Spencer Fearn tells the 'bonkers' tale of his time at East Sterlingshire FC
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A BUSINESSMAN has put the remarkable story of his time in charge of a laughed-at football club into print.
"Belief: Buying the Worst Football Club in Britain,” recounts Spencer Fearn’s four years at East Sterlingshire FC in Scotland.
“I started working on the book during the pandemic,” said the Rotherham man.
"I thought it would be nice to put it all down because it’s a bonkers story and when you’re living it at the time you don’t realise how bonkers it is.”
Spencer’s time in Scotland brought into him contact with some fantastic and not so fantastic people.
"There are some funny stories and some scary ones as well. I’ve changed names to protect my knees,” he joked.
"There was one time when I was getting threatened by gangsters. I had to meet some other gangsters who basically had a word with the others (to back off). That was a bit hairy.”
There is also an air of romance in the book, all the proceeds from which go to East Sterlingshire FC.
“The Shire” were known as the worst team in Britain, by reputation and results, when Fearn bought them in 2006. They’d finished bottom of the Scottish Third Division five years running.
"I had never been to Scotland before in my life,” he remembers. “I just came across this team that was getting battered every week and thought ‘let’s give it a go’.
“I had a fantastic time. The team got better and there were a few giant-killings along the way, like beating Ayr and Livingstone, who were higher level teams.
"We drew Glasgow Rangers in the cup at Ibrox and there’s a story in there about when a group of us went up from Rotherham to watch. My mates ended up staying out until six o’clock in the morning when the game got cancelled.
"Our players were part-timers – plasterers, posties, students – and they ended up lining up against one of the giants of Scottish football.”
The tome has had a good response.
More than 200 were sold in the first week, bringing in hundreds of pounds for the club.
Chapters and video clips are being released on Facebook to give people a taster.
"The story is about football but it is also about taking a few risks,” adds Spencer.
"You don’t need to be a billionaire to own a football club – or you certainly didn’t need to be then.
"It was about trying to get people to believe the club could have a bit of success again, because they were the laughing stock of British football. Two seasons on the bounce they got eight points, that’s how bad they were.”
He eventually sold his majority stake in East Sterlingshire FC for £1 and it became the first fan-owned club in Scotland.
"I’d like to think this isn’t a story about chasing glory,” he added. “It's about grit, madness, and unshakable belief. It’s about taking a club everyone had written off and daring to dream it could stand proud again.
"If you believe in something and go after it then anything is achievable.”
Belief: Buying the Worst Football Club in Britain,” is available now, priced £9.91, on Amazon at https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0FFTNGPWB