Coronavirus: East Fife chairman says guidance must be stronger

The Methil men suffered an immediate hit when the Scottish football fixture card was wiped out last week.

East Fife were due to welcome Montrose to Bayview in a crucial promotion play-off encounter.

The Fifers could have expected a higher than usual crowd for the game with the call off having an obvious impact on finances.

Despite this, and with no football return on the horizon, the Bayview chair is refusing to panic about the situation.

Mr Stevenson, though, admits he’s frustrated at the lack of clear direction from above for small business like football clubs.

He said: “We know as much about it all as everyone else.

“We were having a board meeting on Friday afternoon to discuss things when we found out the Montrose match was off.

“Since then we’ve had statements from the Prime Minister, but they’re all the same and there’s nothing clear about what plans are being put into place.

“Everybody is waiting for someone to do something.

“But we’re not panicking at East Fife, I’m just treating it as a game which has been called off.

“We only have four home games left to play but one of them is Falkirk at Bayview which is a big game for us.

“Not everybody has business interruption insurance, but East Fife do.”

East Fife’s players were due to train at the Oriam in Edinburgh on Tuesday evening but that has been called off, despite the centre remaining open.

When, or if, the season resumes is being debated in all quarters.

Bayview boss Darren Young would like the campaign to be played out but, if it can’t, Mr Stevenson says results from the games played in the final of the quarter of the campaign should be scrubbed.

“Our stance is that it should be stopped from the end of the third quarter,” said Mr Stevenson.

“Everybody then has played 27 games and played each other three times.

“But hopefully someone will come to a decision on it soon.”