AYR United chairman Lachlan Cameron has admitted it’s been a “tough” time for the club during the Covid-19 pandemic but believes it is in a “better position” going into this season than it has been for a decade.
The Honest Men have not played since March when the Scottish Championship season was prematurely ended thus losing out on matchday income.
Despite the financial implications that the pandemic has had Cameron believes lockdown has offered the club a chance to reassess the way it operates.
He told the Advertiser: “It has obviously not been an ideal situation but actually we have learned quite a bit from it and the way we operate now is a lot more fluid.
“In some ways it has brought the whole club closer together.
“Instead of meeting once a month we are working more regularly and having more meetings. Everyone is more involved so from that perspective it has been a plus and everyone is more clear on their roles.
“The negatives are well known such as the matchday income and all the other money that is generated from that has stopped so that has been pretty tough and was a big blow.
“The furlough scheme has helped and we still paid the players 100 per cent wages.
“I think we are in a better position going into this season than we have been going into most seasons just because where we finished last year, what we have done in the off-season and what we are continuing to do between now and when the season kicks-off.
“I think the last few seasons in general have been a pretty good time to be an Ayr United supporter but this one in particular I think is a very hopeful season.”
One of the biggest stories off the pitch during lockdown was league reconstruction.
Cameron was adamant that now was not the time for such a change.
He said: “I am actually very pro league reconstruction but what I am not for is league reconstruction for the upcoming season because everyone already knows where they stand. If they are serious about league reconstruction then they could have said we will do it in 2022 and we can play for that during the 2020/21 season.
“To implement it now would have made no sense as teams did not know what they were playing for last season so that’s why we voted the way we did.”
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