THE FOLLOWING is a message from the new board of Livingston Football Club, outlining the current situation regarding the club's league status, its new board of directors and its future.

Dear Supporter,

After a period of unprecedented uncertainty and turmoil, it was good to finally be able to welcome you all to Almondvale for our first home game of the 2009-10 season on Saturday.

The last couple of weeks have been a hugely testing time for everyone connected with Livingston Football Club. That we have got this far has been down to a lot of hard work.

For our perspective, we have spent long hours with the interim manager Donald McGruther to work on a plan to take the club forward, a complex process which finally came to fruition on Thursday when we assumed full control of the club.

That it has been achieved has been due to the assistance of a number of parties, not least West Lothian Council. We have also been supported wonderfully by the staff at the club - playing and otherwise - all of whom deserve huge praise for continuing to do their jobs with professionalism and passion under some very difficult circumstances.

And, of course, we have been greatly encouraged by the support we have received from supporters. It was heartening to see such a good turn out at Cliftonhill two weeks ago in support of the team, and we are also grateful for the fundraising efforts which have been co-ordinated by the Livi For Life Supporters Trust.

At this stage, it is important to stress just how critical your support is. No matter which division we end up playing this season, we need your support and that of the wider West Lothian community. The days of this club spending outwith its means are gone and what will ultimately shape its future is our supporters - both individual fans and our corporate sponsors.

The number of people who attend our games will dictate how we progress. Like any football club we need 'bums on seats' and in that respect your attendance at home games, in particular, is crucial.

We have made a commitment to anyone who bought a season ticket prior to our takeover that these tickets will be fully honoured. We hope that those of you who haven't yet bought season tickets will to so as soon as possible. Due to the uncertainty around our league status we have temporarily suspended the sale of tickets, but we will lift this as soon as our position is clarified.

The current position is that we have intimated our wish to appeal to the Scottish Football Association regarding our relegation to the SFL Third Division. The club have breached article 76.2 of the SFL's rules and have conceded this point.

The basis of the appeal to the decision to relegate the club to the Third Divison centres around, amongst other things, rules 76.3 and 76.4. We feel that the decision to relegate us is overly punitive and sets an extremely dangerous precedent within Scottish football, especially in the current economic climate.

On Thursday, we lost our initial appeal to the member clubs at Special General Meeting of the Scottish Football League, but owing to the timing of events we felt it was in the best interests of all concerned to play yesterday's game. We sought, and have received confirmation from the footballing authorities that fulfilling Third Division fixtures will not prejudice our appeal case, so we were delighted to proceed and extend a warm West Lothian welcome to our visitors from Montrose.

The system allows further appeal to the SFA, and subsequently a judicial process. As a board, we feel confident that the ruling can be overturned and are hopeful of a speedy hearing. Fundamentally, we are trying to preserve the employment of club staff and players.

Pending our appeal we are focused on getting the club fully back open for business. As mentioned previously, the purchase of a controlling interest in the club has been completed and a new board has been installed, consisting of Gordon McDougall as chairman, Albert Tait as vice-chair, Ged Nixon as chief executive and Robert Wilson as director.

Other announcements on this front will be confirmed in due course, including the matter of a Livi For Life Supporters Trust representative being elected to the board - something that we regard as a huge step forward for the club, the trust and Livingston supporters as a whole.

We have made significant progress on the footballing front with the appointment of Gary Bollan as our new manager, assisted by Brian Welsh who will double as our new Head of Youth Development. Gary knows the club well and together with Brian is eager to build a team of which you can be proud.

As a club we still face some huge challenges both on and off the field, but we have a steely determination to put the club on a sound footing, both financially and in a footballing sense.

The road to restore the club's pride and reputation will be a long and difficult one, but with everyone pulling together in the same direction, we will succeed.

Thank you for your support,
The Board of Livingston Football Club