Comment: Fife Flyers need to embrace fans’ desire to help

One theme which has remained constant in recent months among Fife Flyers’ fans has been the desire to get involved, to help, and to make a difference to the club they love.

I suspect many have looked at the remarkable response to Raith Rovers’ emergency appeal, launched after the collapse of the football season, and hoped for a similar initiative from Fife Flyers.

But the club seems reluctant to let people dip into their own funds.

It’s an understandable, almost paternal, approach - one which says ‘this is our problem, we’ll sort it, thanks’ which isn’t necessarily a wrong stance. In fact it is entirely consistent with how the club has operated for decades.

While other teams have been happy to pass round the hat for bail-out donations to keep going, Fife have remained fiscally prudent.

But, in not fully embracing the fundraiser, it misses a key point.

People WANT to help.

And, if ever there was a moment to bring the club and fans together, this is it.

A crowdfunding initiative launched by fan, Lauren Campbell, could be the ‘in’ fans have been seeking for some time.

It has set itself a modest target of £2500 - one that could easily be broken many times over with the right message and sustained drive.

Directors are aware of it, and they have welcomed it, but have stopped short of giving it their official sanction.

Without that definitive blessing, its potential to harness vital funding to help get the team from this point to whenever the new season starts may go down as a missed opportunity.

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Where Raith Rovers have led and netted circa £50,000, Flyers should have followed.

Because, this isn’t just about money.

It’s about getting involved, and being part of YOUR team.

It’s about feeling valued and included.

It’s about being able to do do something to help safeguard the team, and sport, that is part of your DNA.

And it’s about the club engaging in a way it has struggled to do meaningfully for too long.

All of that is actually just as valuable as a donation online.

The one message which came across loud and clear at the Q&A in February was “let us in.”

But, every idea came from the floor - not the podium.

Two months on – and boy, doesn’t it feel much, much longer – there’s a worry that nothing of substance has changed.

Coronavirus has certainly changed everything, and it feels churlish to criticise at a time when we are all dealing with a situation that has caused such havoc.

But this isn’t an attack on the club - it’s a plea to simply open the doors, because this is the perfect time to make those strong connections.

The crowdfunder was a perfect opportunity to embrace the enthusiasm and desire of fans to feel they are involved, to shape the proposal – if not this crowdfunder then how can fans help best help? –, and forge ahead with renewed enthusiasm and a different mindset.

Absolutely nothing the club has said is blocking this fundraiser - or any other - but its hesitancy is a road block.

That’s a shame, because it could be the catalyst for many new ideas - fans sponsoring a player, funding road trips, rekindling a Supporters Club, the list is endless.

The commitment for all of that – and much more – was evident throughout the Q&A.

Fresh thinking, new energies, creativity, and a commitment to making them work - some clubs would kill for that level of input.

If the impact of coronavirus teaches us anything, it is that maybe all of our long-established ways of working need to be re-appraised.

Times are tough right now, but when people have nothing other than their faith in a team or a sport to sutain them, then they’ll shift mountains to protect it.

If you let them.