John Yorkston: Dunfermline can avoid liquidation

Yorkston and embattled majority shareholder Gavin Masterton met yesterday lunch-time and again in the evening, with more round-the-clock discussions planned for today, in search of a last-ditch solution to the apparently impending financial destruction of the East End Park outfit. The fate of the 128-year-old Fife institution lies firmly in the hands of Masterton after the decision on Saturday of the Jim Leishman-headed  Steering Group to call time on their bid to piece together a  rescue package.

Masterton has until 5pm this evening to pay a £134,000 tax bill to Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs or risk a winding-up order tipping the Pars over the edge. Admitting it was the “end of the road” for the body of volunteers asked to assess the viability of a supporter-led takeover, Leishman revealed a ‘nervousness’ existed amongst potential investors. After due diligence on the club’s accounts indicated a lack of long-term sustainability, the Dunfermline legend indicated the figures involved believed their help in meeting the tax bill would simply delay the inevitable.

Liquidation has always appeared the most likely scenario if the HMRC liability could not be settled, but the possibility of voluntary administration has also now been tabled as the Fifers’ board desperately try to cling to survival.

And Yorkston last night insisted everything was under consideration by Masterton as the former treasurer and managing director of the Bank of Scotland bids to again buy time for his besieged club.

Speaking shortly after the club’s under-20s had provided a positive sideshow to the grim financial picture by reaching the SFA Youth Cup final with a dramatic extra-time victory over St Mirren, Yorkston said: “We are not giving up and we’ll hold more meetings on Monday.

“We’ve got to look at everything. The worst option for the club is liquidation. None of the folk I know want that, certainly none of the people that I’ve been involved in the talks with. Administration is also an option, but at the moment so is somebody else coming in at the 11th hour.

“We thought we were getting somewhere with this second fans’ group but Jim Leishman is now saying that’s not happening. Some scenarios are obviously more attractive than others but I just want what’s best for the club.

“The HMRC bill is quite plainly the one thing we’ve got to address in some shape or form on Monday and we will keep working for as long as we are able to try and find a solution. We are not going to sit twiddling our thumbs for 24 hours, we are not giving up hope.”

Leishman passed the onus back to Masterton following a meeting of the steering group on Saturday morning that indicated the money was available to pay off HMRC but not the confidence that it would be a worthwhile move. And, despite failing in their bid to pull together a rescue deal, the former Pars player and manager insisted he was proud of the way the group had conducted themselves.

He said: “I think the steering group, the way they’ve handled themselves in the last three weeks, has been pure dignity. We haven’t come in and slagged anyone, we haven’t come in and criticised the other groups.

“Dunfermline are at their best when the community is together, and right away at the start we had to get the communities together and try to get them going forward together. That’s been difficult because some of them weren’t sure whether we were on one side or the other side.

“We’ve not been on any side. Dunfermline Athletic is the side I’ve always supported and the steering group was wanting the best for them.

“The steering group was totally focused and we made huge progress, make no mistake.”