Dunfermline Athletic

JAMES ANDERSON BOWLS US OVER!!

Date: Wednesday, 3rd Jun 2020

If I had been asked, as recently as Saturday, whom James Anderson is, I would have answered the Lancashire and England right arm medium - fast bowler who entertains us on a summer`s day in a Headingley Test Match.

As I enjoy my cucumber sandwich and warm beer, I would have been stumped had you asked me about an Edinburgh Philanthropist.

Today with Scottish Football on a sticky wicket (stop it:ED) we are all googling the man who may be the saviour of Scottish Football so just what do we know ?

If any of us know him at all it would, surely, be because he was the driving force behind the £9m Hearts investment in their newly developed stadium and the commendable fact he underwrote the shirt sponsorship with "Save The Children" on their tops.

He and his wife are passionate in supporting disadvantaged children and they sponsor kids projects at the Edinburgh Festival, the Youth Orchestra and Scottish Opera.

James, clearly, does not enjoy being in the limelight but that may now be unavoidable given the public and media interest. He has managed the investment at Baillie Gifford flagship Trust Scottish Mortgage for two decades with total assets in excess of £11b. It has stakes in Amazon, Netflix, Tesla, Facebook, Ferrari, Gucci, Yves St Laurent, Alibaba etc.

By late yesterday (monday), Neil Doncaster and Murdoch McLennan had had their video call. They have reiterated that there are no strings attached. That answers the argument of some on the Pars Fans Forum that this is a Machiavellian plot to keep Hearts in the Premiership.

However, one major question has been answered. Some speculated that he would take over the Ladbrokes sponsorship of the Leagues, but he is averse to that because of the inequitable income distribution. He wants his money to be seen as a donation so that all 42 clubs will share it equally. A concrete proposal could be ready in days.

There were many of us who thought that, were Dunfermline Athletic to restart behind closed doors, or with a safe one third capacity attendance, sufficient income would still be generated if Pars TV streamed the matches.

It appears not because such a large proprtion of the Pars` income comes through the match Gate; and the cost of either virus testing or multiple games at regional hubs would be prohibitive. The Dunfermline Board will be watching developments with interest.

SP.



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