THOMAS MEGGLE has revealed that players with a connection to the community and who have the potential to become sellable assets are key facets of Dunfermline’s recruitment strategy.

The Pars sporting director also believes that the club must harness the power of its fanbase, and the city, to continue to build momentum gained from last season’s League One title victory.

Meggle, 48, arrived at KDM Group East End Park as a key member of the DAFC Fussball GmbH investment group, which purchased an initial 30 per cent share in the club in September 2020.

The Hamburg-based group had committed to then taking their stake to 75.1 per cent by December 2021 but, instead, provided increased investment without immediately acquiring further shares, in the shape of an interest-free, unsecured Convertible Loan Note (CLN) that can, at any time within five years of issue, be converted into new shares in the club.

Meggle sits on the Pars board of directors alongside another of the investment group, Nicholas Teller, and their backing has allowed the club to proceed with plans to create a training base and youth academy in Rosyth.

A former player with FC St Pauli, who visited Dunfermline for a glamour pre-season friendly match last Friday, over three spells during a career that also included spells with 1860 Munich and Hansa Rostock, Meggle twice managed St Pauli before becoming their sporting director.

It is a role he has since assumed with the Pars, working closely with management team, James McPake and Dave Mackay, and chairman and CEO, David Cook, with player recruitment.

So far this summer, Dunfermline have landed Sam Fisher, Ewan Otoo and Kane Ritchie-Hosler – all of whom enjoyed successful loan spells last summer – on a permanent basis, with each player signing three-year contracts.

In a wide-ranging interview with Press Sport ahead of the St Pauli match last month, Meggle spoke of the recruitment strategy being implemented by the club – which features local-based players, and those who could potentially go on to net the club cash in transfer fees.

“Last season started and 12 players from the community played for the club. That’s the difference,” he explained.

“You see Chris Hamilton, Paul Allan and the other ones - you see them in the city, just walking around. If you sign players from somewhere else, they will stay only for training sessions in the city, and then they will move back.

“That is, in my opinion, the big difference. Chris Hamilton was one of the rookies of the year in the Championship (in season 2021/22), and he signed a contract in League One. All of the others just jumped in because they felt, with the new manager, with the team around, the new energy around the football club, and a new togetherness, it’s like just starting with a green. It grows, and now we have to maintain our togetherness, our energy on the pitch, and then this makes it successful, in my opinion.

“I always try to use the power of the community. You see the power of St Pauli, the power of the community in Hamburg, and it’s great to see the power of Dunfermline, the Pars community, and we just have to use it.”

Addressing the recruitment strategy the club have implemented, Meggle continued: “Just having more local players in your squad. In my opinion, recruitment can’t be the task of the manager.

“He should be involved and, this is pretty typical in non-UK, in Germany or somewhere else in Europe, that, not only is the manager responsible, other people are involved as well.

“I’m involved, David is involved, James is involved, and Dave is involved. This group of people are resposible for the recruitment. That’s a change from before, when it was more a question of the manager to recruit players, and to have the last decision.

“It’s always a group’s decision and it has to fit for the club as well. We have to look at the squad, and manager’s interests at having the players in the squad which wins a game on a Saturday, but the club is interested in having values in the club which can be sold in two or three years.

“That’s the reason why, sometimes, you have to make a decision together that we have some players in the squad with the potential to win the game on Saturday, but players with the potential who can be developed to a much higher quality. Don’t sign only players that can win the next game. I think it’s a good squad, in terms of leadership, in terms of younger players with potential, and with players who can win the next game on Saturday.”