Stadia Properties, a subsidiary of Stadia Investment Group, entered administrative receivership this week – igniting fears that Dunfermline football club will follow suit.

Stadia owns Dunfermline’s East End Park stadium and might be forced to sell it in order to pay off its creditors.

However, the football club’s chair, John Yorkston, pointed out that the existing lease carried obligations to any new owner.

“We have a 125-year lease to play football at East End Park. My understanding is that whoever ends up owning the site will have to honour the lease to the football club,” he said.

Dunfermline owes Stadia around £500,000,and fears over the club’s immediate future were raised further after cash flow problems forced the club to pay the players by cheque, rather than direct debit, for the second time this season.

A number of clubs in the Scottish Premier league have recently fallen on hard times. Dundee and Motherwell were followed in to administrative receivership by Livingston last week.