Kevin Fotheringham Is Pretty Screwed

[Morgan Spice]

Crazy costs for a part time footballer earning 200 quid a week to pay back. If he is guilty though he's got nobody else to blame but himself and apparently he knew what would happen if he lost the case. Stranraer could end up being even worse off if he takes civil action against them and Tade for defamation of character:

http://www.thescottishsun.co.uk/scotsol/ho...icle2251848.ece

YOU OWE US 18 MONTHS WAGES

KEVIN FOTHERINGHAM has been handed a whopping ?17,000 legal bill by the SFA after taking them to court ? and losing.

The East Fife defender went head-to-head with the game?s governing body to try and clear his name after he was accused of racially abusing Stranraer star Gregory Tade.

But the move backfired when a Judicial Review in December came down on the side of the SFA ? and left the 32-year-old part-timer facing a massive bill.

The player, who earns around ?200 a week, was already facing costs of around ?14,000 for his own defence, which the Second Division side have contributed to.

But yesterday it emerged he has also been ordered by the SFA to pay their full legal costs ? which amount to more than 18 months? wages ? on top of his own.

And the move has been slammed by East Fife chief executive Sid Collumbine, who insists a big-earning SPL star would NEVER be treated in such a manner.

He said: ?The SFA are claiming ?17,000 for their legal expenses and how they can do that I don?t know. There is no way the laddie can afford that.

?Where is a Second Division part-time player going to find ?17,000? It?ll take him 20 years to pay it off.

?We tried to help Kevin with the costs of his own defence. He?s a part-time player and a family man and will need to pay this up for a very long time. But they don?t care because we?re a Second Division club. If this had happened at a more senior club it would never have been allowed to go this far.?

SFA Chief Executive Gordon Smith told SunSport last night he had sympathy for the situation Fotheringham finds himself in.

But he also insisted that both the player and East Fife were well warned about the consequences of taking the SFA on in court ? and what would happen if they lost.

He said: ?I understand this is a difficult time for the player.

?But I must stress that both he and East Fife were warned well in advance of the Judicial Review of the implications involved.

?And at that point it was pointed out to both parties that if he was to lose the case then he?d be held responsible for the costs.?

Fotheringham, 32, was initially handed an eight-game ban by the SFA last January after being found guilty of racial abuse towards Stranraer star Tade, now at Clyde.

He was alleged to have called the Frenchman a ?black b******? but immediately appealed the decision with the backing of his club.

The SFA rejected the appeal in August but Fotheringham, believing the disciplinary process was flawed, then took the matter to the Court of Session in November.

There it was ruled that he had been given a fair hearing and that the game?s beaks were entitled to dish out the ban.

Fotheringham has now sat out seven of the eight games but is now considering a new course of action in a bid to recoup some of the cash he owes the SFA.

He could even launch a civil court action against Tade and Stranraer in a last-ditch bid to try and prove his innocence.

That could threaten the very existence of the cash-strapped Stair Park club, but Collumbine admits it is one of the only options left open to the player.

He said: ?Kevin is looking into the possibility of Civil Court action against Tade and Stranraer with regard to defamation of character.

?The last thing Kevin wants or anyone here wants is for Stranraer to end up suffering because of this given the situation they are in.

?But under the circumstances he feels he doesn?t have much of a choice but to try and recoup the money he?s been billed for.?