East Fife fans have decided to launch their own bid to takeover the League Two club, it has emerged.
The East Fife Supporters Society (EFSS) say that finance has been made available through a credit union which will allow them to make an offer for the Methil club – taking it into fan ownership – in the coming weeks.
As things stand, a bid from the club’s four current directors – thought to be in the region of around £360,000 – for the majority shareholding has been accepted in principle by owners Lorraine Johnston and Samantha Twigg although the EFSS have long harboured concerns about that valuation and have repeatedly called on the directors to work with them on a joint bid for the 52% stake.
However, the EFSS have now decided to make their own move and will formally ask the club’s directors to shelve the offer they currently have on the table.
A spokesman for the EFSS said a sum of £200,000 has been identified as being required to buy the shares, with the cash expected to come straight from the credit union, from donations from fans, and from the local community and local businesses.
“The working group have constantly made it clear that we think the amount Jim Stevenson, John Donaldson, Dave Marshall and John Barclay (the club’s four directors) appear to have offered for the shares excessive,” the EFSS added.
“We also acknowledge however that we would value their help and involvement should our bid be successful.
“We are therefore approaching them to have a meeting before the end of next week if possible.
“At this meeting we will ask them to publicly and formally withdraw their current offer to the majority shareholder and to join us and all supporters in achieving this together.”
The fans’ say a campaign to get the support of the local community will be launched, while fans entering into any agreement with the credit union will not have to part with any cash until the share deal has been agreed and finalised.
The group has also created a draft budget for next season, although the EFSS admit that this has only been drawn up based on historically-known costs and “reasonable assumptions” as no information had been supplied by the club in response to due diligence requests.
Fans have been invited to an open meeting after the club’s home game on Saturday, February 21, to hear more about the proposals.