East Stirlingshire's first CEO Fraser Cromar gives his '100% backing' to manager Pat Scullion

Ahead of Shire’s return to league action at Linlithgow Rose this Saturday after a blank weekend, Cromar, 45, owner/landlord of The Canal Inn in Camelon, told the Falkirk Herald: “Pat’s completely engaged in the vision of what we’re doing. This was Pat’s first appointment. Don’t get me wrong, the league position is not where we want to be. But we’ve had a complete overhaul of players again before the season started, which is no way to be able to climb leagues etcetera.

"This year was always about developing the club off the park, developing Pat and his management team, giving them the opportunity to find their own style, to find their own identity.

"Pat and his coaches are absolutely on the same page as we are. We need to make sure that we’re safe this season, that’s the initial goal and then we start building a squad for next season.

"That’s part of the reason that I’ve come into this role, is to make sure that we do have the finances in place, we do have the backbone of the club in place to make sure that we’re not going on this rollercoaster or having to recruit a new team every year, because that just goes against the vision of being sustainable.

“No successful team out there goes through that full transition. There has to be some building, some players won't be good enough, some players will move on, some of the boys have done well and will be offered new contracts.

"But it’s about making sure that we identify them early and we can get building for next year.

"It would be great if we could get a result against Linlithgow but there’s no pressure on Pat. He knows where he is and he’s got our 100% backing.”

Cromar, a boyhood Dundee United fan who was raised in Forfar, is a former chairman of Hibernian Community Foundation who also worked at FC Edinburgh before joining the East Stirlingshire board late last season, initially as community director.

The ex-Edinburgh Tesco store manager added: “I just love football. I was never good at playing it but I think I’m pretty decent at off the park stuff so it’s just great to be involved in the day to day of it.

"I got involved with East Stirlingshire in the first place because it’s a club which is absolutely steeped in tradition, it’s been on the go since 1880.

"I’ve seen it go from unfortunately being the first club relegated out of the leagues into the Lowland League. However, I know from having a business in the town that there is still that fanbase out there of Shire supporters and if you cut them in half they’ve got East Stirlingshire running through their veins.

"I knew there was the possibility of supporting them in the vision and trying to get them back to being on a stable financial setting and make sure they can build and be the Shire for the next 100 years.”