Diver is also a very unpopular man down Falkirk way. He was appointed as boss - despite having a poor background at junior level - and has since spoken out against the club, saying that the fans don't deserve success and that there is no point in them continuing in their current state. This is coming from a man who is supposed to be speaking for the fans, not against them.
These actions have disgusted me greatly and so I made an appeal to all East Stirling fans to come forward and voice their opinions after I said that I would write a column on a Queen's Park website about them. I recieved an immediate response from a fan who went to the trouble of writing a lengthy summary of the club's difficulties. Kevin Watson, 21, emailed an emotional response:
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"I am a diehard East Stirlingshire fan, and have followed the club home and away for many years. It's fair to say that us Shire fans don't expect much (if we did then we would be among the hundreds of "supporters" who travel from the Falkirk area to Ibrox and Parkhead every second week). All we ask is that our commitment to the club is matched by those involved, both on and off the park.
However, in recent weeks we have been forced to protest about what is happening at our club, an action which we had always hoped to avoid, as we do not want to detract from the efforts of the players (who all Shire fans are completely behind).The feelings which sparked the protest have been building for some time, but were finally ignited by an article in the Daily Record in which our manager, Danny Diver, claimed that the fans' attitude to the club was appalling, that we did not deserve success, and even said: "I have to say that I don't think there is any great point in East Stirling". This is the man who is supposed to be taking us forward. It seems that he instead is simply a puppet of the chairman and lacks the guts and ability to stand up to him.
Our problems started when Alan Mackin, the club chairman and biggest shareholder, was voted in to his current position. Mackin has always admitted that his plan is to sell our current ground, Fir's Park, and split the majority of the proceeds between the shareholders. Obviously as the major shareholder, Mackin would stand to make a small fortune from his sale, due to the ground's prime location behind a retail park. This would then leave the club with no ground and only a small amount of money with which to find a new one.
Understandably, this was not to the supporters' liking, but unfortunately, via a couple of court cases, he gained control of the club, and since then the club has been on a downward spiral.
Alan Mackin and Danny Diver have repeatedly voiced their intention to move the club away from Fir's Park, probably changing the club's name at the same time, yet they still expect us to follow this team. Diver even suggested it was "ridiculous" that we fans would not follow a club called Grangemouth United. Every fan knows that the real indentity of the football club is its name. Once that has been changed then, as far as I'm concerned, it is a completely new club and, as a Shire fan, I would have no interest in following them.
The possibility of moving to Grangemouth is one that has been mentioned continuoulsy by Mackin. He apparently believes that this move (about 3 miles down the road) would increase attendances by a few hundred. However, he has not done a feasibility study, nor does he have any evidence that this move would be of any benefit to the club. In fact, if the name does change, thereby losing the current hardcore supporters, there is a good case for saying that this move would result in lower crowds.
Another move that has been mentioned is ground-sharing with the new community stadium, that is to be built in Westfield, with Falkirk. This is the move preferred by the supporters as it would allow the team to play in a quality stadium, with excellent training facilities. This move, though, would mean that Mackin would have to put all the proceeds from the sale of the ground into the new project, denying him his big pay day. Hence the reason why he has said that this is not an option for the club.
At the end of last season, he made the very public decision to offer players only �10 a week to play for the club. This has resulted in the Shire team this season being packed with youngsters, with the average age being around 20. These players are never short of effort, but lack the confidence to play at senior level. This lack of experience, combined with a manager whose credentials are questionable, has resulted in the team winning only 2 games all season and being firmly rooted to the bottom of the league.
Off the field, there has been many examples of imcompetence, which overshadows anything that has happened on the field. For instance, this season the club has no sponsorship. The company Finewood has its name emblazoned on our shirts, yet they have not given the club one penny this season, as their contract with the club ran out over a year ago. The same applies to the advertising boardings which surround the park. Another example came when the club was fined �2500 for fielding an ineligible player at the start of the season. The player was suspended. Surely it doesn't take a genious to figure out that he couldn't play. We also lost our most valuable player, Brown Ferguson, to Alloa Athletic in the summer for no fee, as he was not registered in time. This is a player who would have been expected to command a fee of over �10,000. Strange then that Mr. Mackin never mentions these episodes when explaining the club's financial situation.
Instead, he prefers to blame the poor attendances which the club has seen over recent season. If you look at the recent history though, you will see that attendances have only been dropping since Mackin became involved with the club. How long does he expect people to keep forking out �8 to watch a team try their hearts out, but gain no result in the end?