Three years on from going into administration Dunfermline Athletic are celebrating promotion to The Championship.
Debt of £8.5m built up under the toxic ‘leadership’ of Gavin Masterton took the club to the brink of oblivion but in their hour of need their fans responded.
There were no red card protests against liquidation, no marches to Hampden, no campaigns against Fife Council, no blame placed at the motives of double dealing Raith Rovers directors. Not even a postcard.
Instead Pars United, a fans organisation was formed, the boardroom was gutted and in Jim Leishman they had a figurehead that genuinely cares for the club rather than a blazer chasing freeloader.
Saturday’s win over Brechin confirmed the First Division title with a healthy crowd of 4,500 providing the backdrop for a sustainable club that doesn’t live off a series of dubiously sourced loans.
Reflecting on promotion Leishman said: “Everyone knows the last few years at the club haven’t been great.
“This club is on the comeback trail, there’s been a resurrection. There’s been a lot of transition and hard work put in by a lot of people.
“That work has come from the fans, they are the club. It’s also about the efforts of the board of directors as well as the coaches and the players.
“Everyone’s worked their socks off. This is the big reward for everyone who strived to ensure Dunfermline survived as a football club.
“Keeping Dunfermline in business was our initial aim, and there were times when it was a battle to make sure there was still a team to support. We’ve now won that battle and that is the greatest challenge that we faced.”
Six months after being brought into the distressed club Bryan Jackson, business restructuring partner with BDO, said: “When I was appointed administrator of DAFC in late March I said it was a considerable task to save the club and, given the events of recent weeks, I wasn’t wrong.
“Given that this has been completed in just over six months, which is pretty quick for a CVA, I would like to congratulate the team at Pars United for their efforts over the last few months and wish them well for the future. I am very pleased that this historic club will live on following the successful completion of this process.”
Like Hearts before them Dunfermline paid up the salaries to the players made redundant by going into administration in March 2013.