People have paid a very high price for this episode — the players and staff who lost their jobs, the creditors who lost money and you the fans who have had to dig deep into your wages, savings, etc., to raise funds for a club that might not have survived beyond Christmas.

With your help, we’ve managed to escape the immediate threat of liquidation, we’ve won the battle to keep our place in the SPL and to remain at Dens Park for the immediate future.

We now need to ask for your help again. The simple truth is that unless you and others like you buy a season ticket for season 2004/2005, it is very unlikely that Dundee can survive.

We have a business plan for next season, but there are no surplus funds in it. The plan depends completely on all supporters who bought season tickets for Dens in 2003 renewing in 2004.

That’s why Dundee Football Club are asking you to back the launch of our season ticket package for 2004/2005 by buying your ticket early and supporting the club in the way we need it most right now.

Prices have gone up since last year and we know it is asking a great deal of many of you, but the price you pay to watch Dundee will not be any higher than the prices charged by many other provincial SPL clubs.

This year, we have teamed up with Cetelem (UK) Limited to bring you a new easy and affordable way to pay for your season ticket — “Take 10”. Five per cent. of the cash value of every season ticket purchased using “Take 10” will be paid to Dundee giving much needed additional revenue.

Your money will go directly to put your team on the park each week and we can promise you that every member of the squad and backroom staff will be giving their all to reward your investment.

We believe we have the nucleus of an exciting young squad at Dens and we are cautiously optimistic we might even see one or two new faces over the summer.

The Scottish Cup Final at Hampden last year, with the sight of almost 20,000 Dundee fans, was amazing.

Our attendance figures show that as wonderful as our loyal support has been, not enough of these fans are there on a regular basis. That’s why this letter is going to over 12,000 supporters who we know have backed us in the past.

The cash you invest in Dundee through your season ticket is absolutely vital — but just as important to the club is the message the size of our support sends Scottish football and the people who back Scottish football.

We also have to prove to the Halifax Bank Of Scotland that this can be a viable business worth fighting for and saving.

Let’s show them that Dundee is not only a club worth saving; it’s a big club that can go places again.

Thanks for your time — and hope to see you at Dens next season. — Jim Duffy, Manager, Dundee Football Club.