Heath Out To Pasture!

The news that Killie CEO David Heath is quitting the club in the summer came as a surprise to most people, but it's not a decision that he has made lightly. He feels that all things considered, now is as good a time as any to move on but it was with a heavy heart that he broke the news to Sir John Orr and the rest of the board at a board meeting last week.

The second reason was that he wasn't enjoying the cut and thrust of the job as much any more. He was finding it increasingly harder to wear the Chief Executive's and the fans' hat at the same time. Making hard business decisions at a football club that you support can never be easy and after two years of tough decisions Heath has decided that for the sake of his family, who stay locally, and himself, the time is right to move on.

Heath's departure will be a blow to the fans. He has built a bridge between the supporters and the board the likes of which has not been seen since the days of enigmatic chairman Bobby Fleeting. His main strength was his ability to deal with fans on a personal level and not through lackeys like so many of his counterparts. How many other SPL Chief Executives do you know of that check out what the fans are saying on a daily basis on their unofficial websites? How many would take seriously the prospect of half price season tickets and turn it into reality? Not many.

The question on everyone's lips now is...who will replace him? In light of the current financial situation it seems highly unlikely that the board will appoint another Chief Executive in a hurry. In fact Sir John Orr's comments in the press release about Heath's departure points to them not appointing anyone at all. This would be a major cause of concern as the lack of bodies running the Rugby Park operation is becoming more prevalent as time wears on. It's all very well saving money by cutting the wage bill, but when that means that there is also no one there to generate the club money then it can be construed as false economy.

Heath himself admitted that re-structuring would possibly be the best way ahead. He said: "In the business world football clubs are pretty much small potatoes and maybe now the time has come for them to cut their cloth to suit. It's not really for me to say, but rather than pay out a lot of money for another chief executive the club could look at appointing a general manager and a couple of sales experts instead. That way the club could virtually get three people for the price of one. One to run the day to day club affairs and the other two to concentrate in increasing club revenue."

The final decision on what will happen will lie with the remaining board members, and as with choosing a new manager at the tail end of last season, the choices they make in the coming months will go a long way towards determining how successful Kilmarnock Football Club will be, on and off the park. As it turns out, despite much opposition, they played a blinder the last time in appointing Jim Jefferies. Under Jim's stewardship we are on the verge of breaking a myriad of club records for SPL success, much of which he puts down to his open relationship with the board. Hopefully they can come up with the goods again this time.

So what does the future hold for Mr. Heath? Despite all the speculation he will see out the next few months at Rugby Park making sure that the landmark season ticket deal takes off, and definitely not be heading up the A77 to fill the vacant position at Celtic Park...a suggestion that he laughed off. Nor indeed will be venturing into the realms of computing and IT as another daily rag would have us believe. The path ahead of him is still pretty unclear, which can be a good or a bad thing depending whether you get paid to clear paths or not! One thing is for certain, whether he ends up in the States or in Stonehouse, he will still have a season ticket in his pocket and he will still be Killie, and as such welcome back any time.

A Heartwarming Day

Last Saturday was one of our most vital games of the season and a larger than normal crowd watched an enthralling encounter. Thankfully we got the result we craved and our UEFA Cup dream is still alive although there's still a lot of hard work needed if we are to overtake the Jambos. The match details are well reported elsewhere so I'd just like to comment on a few of the issues that had us talking as we enjoyed a post-match beer.

One of the most pleasing aspects of the whole day was the atmosphere. The visitors brought through a large crowd but they were drowned out by the Killie fans and from the opening minutes the atmosphere was the best we've had all season. Perhaps the poor standard of refereeing helped to wind-up the fans as well but whatever the reason it was a terrific noise for 90 minutes.

You just have to laugh when you look across at the hospitality seats and see a full section of smart suits, shirts and ties bouncing up and down singing "I'm Killie til I die". It had me thinking that the fans can create an atmosphere like this for every game at the Theatre of Pies and if season ticket sales continue to soar we could be heading for an enjoyable season in 2003/2004.

The next issue is how good you have to be to play for our beleaguered national team. It's an issue we have covered before in this column but the more you see some of Scotland's latest recruits the more you wonder why some Killie players fail to get selected. Hearts centre half Andy Webster played for Scotland last week but to be honest I wouldn't swap him for Shields, Innes or McLaughlin. On Sunday's live TV match Webster's partner from the Austria game, Lee Wilkie had a similar nightmare and I'm starting to become paranoid that there's a conspiracy against Killie players, especially Shields.

Finally I'd like to thank the Ayr & Prestwick Killie Supporters Club for inviting us to their Player of the Year presentation in the hotel after the game. It was a poignant occasion as the trophy was dedicated to lifelong Killie fan Ian Thomson who died recently but who did so much to get the club up and running. I'm sure Ian would have been delighted to see Stevie Fulton win the award as the big man has had a great season. Stevie graciously accepted the award but he'd be well advised to write down the acceptance speech as I'm sure it won't be his last.

Season Ticket Update

The deadline for current season ticket holders to keep their seats has now passed so all seats are now sold on a first come first served basis. We spoke to David Heath last week and the club are delighted with the numbers sold so far. We'll try and get you exact figures in the next week or two but if you want the best seats in the house I'd advise you to move quickly. For season ticket information or to get paired give us a call on the number below. We've got a list of season ticket holders just waiting to give you a half price voucher. Call Sandy on 0774 7718754.

Pie In The Sky

Everyone has read about all the recent changes at Rugby Park with several members of the backroom team being moved due to financial restraints however there's been another change at R.P. that is very close to my heart - well my belly to be precise. At the start of this season Killie handed over the running of our pie huts to a private company who will pay us an agreed fee each year for the privilege of feeding the hungry Howard Hippo's.

There have been a few complaints made about the service this season but the mole informs us that a new company will be doing the catering next season and we hope to bring you good news on that front next week. Thankfully the world famous Killie pie will still be available and we are happy to offer our services as official club food tasters! This leads me to a heart-rending tale about an old Killie fan and his love of our world famous pie -

An elderly Killie fan lay dying in his bed - in death's agony he could suddenly smell the aroma of his beloved Killie Special Pie wafting up the stairs. He gathered what little strength he had left and managed to lift himself out of bed. The old fella knew he hadn't long left and still couldn't believe that at the sprightly age of 129 years, he still hadn't seen A*r Utd win a trophy. Even stranger was the fact that they were still playing at Scumerset although due to safety restrictions the crowd limit was now 37.

The old soldier propped himself against the blue and white striped bedroom wall and slowly but surely edged his way out of the room towards the top of the stairs carefully making sure he didn't touch the 1997 cup-winning picture hanging on the wall. He stood a minute to gather his thoughts and then with a deep breath grabbed a hold of the railings with both hands and edged his way down the spiraling staircase. It had taken him ten minutes but he joyfully reached the kitchen doorway wheezing louder than an asthma convention. Were it not for the extreme pain he was suffering, he would have thought he was already in heaven as he spotted literally hundreds of Killie pies lined up on his huge kitchen table.

Was this indeed heaven or was it just the final act of heroic love from his devoted wife of 102 years, seeing to it that he left the world a very happy man? His wife Agnes had been a rock throughout their marriage and as a fellow Killie fan, her party piece was to recite the offside law in seven different languages. Mustering one massive final effort (just like 1997), he threw himself towards the old oak table landing on his knees in a crumpled heap.

The sight and smell of the steak and gravy pies was almost unbearable and as he shaped his mouth to devour the feast in front of him, he was starting to believe the magical taste of the pies would put another ten years on his life. Shaking like a leaf his withered fingers reached for the first pie only to be stopped by a spatula smacking him on the back of the hand. "Get yer greasy mitts aff them" roared Agnes, "they're for the funeral".

Read the B&H column in the Kilmarnock Standard every week