood there
or if no-one stood there at all.
It is a swings and roundabouts debate but if the
protest is to continue then it has to be one or the
other. I know fans who are protesting still want to
go and watch their team but many simply cannot stand
for that length of time.
I want to get back to watching my team but will be
staying away from home games until Brown has well
and truly departed.

You are absolutley entitled to do that Craig, and I would never tell you otherwise. I do feel however, that the type of action taken succesfully last season was not going to be even 5% of succesfull this season due to drastic changes in circumstances in all areas of the club.

I think it's been great to have a voice inside the ground again, and hopefully it won't be long until we see the big change that we all want, Derrick's arse out the door.

Igor

At no time has BOFI mentioned THE MOUND (until now - oops, sorry Eugene)

Now I hope you're not implying I'm some sort of arid pedant!

Been away on holiday but I'm back! Did you miss me?

The word "gullible" is not in the dictionary, but it damn well should be!! Are you all mad? As one or two of our more intelligent supporters observe, this is not the work of our esteemed chairman. It is a cynical attempt to get everyone back, simple as that.

Derrick Brown is not going anywhere, he's quite happy. 50p of every supporter's gate money is now going into his back pocket and he retains his status with the SFA which will allow him to become a life member at the end of the season. That will entitle him to free entry to all football matches in Scotland for the rest of his miserable life.

Oh, how they are laughing at us. Some "victory".

PS = Well done zak for sticking to your guns.

"...[Derrick Brown] retains his status with the SFA which will allow him to become a life member at the end of the season. That will entitle him to free entry to all football matches in Scotland for the rest of his miserable life."

I don't really care. My concern is about a successful future for East Fife FC. The chairman's statement, and recent result gives hope for the future. What you write suggests a you hold a personal vendetta, or wish to persue a witch-hunt. That line of argument has no merit.

And I see you are playing the 'itelect' card again. Why do you feel the need to do this? - Not confident that your arguments will stand up on their own?

To The Mole

You are not entirely correct with your statement, Mr. Brown has more than one season before he is a life member at the SFA and as we speak nothing is final about his 'contract' with the club for the post of secretary/treasurer so your holiday has left you a bit out of date, catch-up if you want to be the 'mole' you are suppose to be the best at inside information

Welcome back Mole. It will be good to hear your input and will welcome the intelligent? debate to follow.

Some facts /proof would be welcome for your stand however otherwise it will be a case of "my ---- is bigger than yours". Unfortunately the loudest shouts are coming from the other side of the fence.

I can see your point ExI-10 but animousity towards Moley is clouding the picture here. If Brown is clinging on to East Fife so that he can get his precious SFA badge then he is using the club and getting paid at the same time. We could and should have someone in the position of secretary who puts the club first. To me, that represents a major part of building the successful future for East Fife FC that you speak of. It's not personal; it's professional.

Bifo - 'If Brown is clinging on to East Fife so that he can get his precious SFA badge then he is using the club and getting paid at the same time.' - 'It's not personal; it's professional.'

No it's no! It is personal.

You are more interested in Derrick Browns future than the teams success mate!

So, no comments from the "other side of the fence" about the fact that every time you go through the turnstile 50p of your money is going to Brown?

Are "the protestors" happy with that?

How many third division clubs do you think pay their "secretary / treasurer" or equivalent?

Mole,

You better start another protest. Get in touch with the East Fife Mail and declare your intentions.

why are the protestors now turning on anyone who does not agree that the way to go forward is to take a step backwards?

there are so many hypocrites on this website. so many of you said you would not go back until brown had nothing to do with east fife. now you are back, he is still there, and you are resorting to insults to lash out at anyone who does not agree with you. you are lashing out at people who supported your campaign last season

shame on you all for only allowing questions to be asked when it suits YOU.

What makes you think that all those in favour of giving the new chairman the opportunity to prove he means business, are 'ex-protesters'?

Could some of them be observers just like you and are only putting forward their reasons for supporting the new chairman and more importantly, the team.

Hold on a minute observer, what did "The Mole" ever have to do with our protests? All he has ever done is talk pish under anonymous identity on this forum. I fully respect the opinions of every fan who took part in our campaign, and are still doing so, but this person is not one of them.

He has contradicted himself too many times to be taken seriously, he has another agenda and should be ignored.

Obsever not all are slagging off those who still wish to protest. I do have sympathy with the views of those who will keep protesting until Brown has gone. Make no bones about it if he does not go at the AGM those who have gone back will I would hope erupt in an unprecedented protest that I would think may bring about a fatal decline in the club.

What??? You HOPE that if Derek Brown does not go, East Fife will die???

And you call yourself a supporter?

So, as 'Aye Right' says above, it is personal. Those still not wanting to go into the ground have a personal vendetta against Derek Brown and are not interested in what happens to East Fife. Personally, I don't particularly want to see them in the ground ever if that is the case.

Igor, I hope you don't have a PC wherever it is you are going!

You offer no argument and resort to the online equivalent of putting your fingers in your ears and going "LALALALALALALA" whenever anyone makes a point you disagree with.

Will you, or anyone else for that matter, please just answer my questions above. If you think it's a victory for each fan to be paying 50p into Brown's pocket at every home game, please just say so. I'm sure everyone will understand

Quote
"You offer no argument and resort to the online equivalent of putting your fingers in your ears and going "LALALALALALALA" whenever anyone makes a point you disagree with."

And all you do is offer unsubstaniated comments and claims from behind your cloak.
If you want to be taken seriously you will have to come out and present your evidence in person, but I doubt you ever will. At least Igor stood up and did the leading.

Mole, are you J Derrick Brown?

"Will you, or anyone else for that matter, please just answer my questions above. If you think it's a victory for each fan to be paying 50p into Brown's pocket at every home game,............"

£9.00 less £0.50 = £8.50

Seems a bit of a victory to me.

Ordinary fan. No if Brown does not go it will not be about Brown but all who have a say in what happens at the club and how they treat the fans as shite and walk over us at every turn. It has been stated quite categorically that Brown will go at the AGM. If he does not go what will that say about our leader/shareholders and what do they have in store for the club? Along with the outrage from the fans who gave their trust to these people there is a chance that the club will go into terminal decline.

This will come about by a drastic decline in attendance followed by the sale of the land and the profits being siphoned off.

But I do not think Brown will be there after the AGM and I am just pointing out a scenario if assurances are not fulfilled.