Livingston chairman Gordon McDougall has defended his club’s programme staff after being deluged by Sevco fans angered by some home truths about the summer of 2012.
Numerous references to the liquidation of ‘the club then known as Rangers’ upset travelling supporters with the pen-pictures of Kris Boyd and Steven Smith referring to previous spells with the now defunct club.
Rounding things of the ‘previous’ meetings section of the programme mentioned that it was the first ever match between the two clubs prompting thousands of furious Sevco fans to register their anger through twitter and facebook.
Despite the pressure to conform to the liquidation myth followed by most media outlets and the Scottish football authorities McDougall only apologised for upsetting Sevco fans but offered no factual correction for the content of the programme.
The Livi chief told the Daily Record: “We are fortunate to have a small, but devoted group of people who produce our match programme here at Livingston,
“Those people spend hours of unpaid time preparing their copy and scoring points in print is not part of our club’s agenda.
“They are all fans of this club who have followed our own chequered history, often critically, as it has ironically followed a similar path to that of Rangers in recent years.”
McDougall added: “I can only offer my sincere apologies to any fans who have been offended by what was written as there was no intention to offend anyone.
“It did place a bit of a dampener on what had been a really enjoyable afternoon for myself personally as it had been a pleasure being able to help the many Rangers fans who had ticketing problems etc, including finding seats for a blind supporter and those who had not received their postal delivery.
“The game was also played in great spirit by all concerned. As a true football fan who has paid my way through the turnstiles for countless years before entering the boardroom, I fully understand the emotion involved for their fans in the current Rangers situation.”
Livingston fans know more than most about financial problems having seen their club twice go into administration but being able to put together CVA’s to the satisfaction of 75% of the creditors.
In 2009 they were relegated two divisions by the SFL for going into administration but returned to the second tier of Scottish football despite living within their means.
The club’s youth academy is recognised as one of the best in the country with Stefan Scougall and Colin Duncanson sold to Sheffield United and QPR last season.
During the summer Dundee United paid Sevco a two year development fee, around £60,000, for Charlie Telfer despite a claim for a 10 year development fee for the time that the midfielder had spent at the Murray Park Conveyor Belt of Sporting Excellence.
CLICK HERE for Deila’s problems multiplied by Brown comments
