The East Fife Thread

[King Kebab]

There was some shout a few weeks ago about this being the worst football someone's ever seen from East Fife. Ridiculous comment, it wasn't much more than 10 years ago we were scrabbling around at the bottom end of L2. Those were truly dire days where we'd routinely get scudded by utterly ordinary L2 teams.

Very true, indeed...

IT WAS...

[Big Fifer]

Quote

Season Ticket Prices for 2018/19

ADULT - EARLY BIRD = £220 until Friday, 29th June 2018.

From 30th June 2018 = £245.

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CONCESSION - EARLY BIRD = £175 until Friday, 29th June 2018. (60 years and over - full time students - proof required)

From 30th June 2018 = £195.

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CHILD - Early Bird = £20 until Friday, 29th June 2018 (Under 16 years, proof may be required)

From 30th June 2018 = £40.

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OVER 80s = £20 admin. fee.

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TICKETS FOR TROOPS = A season pass will be given to Serving Forces Regulars for a donation of £25 via the Club to Help for Heroes.

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MATCHDAY PRICES

ADULT = £15

CONCESSION = £12

CHILD = £5

PARENT AND CHILD = £18

PARENT AND 2 CHILDREN = £21

 

To book your tickets, please phone office 01333 426323, order through the internet shop at www.eastfifeshop.com , visit the Office or e mail us at office@eastfifefc.info.

Season ticket prices released for next season. Looks the same as last season with the increase. I was the first to complain about it last year, so I'll be the first to compliment the board for scrapping the parent/child season ticket and slashing the price of the childs season tickets. How can we get the word out there about this? We absolutely need to get the younger fans through the gates. A link up with Levenmouth Academy, the local primary schools etc, I dunno, I'm not sure how feasible it is, I don't live in the local area these days!

Does anyone (Liam, Angus or any other folk involved with the club) have the numbers comparison for how many season tickets were bought this year compared to 2016/17?

[LiamA]

I don't know the exact numbers but sales were down & I think that is pretty much common knowledge. As a board we are cutely aware that we have an ageing support (me included) & it was felt that something had to be done to get more kids to come to games. To my mind if £20 for 18 games of football is terrific value at our level & I hope this is reflected in the number we sell. We do offer free tickets to local schools & whilst some use them regularly the uptake is disappointing. I & everyone else at the club realise that results have an affect on gates and are acutely aware that this season's could & possibly should have been better but we hope & expect that to improve next season.

Edited April 17, 2018 by LiamA

[Big Fifer]

1 hour ago, LiamA said:

I don't know the exact numbers but sales were down & I think that is pretty much common knowledge. As a board we are cutely aware that we have an ageing support (me included) & it was felt that something had to be done to get more kids to come to games. To my mind if £20 for 18 games of football is terrific value at our level & I hope this is reflected in the number we sell. We do offer free tickets to local schools & whilst some use them regularly the uptake is disappointing. I & everyone else at the club realise that results have an affect on gates and are acutely aware that this season's could & possibly should have been better but we hope & expect that to improve next season.

Appreciate you taking the time to reply Liam. I wasn't aware it was common knowledge although I had expected it to be the case. £20 for 18 games of football is ridiculously good value, and I really  hope there's a a good uptake. I don't know what the avenues are but every single one available should be used to get the word out about this IMO. The more creative the club can be with getting folk through the gates, particularly the younger generation, the better. Although I appreciate this is far, far easier said than done.

[LiamA]

Maybe not common knowledge as such but certainly a perceived notion! The details will be going out on social media as well as the club website so hopefully the word will get round.

[flyfifer48]

I do hope there is a big increase of young people taking up this great offer. It would of course helped if the same consideration was given to the ageing fan base. £12  For a concession is obscene  it is by far the most expensive  price in Division 1. I had to miss one away game this year and got a last minute concession ticket for Hibs v Aberdeen  cost £12

[sammytroot]

Just noticed from the Official Site that anyone purchasing a Season Ticket for next season 2018/2019 will NOT have a price increase for 2019/2020 season-in other words no increase in 3 seasons.

Looks to me like an excellent offer for new and existing season ticket holders. Plus the Early Bird offer is valid for a further 2 months until 29 June 2018.

Hopefully there will more than a few under 16's taking up the £20 offer.

The directors deserve great credit in their attempts to keep existing and win back former supporters, whilst attracting new and young supporters.

Over to the fans now.

[ajm11591]

Aye it's great value right enough watch us go down without a fight every week against teams like Arbroath etc.. 

There's a reason they haven't put the prices up because it would be the final  nail in the coffin. Crowds are already worryingly low and the feeling around the club from when Naysmith left to now is night and day, who in their right mind would pay even more money to watch 11 headless chickens run around without a game plan implemented by one of the worst managers*(and I use that term loosely) in the Scottish leagues. 

It's not secret I don't like Darren Young, he's a terrible terrible manager and it doesn't matter what anybody says the stats and league table show he's not upto it. As I mentioned on twitter after the game on Saturday if he'd had a full pre season last summer we would most likely be going down this season and if he does get to take the team into next season we will go down. 

21 points from our last 20 games is absolutely horrendous and the "real fans" everybody knows who these people are, who keep defending him and act like everything is going great are the ones costing us a chance at progressing. I don't for a second believe Brechin, Dumbarton, Arbroath, Alloa, Stranraer etc.. are bigger or better clubs than we are but under the current situation they'll continue to out perform us season after season. 

[King Kebab]

I've never called for a manager's head to roll, not since the dark days of Rab Shannon and I'm quite prepared personally, to give Darren this coming summer /pre-season and the second year of his contract to sort out the current shambles we are seeing on the pitch!!!
But the Board must be prepared to pull the trigger if we are pulled into any type of relegation dogfight at the bottom early enough for a replacement to get us out of it!!!
Some people may say Gary Naysmith took us down and was given the chance to bring us back up, but IIRC Gary took over a team already at risk of going down more than halfway through the season AND also had the luxury of being one of the best players in the League, perhaps Young would be getting some more slack if he was actually still in the trenches busting a gut for us in the middle of the park!!!

[fifer67]

I think most fans would consider the football served up this season has been well short of value for money. I think on the last count there has been 17 or 18 competitive games this season where we have failed to find the net. Also the same mistakes being made at cross balls game after game it’s no surprise even the most enthusiastic East Fife fan has stayed away. There is no doubt there is very little quality in the final third and constantly deploying one striker doesn’t lend itself to exciting attacking football. Now what can the manager do to change this , his recruitment in the close season is going to be vital. If the rumours are true and Duggan and Dunsmore have declined new deals, then that’s 2 of our better players needing replaced.Apparantly looking for full time football. I would say his recruitment in the January window was a success as he managed to bring in players that contributed to keeping our first division status. In the last few seasons we have had exciting forwards like Fash and Jamie Insall, but we haven’t come close to replacing that quality. I’m not sure if Darren will be making sweeping changes and releasing a lot of players but if he does their can’t be many complaints as every player has had a fair shot, and continually let everyone down.

[King Kebab]

Very disappointed if that rumour about Duggan and Dunsmore is true as they are two of the very very small band who would have received pass marks for the season!!!
Didn't Duggan sign a two year deal when he resigned???
And also wasn't Dunsmore signed on a two year deal???

[sammytroot]

41 minutes ago, King Kebab said:

Very disappointed if that rumour about Duggan and Dunsmore is true as they are two of the very very small band who would have received pass marks for the season!!!
Didn't Duggan sign a two year deal when he resigned???
And also wasn't Dunsmore signed on a two year deal???

No   and

No

[King Kebab]

No   and

No

My mistake, I thought all that resigned last year did so on two year deals, like Kane, Smith and the Pagey!!!

[sneed hearn]

Think the club really need to get some positive news out.At the moment there is a mixture of apathy and disillusionment among supporters.T o lose fans of  30 + years standing should be troubling.While the league position isn’t disastrous some of the results and performances have been disgraceful.Im afraid Darren Young  does not come over particularly well.The team spirit built up under Gary Naysmith is no longer apparent.The current board saved East Fife and put their own finances to keep East Fife alive. Achieving  a championship winning season along with Gary Naysmith was  an  incredible feat.However there is no doubt that the current situation is unacceptable.We need to hear from the club or the manager what the plans are to fix things otherwise I’m afraid it will be a hard sell to get older fans to buy season tickets.

[sammytroot]

11 minutes ago, King Kebab said:

My mistake, I thought all were resigned on two year deals, like Kane, Smith and the Pagey!!!

The only players contracted to the end of 2018/2019  are Page, Kane,Slattery, Smith and Linton.

Looks like there will be wholesale changes including players who have been with the club for several seasons and have served the club well.

With regard to the current crop of players, it has been patently obvious that there as some who are nowhere near League 1 quality. Exactly why they were signed, only Darren Young knows.

Unfortunately the manager has also failed to attract an experienced forward to partner Duggan.

It is not a particularly nice thing to hear that supporters who have stuck with the club through thick and thin for years, have either stopped supporting the club or at at best considering not renewing their season tickets. The directors must be aware of the current situation regarding the support given the drastic drop in numbers.

With Raith now being favourites to be promoted, I suspect the potential drop in revenue will be in the range of £40k to £50k.This together with with the drop in existing supporters does not augur well for next season.

The directors have rightly received plaudits in their approach to trying to entice younger supporters with their offer of £20 season tickets whilst freezing prices for the next 2 seasons for adults. They have also to be applauded for getting the club finances in order after the Lee Murray era.

Unfortunately they have failed dismally to" talk up" the club - instead relying on the mantra "they ken where we are".Lee Murray - for all his financial mismanagement- knew how to use social media to keep the fans abreast of club news. 

2017/2018 has not been East Fife's best season.

How about the Chairman making a statement reviewing the season past, how it went when compared to planned, and what the club wishes to achieve next season.

It is absolutely clear that the Board cannot now rely on the blind optimism that fans will turn up regardless.

 

[Bayviewboy]

I have to say, having supported the Club for 50 years, a large amount of these with a season ticket, I am now at a stage where I will pick and choose my games next season. I would normally give managers time to put their stamp on the team and get players playing his style of football but this season  I feel the Club made a rushed appointment due to the timing of the departure of Barry Smith and maybe he was the best candidate who applied for the job in their eyes. Some will say we have secured our position in League 1 for next season but I honestly believe we had a squad this year who were capable of achieving a play off spot under the guidance of an experienced manager who recognised the strengths and weaknesses of the group of players and played to our strengths. I have seen very little progress over the season and no real style of play being established.

For me, Darren Young has basically played with one striker, Chris Duggan up front on his own all season. He has claimed that he has tried lots of different systems at various times but either the players are not understanding his ideas or are incapable of playing that way. His body language at times on the bench does nothing to encourage or motivate players on the park and there is little guidance being shown. How often after a defeat have we heard there will be changes for the next game for their to be one change. He continually blames individual errors for losing goals week after week and we still lose goals from corners whether we have 8 players back or all 11. The players who are continually making these errors should not expect to play week after week but this has happened many times this season.

Rumours abound about players not always either turning up for training or able to complete a session but they have still started games on a Saturday. I couldn’t see that happening under a Dick Campbell or Gus MacPherson. Having attended all 17 home league games and all away games except Ayr and Stranraer away, I think I have seen enough to be entitled to my opinion about this season. After the  Arbroath game I spoke with a director who said we passed the ball well for the first 20 minutes. I said we have passed the ball well most of the season in the defensive and middle thirds of the park, but the problem is creating things in the final third. We inevitably end up hoofing the ball up the park for Duggan to flick on. He said he couldn’t disagree to which I replied the Board are the only ones who could do anything about it. At that point, another director jumped in saying it’s not going to happen. This would suggest that Darren Young will be at the helm for next season to see out his contract. It’ll be interesting to see which players are keen to stay and who he is able to bring in. I’m sure he is a nice guy but I’m sorry I don’t think he is up to it as a manager. How often this season have we been expecting a reaction after half time ? How often has there been a really positive reaction ? I don’t know what his halftime team talks are like but they have very rarely had any real effect on the players.

The number of fans who are now voting with their feet by not going to games must surely be a major concern to the Board who have done a good job in keeping the Club afloat and getting back on a more even keel. They must try to find out from fans why they are not attending. On Sat, there were only 6 people wanting to go to the game on the supporters bus ! I’m sure the majority would confirm that the product on the park is not particularly enjoyable or entertaining.  Having been at Cliftonhill on Sat, I witnessed some  players going through the motions during the warm up and wasn’t surprised we started so slowly and lost an early goal. I am not saying players weren’t trying but some were not as motivated as they should have been and this is the job of the manager to make sure players are fired up and prepared to battle for the points to repay the supporters who pay good money to watch them home and away.

As mentioned previously and it saddens me to say, I will not be buying a season ticket for next season. If I hadn’t bought one this season I doubt I would have been to as many games. That way if the product on the park is anything like a number of games this season, I can find some other way of spending my time and money on a Sat afternoon.

[jimg1162]

Another 50 year + fan - last 15 as season ticket holder . First season that I have missed matches as the product is so poor . Yes we have had poor teams in the past but we at least had some fight and ( apart from Shannon and Murray) we appeared to be playing to some kind of plan. 

IV felt bad missing so many games towards the end of the season then I read the reports and I’m actually glad I didn’t go - I’m sorry to say that but it’s true . 

Same mistakes , same lack of motivation and game plan (imo) and same defensive approach - fans don’t go to watch teams trying to hold onto a 0-0 draw and how many games have we not lost a goal anyway so it’s pretty obvious we need to score more but nothing changes.

Not one to shout at players or manager as I’m sure they are trying but it’s simply not working and everyone can see that .

Denying it isn’t going to sort the problem and chastising fans for expressing an opinion ( never  heard anything personal or abusive) is only going to alienate more fans . 

No doubt directors put a lot of time and effort in and they should be appreciated for that . However that is their choice and by doing so does not make their opinion more valid than others nor does it grant them a superior knowledge on football tactics over others just because they have stepped forward.

i really fear for next season if we do not quickly wake up to the reality that long term , hard core fans are leaving and won’t be back if we are served more of the same as this season.

in business you must realise when you have made a mistake ( no matter how well intentioned the original plan / decision was) and focus your effort and energy in rectifying that mistake so that your business  does not suffer long term damage . Good management is knowing when things aren’t right and then putting them right . 

Iv never looked for a manager to leave ( & as we all know we’ve had our fair share of poor ones) but I’m afraid that change has to be made and allow a new manager to build his own squad in the close season.

in my row I can think of 5-6 season ticket holders who are contemplating not renewing - including myself.

its not about not winning or having an unrealistic expectation for the club it’s ( for me anyway) about the spirit of the team and the kind of football I want my team to play . I would rather go and watch 11 young guys busting their guts for the team and having a bond with the fans - even if that means we’re not pushing for promotion every year.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited April 23, 2018 by jimg1162

[King Kebab]

The only players contracted to the end of 2018/2019  are Page, Kane,Slattery, Smith and Linton.

A bit worrying considering that, apart from Page, none of the signed players are regular starters in Young's eyes!!!
I've also got a feeling we're going to lose Wilkie as well, which will be a sad day!!!

[Cambuslang Fifer]

14 hours ago, King Kebab said:

A bit worrying considering that, apart from Page, none of the signed players are regular starters in Young's eyes!!!
I've also got a feeling we're going to lose Wilkie as well, which will be a sad day!!!

Not commented on here for a while but if these players are committed to club for next year it is a slight worry and you maybe right KK only Slattery and Page have been anywhere near the first team.

Looking at Kano he hasn't got in the team and he's  lost his favoured position to Dunsmore in the summer when he has been given the chance? he often tends to make more mistake or give away needless fouls and therefore he's a player with a red card waiting to happen like arbroath (home) are we regretting the decision of his two year contract? Probably.

Left back was always a gap where we never seem to have filled since Penrice!! Therefore Linton brings along bags of experience having been freed by Clyde the pervious season through injury and can play there a bit, I did have my doubts about him if he can step up a division again but has scored many set piece free kicks in the opposite halve this term but part from that he has been in and out the team either team selections or down to injuries.

Smith though I do like Smith I don't think this has been his best season to last year and the one pervious maybe down to injury he pick up has therefore played apart I dunno but I've not seen enough of him this year to suggest he's worthy tbh though he's a leader like Page and the experience we do need in the changing room I suppose.

if it's true that we are to loose Dunsy and Duggan from the team by god then that's disappointing news to hear as Dunsmore has by far been the improve player as a right back and has contributed more asset as a full back than any other player and his assets and attacking threat within the team has been the reason why we have picked up the points. Duggan on the other hand has scored 10+ goals this term and in the summer we failed to sign another attacker i.e. most of them went to other clubs if Duggan does then leave then it will become a bigger task to find not one another striker but two more who can score goals for the team.

i'd also quiet like to keep Wilkie, Millar, McManus, Thomson also young Wilson and Jones about plus IIF united don't want their kid that's on loan to us, I would happily have him in the squad next year) the rest I wouldn't sleep much over.

Edited April 25, 2018 by Cambuslang Fifer

[Scottydog]

I wonder who will come along the coast to raid you for this year?

Kane?

Wilkie?

Lamont?
Duggan?