Dunfermline Athletic have officially been taken over by a group of fans.
The 127-year-old club entered administration around six months ago to avoid going into liquidation over an unpaid £134,000 tax bill.
The club were docked 15 points and were eventually relegated from the old First Division.
Supporters' group Pars United agreed a Company Voluntary Arrangement (CVA) with creditors in July and the final details are now complete.
Pars United has also acquired East End Park stadium, which was in administration under a separate company, as part of a community ownership structure.
An interim board, including former team manager Jim Leishman, has been appointed to the end of the season and papers will be sent to the Court of Session in Edinburgh to formally take the club out of administration.
New chairman Bob Garmory said: "The last few months have been a painful and frustrating time for everyone connected with Dunfermline Athletic. However, we ask that all Pars supporters and the wider west Fife community now look forward, not back, with a renewed sense of optimism and spirit.
"As previously stated, the Pars fans have already shown their resolve and support for saving the club and that now needs to continue going forward, particularly this season, to 'keep the Pars' as has been widely documented in the last week or so.
"We cannot lose the positive attitude and sense of involvement and engagement amongst our core support. The fundraising effort of the Pars supporters and patrons has been nothing short of exceptional, particularly in such tough economic times."
The delay between the CVA and the takeover was caused by a dispute over the club's training ground.
Pars United wanted to end the leasing of Pitreavie from Fife Council but former owner Gavin Masterton raised an interdict at the Court of Session last week in an attempt to prevent administrators BDO from renouncing the lease.
The petition was refused, paving the way for the fans' group to complete the purchase of the Scottish League One club.
The new owners said the training ground lease has not yet been terminated but they are working with Fife Council and legal representatives to arrange a "satisfactory outcome" for the club.
Administrator Bryan Jackson said: "I am delighted to confirm that Pars United have now completed the agreement to take control of Dunfermline Athletic FC (DAFC) with immediate effect.
"When I was appointed administrator of DAFC in late March I said it was a considerable task to save the club and, given the events of recent weeks, I wasn't wrong. But it was the devotion and loyalty of the fans, the team, the staff, management and, of course, Pars United which helped get this over the line.
"Given that this has been completed in just over six months, which is pretty quick for a CVA, I would like to congratulate the team at Pars United for their efforts over the last few months and wish them well for the future.
"I am very pleased that this historic club will live on following the successful completion of this process."
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article