Crisis club Clyde axe first-team coach Bollan

Published on Monday 6 April 2009 23:08

TROUBLED First Division side Clyde have axed first-team coach Gary Bollan as the financial frailty of the club continues to take its toll.

Clyde have been threatened with eviction by Broadwood Stadium's owners because of unpaid rent and they have now parted company with Bollan after agreeing compensation.

Lanarkshire MSP Cathie Craigie said she is worried about Clyde's chances of surviving the current crisis. "I do fear for the future of the club," Craigie said.

"Clyde is an important part of Cumbernauld and important to the area's youth and the club's supporters."

The MSP has urged Broadwood Stadium Company and North Lanarkshire Council, which set up the private limited firm to run the facility, to enter talks with the First Division club.

"People need to talk," she said. "Broadwood Stadium board, Clyde Football Club and North Lanarkshire Council need to get round the table and discuss this matter and see if we can find a solution that takes us out of the present situation and put security in place for the future.

"Obviously, the Broadwood Stadium Board and North Lanarkshire Council have a duty to the taxpayers to ensure they are paid for services and goods that they supply. But Clyde Football Club would be a great loss to all of us."

Craigie conceded that the club had not been embraced by as many among the local community as had been hoped since it moved into the town 15 years ago. However, she added: "Clyde Football Club bring a lot of publicity to the town.

"Whenever they play a big team, they get international, never mind national, coverage. And they invest a lot in the youth and schools football in Cumbernauld and Kilsyth."

Clyde director John Ruddy's claim that North Lanarkshire Council has ulterior motives for taking action against the club has been dismissed as "mischievous and misleading".

Stadium company chairman Jim Logue said: "There is no hidden agenda. We want Clyde Football Club to continue as tenants.

"But, like every commercial operation, they must be able to pay their dues.

"Our legal advisors, McGrigor Donald, have informed us that the board of Broadwood Stadium is in danger of operating illegally if we continue on the present path.

"We are not prepared to put the future of the stadium and the facilities that it offers to the wider community at risk."

And Clyde don't just have problems off the pitch. John Brown's team slipped two points adrift of Airdrie United at the foot of the First Division on Saturday when they suffered a 1-0 defeat at home against Livingston.