Dunfermline Athletic’s prospective owners have admitted fundraising from fans will play a vital role in making the Fife club financially viable this season.
Reports elsewhere in recent days have suggested a cash injection of £150,000 is needed from supporters to see the club survive until the end of the season but Bob Garmory, from Pars United, told Courier Sport the figure being bandied around is merely a fundraising target for 2013-14.
An initial £100,000 was collected by fans earlier this year to help stave off the immediate threat of liquidation, and that sum went towards the raising of sufficient capital to purchase DAFC from administrators BDO a process which is almost complete.
However, with Pars United still awaiting a date on which they can assume full control of the day-to-day running of the club from BDO, the group can give no guarantees on anything, let alone how much money they will need to make the business sustainable, until they take the reins.
“I think it’s fair to say that the words that have been used in some reports have arisen as a result of a misunderstanding of the situation, but there is no doubt we need to continue our fundraising,” Garmory said.
“A fundraising target of £150,000 has been set and that can be achieved in a number of ways and that can include getting more people at matches, looking at better ways of using the facilities and assets, and by improving the matchday experience.
“But it is fair to say we have a limited understanding of where we will stand, given that BDO have had control through this transition period.
“They have been paying the bills and they know what will need to be paid, but we’re working with BDO to get the best understanding possible regarding the future of the club.
“Every week we seem to be finding further issues to resolve and I think the fans are beginning to get more clued up on just how hard it’s going to be for the next 12 months. What we will say is that we will match our outgoings to our income and we will not exceed in expenditure terms what we can bring in through the door.
“We can’t afford to have a Premiership set-up in the third tier of Scottish football and we can’t have a big unwieldy organisational structure in place if we have not got the income to support it.
“That would do the same damage to DAFC as was done before, and people have got to remember that in recent years fans were having to put in significant sums of their money to attempt to make ends meet at the club. We can’t go down that road again.”
Fans going to home games still represents one of the Pars’ best chances of bringing in additional cash, and Pars United reckon an extra 300 on top of the 2,500 average attendance they have budgeted for this season with the exception of the two Rangers fixtures would add at least £50,000 to the club’s income.
That said, Pars United intend to look at all areas of the business to find where savings can be made.
BDO took the decision to axe matchday hospitality in the Kingdom Suite for the next two home games against Airdrieonians and Ayr to avoid losing cash, although a review is under way and Pars United hope some sort of revised offering should be available before the East Fife match on October 19.
However, three members of staff lost their jobs as a result of that decision, and staffing levels elsewhere may have to be looked at to help balance the books.
With many people helping on an unpaid basis, a volunteers register will also be set up over the coming weeks to allow fans to contribute.
Garmory expressed his sorrow that staff had paid the price for how the club used to be run, but warned that costs had to be “drastically cut” to put the club on a more sound financial footing.
And he warned: “Every cost at the club needs to be examined and challenged. We have to drive down costs wherever possible, as the existing cost structure, as we know, is not sustainable.
“The situation with the hospitality staff is an example of exactly what has happened.”