Everything about Dunfermline Athletic F C totally explained
Dunfermline Athletic Football Club are a
Scottish football team based in
Dunfermline,
Fife, commonly known as just
Dunfermline. They play at
East End Park and are nicknamed
The Pars.
They are currently managed by
Jim McIntyre who was given the job on a permanent basis on Thursday 3rd January 2008. He took over from
Stephen Kenny in
December of
2007 originally as caretaker boss. After seven consecutive seasons in the SPL, the club was relegated to the Scottish First Division on
12 May 2007. In the same month, Dunfermline lost their 3rd major final in four years (losing to
Celtic in the
Scottish Cup final on
May 27 2007). Since Celtic had already qualified for Europe by winning the
SPL, Dunfermline were able to compete in the 2007-08
UEFA Cup, thus managing the notable feat of being relegated and qualifying for Europe in the same season.
History
The golden age (1960s)
Jock Stein became manager in
1960 and so began the club's golden decade. The club played regular
European football in the
UEFA and
European Cup Winners Cups throughout the 60s (and also early 70s).
Under Stein Dunfermline won the
Scottish Cup in the
1960-61 season. They beat
Celtic 2-0 in the final after a replay. In
1962 they reached the
Cup-Winners Cup quarter finals, losing 5-3 on aggregate to
Újpest Dózsa SC. On they way they beat
St Patrick's Athletic and
FK Vardar. In the
1962-63 season Dunfermline beat
Everton in the
Fairs Cup and then played Valencia, losing 0-4 away before winning 6-2 at home. The Pars lost the subsequent play-off. Stein left in
1964 to join
Hibernian.
New manager
Willie Cunningham would take the club to the Scottish Cup final in the
1964-65 season. They lost the final 3-2 to a Celtic team that was at the beginning of new manager Jock Stein's era. The Pars finished 3rd in the league, one point behind top two
Kilmarnock and
Hearts. The following year Cunningham took Dunfermline to the
Inter Cities Fairs Cup quarter-finals.
Alex Ferguson was a player in the Dunfermline squad between
1964 and
1967.
George Farm was manager from 1967 until
1970. He matched Stein by winning the Scottish Cup in
1968 with a 3-1 win in the final against Hearts. Farm then surpassed Stein and took the club to their greatest achievement to date, the semi-final of the
European Cup Winners Cup in season 68-69, losing 2-1 on aggregate to eventual winners
Slovan Bratislava. On the way to the semi-final Dunfermline beat
APOEL,
Olympiacos and
West Bromwich Albion.
1980s
In
1985-86 season, Dunfermline were promoted along with
Queen of the South from the Scottish league's 3rd to 2nd tier.
In the
1987-88 season, Dunfermline knocked
Rangers who were managered by
Graeme Souness out of the
Scottish Cup in the
4th round with a 2-0 home victory. Mark Smith and John Watson scored goals early in each half.
John Brown was sent off for Rangers.
1990s
The
1995-96 season featured a triumphant
Scottish First Division championship title and automatic promotion to the
Scottish Premier Division. However it was also the season when the club's then-captain and all-time great player
Norrie McCathie died suddenly at the age of 34. The team went on to remain in the
Scottish Premier League until
1999, when they were briefly relegated to the Scottish First Division for one season.
East End Park was redeveloped and the home fans' end of the ground was renamed the Norrie McCathie stand.
Scottish Premier League (2000–2007)
Dunfermline's seven year stay in the
Scottish Premier League proved to be patchy, but the club did endure some fine seasons. The
2002-2003 season saw them finish 5th, their highest position yet with
Stephen Crawford scoring a whopping 19 goals. The following season, Dunfermline did even better finishing 4th place as well as reaching the final of the
Scottish Cup which also in addition saw them qualify for the
UEFA Cup.
It was at this point after a fine season for the small club that saw manager,
Jimmy Calderwood and assistant
Jimmy Nicholl left the club to turn the fortunes of rivals,
Aberdeen who themselves had finished in a paltry 11th place finish. This proved to be a downfall in the fortunes of the club. In
2004-2005 under the newly appointed
David Hay the team ended up in the lower half of the SPL which led to Hay being sacked.
Jim Leishman who was promoted to the manager's job for a second spell as manager and during the last 3 games of the season, he guided the team to safety and avoided relegation.
However, a year later brought another equally disappointing season during
2005-2006 including an embarrassing 8-1 home defeat against
Celtic F.C. in
February 2006, Dunfermline's worst defeat since the formation of the SPL in
1998. This was in a season when the Pars also reached the final of the
CIS Cup, losing 3-0 to
Celtic F.C. at
Hampden Park. The
2006-07 season proved to be a bad start and Leishman returned to his job as
Director of Football with
Stephen Kenny being appointed as the new manager in
October 2006. However he couldn't turn round the fortunes of the club nor repeat Calderwood's success in the league as neither could the previous two managers. Dunfermline were relegated from the Scottish Premier League on the
12th of May,
2007 after losing by two goals to one against
Inverness Caledonian Thistle.
Jim McIntyre had put the Pars one nil up after 37 minutes, but two late goals from Caley Thistle sealed Dumfermline's relegation to the
Scottish First Division. Perhaps the loss of star players such as
Stephen Crawford,
Craig Brewster and
Barry Nicholson in the preceding season were key to losing the battle to avoid relegation.
First Division (2007 onwards)
After relegation to the
Scottish First Division, Dunfermline lost two of their main players in goalkeeper
Dorus de Vries who signed for
Welsh side
Swansea City and midfielder
Gary Mason who opted to stay in the
SPL with
St. Mirren. After losing the opening game of the season 2-1 to
Hamilton Academical, the Pars played against a
Manchester United XI in
Scott Thomson's testimonial match, losing 4-0. Their first
UEFA Cup match since defeat against
FH Hafnarfjörður in 2004 came against
Swedish Superettan team
BK Häcken at home where they drew one all. The return leg was played in
Gothenburg two weeks later. Dunfermline lost the game 1-0, losing 2-1 on aggregate.
Dunfermline continued to play badly and it took four games into the season for them to record their first win. The team, who at the start of the season were favourites to go straight back up found themselves in 9th position after only 7 games, recording only one win. One positive aspect of the new season was the team managing to get to the final of the
Challenge Cup beating
Clyde,
Airdrie and
Ayr United on the way. On the
25th of November The Pars were defeated 3-2 by
St Johnstone at
Dens Park. The date of the final was changed from the
4th of November to the 25
th because it would have required the postponement of First Division games involving the pair.
After one year in charge,
Stephen Kenny's Dunfermline side languished near the bottom of the First Division Table. On the
4th of December 2007, Kenny was sacked as Dunfermline Athletic manager. Striker
Jim McIntyre took charge as
caretaker head-coach of the club. Mcintyre's first match in charge was a home clash against Clyde on the
8th December 2007. The Pars managed to scrape a one all draw. After going six games undefeated, McIntyre was appointed as Dunfermline manager on a full time basis on the
3rd of January 2008, signing a two-and-a-half year deal. In late
March 2008, local newspaper
Dunfermline Press
announced that Dunfermline Athletic were going into administration. The newspaper claimed they'd a "credible" source but this source couldn't be substantiated. Dunfermline Athletic later made a statement saying that the claims made by the newspaper were false and that they were "disappointed" by the article. After languishing near the bottom of the table for the first half of the season, the
Fife side managed to improve their results after Jim McIntyre was brought in, finishing 5th in the league after 36 games.
Origins of nickname
According to
Black and White Magic, a 1984 book about the club by Jim Paterson and Douglas Scott, there are numerous theories as to the origin of the club's nickname, the
Pars. The authors wrote:
Most tend to confirm the more common belief that the name arose from the team's parallel striped shirts, their drinking habits or their style of play. The latter were both described as "paralytic". The earliest theory claims that in the early days when the Football Club was closely connected with the Cricket Club, the footballers were renowned for their performances at the bar and so were called the "Paralytics".
However in the early 1900's it's known that Athletic's nickname was the "Dumps" - shortened from Dunfermline - and this is said to have been coined by English sailors visiting East End Park when their ship docked at Rosyth. After the 1914-18 War they were known as the Pars and some believe the parallel black and white stripes to be the reason.
Another school of thought involves English workers who came to work at the armaments depot at Crombie and at Rosyth Dockyard; they kept their association with their local team by forming the Plymouth Argyle (Rosyth) Supporters Club and it's said that the Dunfermline nickname comes from the banners in evidence around the ground.
Although almost certainly coincidental, there's also a curious resemblance to
Dùn Phàrlain, which is the
Gaelic name for Dunfermline.
Crest
The current Dunfermline Athletic club badge was designed in
1957 by Colin Dymock, an art teacher at
Dunfermline High School.
The "DAFC" represents the initials of the club, with the tower depicting the
Malcolm Canmore Tower. The tower was adopted by the town of
Dunfermline to be used for the Burgh Arms and old way seals. Malcolm Canmore was
King of Scotland from
1057 to
1093, and made his residence in Dunfermline within what is now Pittencrieff Park. The park is represented by the blue and black area behind the tower.
The green area at the bottom of the crest is meant to represent the club's stadium,
East End Park.
Colours
For much of Dunfermline's history their home colours have been black and white striped shirts, with black shorts and black socks, though recently they've worn white shorts and white socks. From the clubs formation in
1885 until
1901, the club's home colours were a plain maroon shirt with either navy or white shorts and either maroon, white or grey socks. The club then went through a period between
1901 and
1909 when their kits were blue. The club first wore their now well known black and white striped shirts in 1909 and have worn these colours every year apart from the
1971-
72 season, were they wore all white, the
2004-05 season, were they wore a white shirt with a single black stripe running down the left side of the shirt and during the
current season, were they currently wear an all white shirt with black shorts and white socks.
Conversely, Dunfermline's change or away colours have been very inconsistent, there's no set in stone standard and the club changes the away colours often, but most commonly it has been a shade of red (since the 2000s). The current away kit is an all blue kit, with white stripes running down the arms.
Shirt sponsors and manufacturers
Songs
Like other football clubs, Dunfermline has a number of songs and anthems. This was changed for Stephen Kenny's first official match in charge against
Aberdeen to
Teenage Kicks by
The Undertones, the song which
Derry City run out to, but has since returned to "Into The Valley" by local band "The Skids".
Personnel
Current
Squad (2007-2008)
» As of
20 May, 2008
(captain)
2008-09 transfers
» For a list of Dunfermline Athletic's 2008-09 transfers, see here.
Club officials
Boardroom
- Chairman: John Yorkston
- Director of Football: Jim Leishman
- Directors: Gavin Masterton, Frank McConnell, Rodney Shearer, Ed Smyth, Ronald Weymes
- Chief Executive: William Hodgins
Coaching and Medical Staff
Manager: Jim McInytre
Assistant Manager: Gerry McCabe
First Team Coach: Stephen Wright
Youth Coach: Hamish French
Goalkeeping Coach: Neil Inglis
Club Doctor: Bobby Robertson
Past
Managers
William Knight (1922-1925)
Sandy Paterson (1925-1930)
William Knight (1930-1936)
David Taylor (1936-1938)
Peter Wilson (1938-1939)
Sandy Archibald (1939-1946)
William McAndrew (1947)
Bobby Calder (1947-1948)
Sandy Terris (1948-1949)
Webber Lees (1949-1951)
Tom Younger (1951-1952)
Bobby Ancell (1952-1955)
Andy Dickson (1955-1960)
Jock Stein (1960-1964)
Willie Cunningham (1964-1967)
George Farm (1967-1970)
Andy Stevenson (1970) (Caretaker manager)
Alex Wright (1970-1972)
George Miller (1972-1975)
Jimmy Thomson (1975) (Caretaker manager)
Harry Melrose (1975-1980)
Pat Stanton (1980-1982)
Jimmy Thomson (1982) Caretaker manager)
Tom Forsyth (1982-1983)
Jim Leishman (1983-1990)
Iain Munro (1990-1991)
Jocky Scott (1991-1993)
Bert Paton (1993-1999)
Dick Campbell (1999)
Jimmy Nicholl (1999) (Caretaker manager)
Jimmy Calderwood (1999-2004)
David Hay (2004-2005)
Jim Leishman (2005-2006)
Stephen Kenny (2006-2007)
Jim McIntyre (2008-)
Notable Players
Pre-1980s
1934 Stewart Chalmers
1957 Eddie Connachan
1958 Harry Melrose
1958 Alex Smith
1960 Roy Barry
1960 Charlie Dickson
1960 Alex Edwards
1960 John Lunn
1961 Bert Paton
1964 Alex Ferguson
1966 Willie Callaghan
1967 Willie Duff
1970 Jim Leishman
1973 Geir Karlsen
1976 Hugh Whyte
1980s
1981 Norrie McCathie
1984 Ian Westwater
1987 Stuart Beedie
1987 John Holt
1987 Ross Jack
1987 Craig Robertson
1987 Hans Segers
1988 John Watson
1989 István Kozma
1989 George O'Boyle
1989 Tommy Wilson
1990s
1990 Scott Leitch
1990 David Moyes
1991 Neale Cooper
1991 Hamish French
1991 Jackie McNamara
1993 Ivo Den Bieman
1993 Stewart Petrie
1993 Andy Tod
1994 Derek Fleming
1995 David Bingham
1995 Brian Rice
1997 Gerry Britton
1997 Greg Shields
1998 Derek Ferguson
1998 David Graham
1999 Lee Bullen
1999 Edinho
2000s
2000 Stephen Crawford
2000 Ian Ferguson
2000 Gary Mason
2000 Barry Nicholson
2000 Youssef Rossi
2000 Marco Ruitenbeek
2000 Andrius Skerla
2001 Gus MacPherson
2002 Craig Brewster
2002 Derek Stillie
2003 Noel Hunt
2005 Mark Burchill
2005 Lee Makel
2005 Allan McGregor
2006 Adam Hammill
2006 Dorus de Vries
Achievements
Honours
Scottish Premier League, 4th Place - 2004
Scottish First Division Champions - 1989, 1996
Scottish Second Division Champions - 1926, 1986
Scottish Cup - Winners - 1961, 1968; Runners-up - 1965, 2004, 2007
Scottish League Cup - Runners-up 1950, 1992, 2006
Scottish Challenge Cup - Runners-up 2008
UEFA Cup Winners' Cup - Semi-finals 1969; Quarter-finals 1962
Inter Cities Fairs Cup quarter-finalists 1965-1966
Club records
Highest home attendance: 27,816 vs Celtic, 1968
Biggest league win: 11-2 vs. Stenhousemuir, 1930
Biggest league defeat: 10-0 vs. Dundee, 22 March 1947
Biggest all-time defeat: 17-2 vs. Clackmannan, Midland League, 1891
Most capped player: István Kozma, 40 for (Hungary), 1989-1992
Most appearances: Norrie McCathie, 576 (497 league), 1981-1996
Most career goals: Charles Dickson, 212 (154 league), 1955-1964
Record transfer free paid: £540,000 to Girondins de Bordeaux for Istvan Kozma, 9 August 1989
Record transfer free received: £650,000 from Celtic for Jackie McNamara, 4 October 1995
Foreign fields
Dunfermline Athletic have played competitive European matches in the following countries:
Belgium: Anderlecht
Croatia: Dinamo Zagreb
Cyprus: APOEL Nicosia
Czech Republic: Spartak Brno
Denmark: Boldklub 1903 Copenhagen
England: Everton, West Bromwich Albion, West Ham
France: Girondins de Bordeaux
Germany: VfB Stuttgart
Greece: Olympiacos
Hungary: Újpesti Dozsa
Iceland: FH Hafnarfjordur
Ireland: St Patricks Athletic
Macedonia: Vardar Skopje
Norway: Frigg Oslo
Poland: Gwardia Warsaw
Slovakia: Slovan Bratislava
Spain: Valencia, Athletic Bilbao, Real Zaragoza
Sweden: Örgryte, BK Häcken
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