Words from the top

Gavin Masterton, DAFC Director and the club's biggest shareholder gives some answers in the match day programme ...

The fans of Dunfermline Athletic Football Club have a lot on their minds and this week The Game was fortunate enough to arrange an exclusive interview with Gavin Masterton, DAFC Director and the club's biggest shareholder.

As you see Gavin was very open and honest in his answers, and we hope that his words will help to heal any rifts, and to ensure that we all go forward work together for the greater good of this wonderful Football Club. "Recently a number of questions have been posed about the management of DAFC and my involvement and maybe I can deal with some of the issues and questions that have been raised.

"I had been supporting the Pars since I was 5 years old - I would stand on the terraces with my Dad who worked in the Dockyard. I got involved well over 15 years ago - I set up Dunfermline homes one of the first major fundraising initiatives for DAFC - this helped fund the new McCathie and East Stands.

"Since my retirement from the bank in 2001,  I have been much more actively involved - in fact my wife often asks if I ever did retire. For those who know me - I was in the public eye a lot in my previous role and as a very private person I wanted to be less in the public eye and was happy to just be on the Board as opposed to the spokeperson for the club.  John Yorkston has done an excellent job as Chairman. John Yorkston has worked tirelessly for the club and as Chairman has seen us to three cup finals in Hampden in the last decade and he will be replaced by Rodney Shearer also a life long supporter by the end of the season.

"The situation we are in at present is as a result of an accumulation of factors - Obviously relegation to the First Division has had a big impact on us and we have calculated it has cost us over £1 million pounds at least. The way the fixture list has fallen for us this year has also not helped - this is almost the end of November and we have only played five home games and from the commercial side there has definitely been a drop in income - all companies are feeling the effects of the ongoing recession the worst since the War and one of the first budgets to be cut is sponsorship and advertising which is one of our lifebloods!!

"We always knew that October and November would be particularly hard months for us - I had been working hard to secure additional funding to cover these months however there have been some delays.

"We are now continuing to keep in communication with HMRC and our other creditors and we are working hard to try to reduce our creditors as fast as we can over the coming months. We don't have an overdraft. All other funding comes from my other company and past and present directors who have been very supportive.

"Our creditors are all aware that from December onwards our financial situation improves - although I can't stress enough how much we need our supporters to rally behind us now and help us wherever they can over the next month or so.

"Fans can be assured that any money they raise will go directly in to the Club to help us - our largest cost is still our first team even though we have cut our first team costs substantially since last season!

"The Purvis Group have been fantastic and they are helping us reduce additional costs such as gas, electricity, Stadium Maintenance and they will be helping us on our IT issues to try and improve the efficiency of the very small backroom staff that we have. Where they can The Purvis Group with their larger purchasing power will be able to assist us with purchasing of goods for the Club at a reduced rate. They will also bring with them a wealth of business expertise and business contacts which can only assist the club.

"We have been having discussions with the Supporters Trust and certainly it has always been one of my long term goals to have a fans representative on board and for the Trust to hold a % of shares in the Club. These discussions will continue and Rodney Shearer the future chairman (and founding member of the Supporters Trust) is keen to drive this forward and we are all certainly more than happy for this to be implemented. We are also happy for there to be better communication with the fans groups and the Board and open to suggestions on how to get this implemented.

"The short term plans for the club are quite simple - bring our creditors back in to line, build up some cash reserves reduce our costs further which we have already started to tackle and hopefully get the club back in to the SPL. We do not see us having a long term problem.

"The Club is very much a Community Club and will continue to be so. Long term loans from my company and Directors etc. will only be repaid from exceptional credits e.g. a percentage of Transfer fees received or Semi or Cup Final Appearances. DAFC have a 50 year lease on East End Park from my company and currently pay no rent at all."