StanDrew

Well batted away! Nothing about why the negotiatons for the buyout broke down, who were the trust negotiating with ? Twigg? As I recall when Lee Murray was trying to buy the club he was sitting opposite Neil Rankine , why was this as his name hasn't shown up on the share pie chart. When the plastic pitch was awarded to East Fife, Cllr Hunter expressed concerns that there's a clear link between FFTC & EFFC and also said "today's decision represents a step forward for the finances of privately owned East Fife football club " Doesn't seem like the kind of revenue generated from the shop & basically selling of sweets as you previously stated. Could it be the trust aren't interested in a buyout now that they're involved in the running of FFTC? Let's get back to this later when details of stadium sharing & pitch rentals are revealed. All though details of any deals at East Fife seem to be cloaked in secrecy.

Hi Angus, it seems every time I bring up the financial part of the club it never gets answered.(I won't discuss private messages) I am a fan, this is a fans forum & I'm asking questions about plastic pitch hire, land being sold, transfer fees, compensation for Smith ,Twigg/Rankine involvement. Now as you're the fans representative on the board & this is a fans forum then be open & if you can, answer the points. The forum for now is dominated with manager/player recruitment so my points are easily forgotten about on here but they will always surface. Barry Smiths contract, In the East Fife Mail Jim Stevenson said "the deal we have is that if a full time team come in then we'll allow him to speak to them" Speak yes but compensation for breaking a contract is still due. August 2014 was an interesting time when not 1 but 2 buyouts was taking place, 1 from the board & 1 from the trust ( there was even talk of a joint bid remember) whatever happened & why hasn't it been brought up again especially since the club is valued less than 2yrs ago due to Rankine purchasing all the surrounding land. More recently, the Live at Bayview music festival/fiasco, now most fans thought this was independently run but it wasn't & it wasn't to East Fife's cost, several thousand pounds cost. Has Barry Smiths compensation money went straight to cover the festival debacle. Finally, the plastic pitch, what is the financial split between FFTC & EFFC going to be? The club/Rankine/Twigg aren't allowing the use of their stadium out of the kindness of their hearts. I'll respect your/clubs wish not to comment on financial matters

If there WAS a get out clause then why was it a 2 year contract he signed ? Doesn't make sense. He's under contract but as usual there'll be denial from the East Fife board that any compensation was paid. Why has East Fife allowed Barry to sign players today when he's due to leave? Probably due to compensation being agreed between Rovers & Fife. More cash coming Twigg/Rankines way !

All of the above is commendable Angus, as you say this club may be the nearest Spfl club to the above areas but what you/East Fife are forgetting is the club is in the centre of 1 of the most highly deprived areas in Scotlands so there's little chance of boosting crowd numbers when season ticket prices have rocketed 40% I'd have thought you would've commented on more the financial side of things relating to my post

Money coming in from rental for almost 50wks per year but apparently East Fife will make nothing & Fifers for the community (FFTC) are a 100% non profit organisation, as stated on their 'TotalGiving donation page' The new plastic pitch will have to be replaced every 4-5 yrs so that's a huge amount of money accumulating. The Kennoway Star Hearts deal has still to be confirmed but don't expect the details of that deal to be published It's very generous of Lorraine Twigg to forfeit this revenue to her club.

Must've been plenty of transfer windows last season as he made 27 appearances. Would've loved to have Ryan back at Bayview, he always gives 100% & I remember after he left us he payed at the gate to watch us in the relegation playoffs. Worryingly as already been said that Stranraer can offer a more lucrative deal than East Fife

2nd that , Lamont & Goodfellow would be ok for the bench but will probably want 1st team football so won't be a surprise to see them leave

The club received a fee for Fash,Mercer,Anderson & Naysmith but nobody was told so don't expect anything different with Brown. If there is a fee then it'll be dismissed as a small fee & pilfered out the club as usual. With 2 home gates V Raith plus extra revenue from hiring out the stadium(not the pitch) to Kennoway then East Fife will be generating some decent money next season , question is will this be passed onto the manager?

Bobby Barr won't hang around for Lge1 football, he'll already be sniffing around Livvi , QOS, Pars etc

It's a Pratt street meltdown tonight

If the Rovers want to retain any of THAT team then pity help them as Brechin are an average Lge 1 side, up until the last 3 weeks 6 or 7 teams could've finished either 3rd or 9th in Lge1. If the Rovers think that staying Full time will see them spring back into the money of the championship then just ask Airdrie how that went!

Gary Locke had the Rovers 19pts clear of St.Mirren at 1 stage surely the club should bring him back

Tony Wallace has the benefit in that Barry Smith hasn't seen him play , I'm sure once he does see him then he'll be freed. I'd like to see Ricky Little from Arbroath, Ryan Wallace, Alex Harris freed from Hibs for starters. Thoughts & suggestions? Just noticed striker Dale Hilson is a free agent, played a lot of games for a 24yr old, good experience

He was brought in by Barry Smith & featured in about 5 or 6 sub appearances. When a manager brings in his own player & doesn't play him even though the team are down to the bare bones most weeks then that tells its own story.

Apologies, I thought you were being serious about him playing RB

Reilly??

The RB/WingB was Ross Brown , Kane also played there but he has already signed up for next season

Good luck to Scott , a very good player & never hid the fact he wanted FT football. Gary Naysmith gave him the chance to get fit & to allow Scott the chance to enjoy his football & he's repaid this faith by being instrumental in securing our Lge status. As for those on here that's sick of the club not holding onto their best assets then name me 1 team in Scotland that can? I'd much rather have players moving up the leagues than being released for them to play junior football. On the subject of Ross Brown then I for 1 hope he signs, he's played in various positions, been substituted (imo) unfairly & been benched at times but turns up the next week & gets on with it. A very honest & loyal player (thinks he's been at EF 7/8yrs?) & a player you can count on to roll up his sleeves & battle for the team . If any fan doesn't rate him then they're entitled to their opinion but the only opinion that matters is the various managers we've had that play him.

So the answer is no , the manager is not contracted (Yet) for season 2017/18

If providing the manager funds to keep the spine of the team in Robinson, Duggan & Page then yes I'm all for it. With regards the manager, is he contracted for season 2017/18 with East Fife ?

How does the club propose to generate income if theres a drop in demand for Season Tickets & lower gates with fans not able to afford the increase ? I'm glad your using Cowdenbeath as a comparison as Bayview will soon have similar attendance figures ! Then what ?

East Fife managers have been working with reduced budgets/Squads for many years now. The club have benefited from transfers from Naysmith,Anderson,Mercer & Fash, they have also benefited from several good cup draws ,Dundee,Rangers,Motherwell,St.Mirren & also higher League placings. Money was also generated from the sale of surrounding land at Bayview. Savings will be made with no pitch maintenance & electricity savings have been made with hooking up to renewable energy source. Money will be generated from rental of the plastic pitch but none of this money is going to the club! ! With the exception of a discount at the club shop season tickets at East Fife offer nothing else compared to other clubs where you can enter Friendlies, cup games & discounts to hospitality. Other clubs have been able to offer excellent season ticket packages without blaming VAT etc The club harp on about no increases in recent years but I, like many stood by the club & bought season tickets when league finishes were poor & even after relegation. I won't be renewing as the clubs loyalty to Season Ticket holders is disgraceful & will PATG to selected games next season.

An excellent post but there's a part where you say 'The cost of running the club must be increasing ' This cost will be decreasing as the club will soon have no pitch maintenance & the club is also hooked up to a renewable energy scheme which cuts its overheads. You hit the nail on the head when you spoke about the poor communication from the club

Obviously id keep Penrice but realistically that won't happen unless we get him on loan again same with Kerr & Hurst.