Save Stranraer FC – Our time of crisis

Stranraer Football Club was formed in 1870, making it Scotland’s third oldest senior team. This may not have been the case, as Scotland’s third oldest senior team was on the brink of collapse, due to financial difficulties – The chairman made this statement, and things were looking very bleak.

Stranraer future 50/50 – chairman

Stranraer

Stranraer chairman Nigel Redhead rates his club’s chances of surviving until the end of the season as “50/50”.

The Scottish Second Division outfit are around £250,000 in debt to the bank and other businesses.

“We’re really struggling and operating week-to-week, and it’s about 50/50 that we’ll go out of business at the end of the season,” Redhead told BBC Sport.

“We’re looking at ways to raise money but there’s nothing concrete right now, and I’m not 100% confident.”

Redhead says new lights, strips and work done to the Stair Park last season have all cost the club a lot of money.

The wage bill is the actual killer at the moment – it’s about £250,000 each year

Stranraer chairman Nigel Redhead

The chairman also pointed out that home crowds have dwindled to around 250, whereas they used to be able to count on nearly 1000 spectators.

He says these numbers of fans coming through the turnstiles are not enough to sustain the club who are at the bottom of the league.

“We’re only really paying the players’ wages, but the wage bill is the actual killer at the moment – it’s about £250,000 each year,” said Redhead.

“I think that you’ve got so much football on the television that people don’t want to come out and watch our type of football.”

And Redhead says that he is constantly under pressure from creditors to settle outstanding bills.

“At the moment they’re on the phone every week and we’re giving them some money whenever we can.

“We used some of the £10,000 payout we got from the league the other day as a sweetener to keep them happy.

“The only real asset we have is our social club, but it’s also part of our income at the moment, and we wouldn’t get enough money to actually cover our debt even if we sold it.”

This was an extract from the Official BBC Website resource.

At this time of crisis a few individuals have joined together to form The Friends of Stranraer FC, to try and help save the club that they love. To be honest this might be last chance to try and do something.

This website page hopes to assist in highlighting Stranraer FC’s plight and also in assisting to gather donations from football supporters, fans, and those at home and abroad through PayPal. The Friends of Stranraer have established a trust fund with a bank account, in which donations will be collected. The Friends of Stranraer FC have also formed a committee, appointed an accountant and a solicitor. The trust will then liaise with Stranraer FC in order to agree on how the funds will be used to maximise the clubs chance of survival. The website will be used to keep interested parties informed of the progress. Thank you to all of the individuals and businesses that have already made donations. ( Please note due to the success of “Saving Stranraer” no further donations are required)