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Dunfermline_Athletic_F.C.

Dunfermline Athletic F.C.

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 January 3 2008. He took over from Stephen Kenny in December of 2007 originally as caretaker boss. The 2008-09 season will be the club's 2nd season in the second tier of Scottish football, after being relegated from the Scottish Premier League in 2007.

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 (Slovan beat F.C. Barcelona in the final). 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 managed 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 could not 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 May 12 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. 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.

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 November 25 The Pars were defeated 3-2 by St Johnstone at Dens Park. The date of the final was changed from November 4 to the 25th 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 December 4 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 December 8 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 January 3 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 had a "credible" source but this source could not 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 1900s it is 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 is said that the Dunfermline nickname comes from the banners in evidence around the ground.

Although almost certainly coincidental, there is 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 have 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 2007-08 season, were they wore an all white shirt with black shorts and white socks. For the 2008-09 season, the Pars reverted to their well know black and white stripes resembling the kit they wore for the 1997-98 and 1998-99 seasons.

Conversely, Dunfermline's change or away colours have been very inconsistent, there is 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 2007-08 away kit was an all blue kit, with white stripes running down the arms and the current away is an all golden yellow kit.

Shirt sponsors and manufacturers

Period Kit manufacturer Shirt sponsor
1986–1988 Umbro Aluglaze
1988–1999 Avec Landmark
1999–2000 Auto Windscreens
2000–2001 TFG
2001–2005 RAC Auto Windscreens
2005–2007 The Purvis Group
2007–2008 Adidas
2008– Puma

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

Current squad

As of September 21 2008

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, Bill McIntosh, Rodney Shearer, Ed Smyth, Ronald Weymes
  • Chief Executive: William Hodgins

Coaching and Medical Staff

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)

Notable Players

Pre-1980s

1980s

1990s

2000s

Achievements

Honours

Club records

Foreign fields

Dunfermline Athletic have played competitive European matches in the following countries:

References

External links

Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia © 2001-2006 Wikipedia contributors (Disclaimer)
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License.
Last updated on Thursday October 09, 2008 at 02:09:42 PDT (GMT -0700)
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