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Clydebank fan Scott Richardson
writes...
"Can
you imagine how it feels to have your team on death row? That
is how it
has been for Clydebank fans in the past week.
It all started on July 1st 2002 when the Scottish
Football League ruled that
Jim Ballantyne's non-league Airdrie United would
be able to purchase our
club, discard our name and shift the club to North Lanarkshire.
In short,
the old Airdrieonians had been resuscitated albeit under a
slightly
different name and the famous name of Clydebank FC was set
to disappear.
A few weeks ago the football world sympathised when the people
of Airdrie
lost their team at the hands of the liquidator. Again there
was sorrow from
many when Airdrie Utd failed to gain election to Division
3. One of their
backers, a former player and Honorary President, Ian McMillan,
attacked the
league, "These men have had the knives out for Airdrie
for years, and at
last they got their chance to stab us in the back. The Scottish
Football
League turned on one of its own when it is there to help its
members."
Amazingly, in just over a week Airdrie Utd dispensed with
their community
football principles when they turned their attention to Clydebank
hoping to
seize our league place. Now we know why the new Airdrie
crest fittingly
displays a menacing two-faced vulture.
It seems extraordinary that the league management committee
gave the go
ahead for this Airdrie venture in the first place. They somehow
judged it
appropriate for Airdrie Utd to buy out Clydebank's membership
and compete in
Division 2, yet a meeting of the full league saw fit to elect
Gretna into
Division 3, labelling the failed Airdrie bid 'only a concept'.
This SFL
decision ushers in a franchise era where league memberships
can be usurped
from the most vulnerable clubs.
Clydebank supporters were not going to give up hopes of survival.
We came
through attempted moves to relocate the club to Dublin,
Huntly, Gala, and
Carlisle. We have followed our team to Dumbarton
and then across the River
Clyde to Greenock to watch our 'home' games.
The United Clydebank Supporters
group has arranged fundraising matches, provided matchday
stewarding, sold
the club's merchandise and produced match programmes - a real
spirited fans
effort. The same dedication and commitment was going to be
put into our
next project - the launch of a UCS Trust in mid-July which
was intending to
purchase the club within 12 months.
Instead, we are facing this 'new' Airdrie challenge
and a race against time
to put a rival bid on the table to save the Bankies from extinction.
The
administrators say the final deadline for bids is 5pm
on Monday July 8th but
until then the agonising wait continues."
For the latest information, check out the UCS
website.
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