CAN you imagine what it would be like if the Pars didn't exist?

No, nor can we.

Which is why, this week, the Press is launching a new campaign to urge all those with the best interests of Dunfermline at heart to do what they can to ensure our city continues to have a senior football club.

It's in all our interests to do so.

It is difficult for anyone outside the club - including the Press - to know just how perilous the Pars' current financial position truly is.

What is known is that they have stringent demands from HMRC to meet, the players haven't been paid in full for November and costs must be cut by �400,000 by the end of the season.

One thing is abundantly clear - we cannot be complacent. If we want to have a professional football club in Dunfermline, we have to support it.

We're putting our money where our mouth is - the Press is handing over �2500 to the Pars Alive group to start the ball rolling in our campaign.

And we want other West Fife businesses and organisations to join forces with the Press and the fans to do the same to help keep the Pars Alive.

You are the lifeblood of the club and never more so than now.

We want you to donate funds to the Pars Alive group. On pages 2 and 3 of this week's Press we explain more about the group, who they are and their drive to help the club.

Every penny they raise will go to the club as it becomes clear from those who run the Pars how and where it is needed most.

The consequences of not doing so are unthinkable.

Since June 1885 Dunfermline Athletic Football Club has provided a focal point for the West Fife community and its citizens.

There are many times through that illustrious 127-year history that the exploits of the Pars have put Dunfermline on the map - from the glorious European nights of the 1960s and the halcyon days of the Scottish Cup victories to more recently, when in 2004, 2006 and 2007, we went in our thousands to Hampden Park to watch Dunfermline play on Scottish football's biggest stage and into Europe again.

At those times the football club was good for Dunfermline, good for business.

Now, they need our help.

The Press Pars Alive campaign is a rallying call to the people of Dunfermline to help the club, a focal point for the efforts to do so and a starting point to get far greater fan representation at boardroom level at East End Park than there is at present.

Together, we can help keep the Pars Alive.