Aiming to make a fresh start and take club out of crisis

The club has announced former Hibernian player and Gala Fairydean manager Gordon Rae as interim first-team boss, after the departure of Terry Ferguson following just one competitive game.

Ferguson said he had deep concerns over Selkirk’s financial predicament, after claims that around £12,000 could be owed to players who had not been paid since last season.

Sharkey (43) said he could not comment at present on the financial issues.

But he intended to take a methodical, step-by-step approach to steering the Yarrow Park outfit ahead.

The chairman took over his new post from Ross Anderson after the July 19 annual general meeting.

He was proposed and seconded, and said he hadn’t expected the job but did not want to see the club in trouble if a new chairman could not be found.

“I have a lot of things I need to look at, having just come in and taken on the role,” he said. “It’s a massive step for myself and trying to figure out what’s happend previously and how we can take the club forward.”

Before Rae’s interim appointment was confirmed, Sharkey said he’d been in contact with potential managers and hoped that, despite all the current concerns, and whatever had happened before, the team could be rebuilt.

“It’s a fresh start,” he said. “Different areas in the club are being moved and changed around. We need to look at atracting players and progressing. That’s the main job at the moment – build a team before we can comment further.”

How things were prioritised would be particularly important, said Sharkey.

Things would have to be categorised carefully and taken step by step, against the background of potential for moving Selkirk FC forward and possibly attracting new sponsors.

“If you tackle big things straight away, you are possibly neglecting other things, which might have happened in the past,” he suggested. “It’s going to be a long road ahead – slow and patient.

“What happened previously – I have that to deal with on a different level and I can’t be held responsible.”

The chairman said he would be trying to focus on the best ways to run the club and hoped to have people around him who could bring back the trust and excitement, as well as bringing back the community and the town of Selkirk as well.

However, Selkirk suffered a 10-0 hammering at East Kilbride on Saturday in the first game of the new Lowland League season. Last night, they went down 8-0 in a home game agains Gretna 2008.

This Saturday, they are due to face Edusport Academy at home, followed by another game at Yarrow Park on Wednesday evening against Civil Service Strollers.