Dunfermline Athletic F.C. is a Scottish football club based in Dunfermline. Formed on 2 June 1885, the club first joined the Scottish Football League in 1912, participating in the Scottish Football League Second Division. The club were promoted to the top division of Scottish football for the first time in 1926, though they spent the majority of their first forty years in the second tier.
The club's greatest period came during the 1960s under the guidance of two managers, Jock Stein (1960–1964) and George Farm (1967–1970). Stein, best known as the long-serving manager of Celtic, guided the Pars to their first Scottish Cup victory in 1961 and brought European football to East End Park, with Dunfermline playing their first European match against St Patrick's Athletic in the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup in 1961. Farm continued this legacy, overseeing further adventures in European football, as well as the Pars most recent Scottish Cup win in 1968.
While that level of success has not been maintained since the 1960s, the club has continued to challenge for honours in Scottish football, appearing in the 2006 Scottish League Cup Final, as well as the 2004 and 2007 Scottish Cup Finals.
Nineteenth century Beginning (1874–1899) Dunfermline Football Club was formed in 1874, when members of Dunfermline Cricket Club decided to establish a football section with the intention of maintaining fitness during the winter. A dispute over club membership caused some members to split away from Dunfermline Cricket Club, which resulted in the creation of Dunfermline Athletic Football Club on 2 June 1885. The club became the principle football club in Dunfermline and their first twenty-five years saw them compete primarily as an amateur team until they turned professional in 1899.
Twentieth century (1900–1959) Having competed in minor local and national cups, Dunfermline first entered into the Scottish Football League in 1912 where they took part in the Scottish Division Two. The second tier was disbanded during World War I, and when it was not re-instated in 1919 when the conflict ended, Dunfermline were one of several clubs who joined the 'rebel' Central Football League, and were able to attract some top players due to being outwith the SFL's wage rules: Andy Wilson, who had made wartime international appearances, was the most prominent of these and he gained his first six official caps for Scotland while with the club. In 1921 the Central League and its members were absorbed into the SFL. The following years up until World War II saw the club achieve little success, with the side most frequently playing in the second tier, with occasional appearances in the top flight.
Bobby Ancell was offered the manager's post in 1950 but with the Pars making headlines for board room disputes, he declined the offer. With a new board in place two seasons later, Ancell was offered the position again and this time accepted. Improving year on year Ancell delivered promotion back to the top flight in 1955 before leaving to start a decade at Motherwell.
The golden age (1960–1969)
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 the 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 4–0 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 took 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 1968–69, losing 2–1 on aggregate to eventual winners Slovan Bratislava (Slovan beat FC Barcelona in the final). On the way to the semi-final Dunfermline beat APOEL, Olympiacos and West Bromwich Albion.George Farm career profile
Lower leagues (1970–1993) Dunfermline, managed by Pat Stanton started the 1980s in poor form. The core of the team were Pars stalwarts, Dr Hugh Whyte in goal, John Salton, Kenny Thomson and Dr Bobby Robertson in defence and Sandy McNaughton up front. Of this quintet only Salton was not an ever-present in the league campaign. The team developed a habit of losing streaks, 2 of five games and 2 of three games and this caused relegation nerves. They hovered in third bottom position for most of the last third of the season, only being saved by the ineptitude of the Stirling Albion side who failed to score in their last thirteen games and by Berwick Rangers who had held up the division for most of the season.
The Athletic made some headway in the 1981–82 season to mid table. Their home form let them down, only achieving three victories against St Johnstone, Queen's Park and East Stirlingshire whereas they won eight games on their travels. They were still over-reliant on 13 goal top-scorer Sandy McNaughton (in his last season at East End Park) but Grant Jenkins chipped in with 7. Team new boy, Norrie McCathie, signed in a swap deal from Cowdenbeath, scored 4 in his 19 appearances on his way to clocking up a club record of 497 league appearances before his death in 1996. Kenny Thomson and Bonar Mercer, both long servants, were freed at the end of the season. The team physio, Jimmy Stevenson retired after more than a quarter of a century of service.
In the 1982–83 season the team were poor throughout and in the drop zone almost constantly, especially after the New Year's Day hammering by Raith Rovers. A change of manager was inevitable and manager Stanton left to go to Hibernian. New manager, Tom Forsyth tried 29 players during the league campaign but never found a settled formation. McNaughton was gone and the lack of goals proved fatal, relegation to the lower Division was inevitable. The only bright spot in the whole season was the 2–1 home victory in February over Hearts. Off the pitch, the death of long-time director Andrew Watson was another low point.
A fresh season beckoned with a poor start with only three wins by the end of October caused yet another change of manager with the resignation of Tom Forsyth. The reserve team coach with no managerial experience was chosen from a long line of candidates. Jim Leishman had a strong Dunfermline pedigree, as a boy he had watched the 1960s Pars legends in European games and had progressed through the youth ranks to first team football before his playing career was ended by a bad leg break. The team initially continued to struggle under Leishman but he signed John Watson from Hong Kong Rangers for £300, in what proved to be a good move for the club. An otherwise uneventful 1983–84 season ended with a brief flourish and a final 9th position in Division 2. Hugh Whyte was the only ever-present and Stephen Morrison was the top league scorer with a meagre 9 goals.
The 1984–85 season opened in dramatic fashion. Six straight wins took the Pars to the top of the league with John Watson, Grant Jenkins and Norrie McCathie scoring well. The defence had been strengthened with the arrival of Dave Young at centre half. Good form lasted until October when the team hit a sticky patch which lasted until February. They managed one solitary victory over local rivals Cowdenbeath in November during this period and surrendered top spot to Alloa. The end of the league competition was closely fought but Montrose snatched the championship, with Alloa runners-up and Dunfermline third. Hugh Whyte, after long service since 1976, played his final league game of the season with a clean sheet against Stenhousemuir in March. Ian Westwater took over the goalkeeping mantle. The team scored 61 goals over the course of the season, John Watson leading the way with 15 but Grant Jenkins with 9, Norrie McCathie and Stevie Morrison with 8 each showed a great improvement on previous years.
To mark the Centenary a special game was arranged with Aberdeen as the visitors. Ian Heddle scored to seal a 1–0 victory.
The 1985–86 season league campaign opened with no major close season signings. An early defeat in the third week of the season when the Pars lost 3–1 at Hampden to Queen's Park was followed with a long unbeaten run from September until mid-January. The attack were scored well, putting six past Albion Rovers and four past St Johnstone, East Stirlingshire and Berwick Rangers (twice). Six other games ended with the opposition picking the ball out of the net three times. The fixture list was badly disrupted during the three winter months with Dunfermline only managing to play six games. Three victories were not enough and the Pars surrendered the number one position to Queen of the South. The Pars maintained second place during eight league matches in March and April. Dunfermline suffered consecutive away defeats in early April to Queen of the South and Meadowbank Thistle. This was followed with three 4–0 home wins against Albion Rovers, St Johnstone and East Stirlingshire, a 2–0 win at East End Park over Arbroath and then a 4–0 victory at Shielfield Park, Berwick that had taken the Pars back to the top of the league. The last two fixtures were both away, the attack failed to score at Stenhousemuir in a 0–0 draw and the final game was at Stirling Albion. The Pars scored first but ended up losing 3–2. Fortunately for Dunfermline, nearest rivals Queen of the South also suffered in the final run-in, drawing two and losing two games. This meant that Dunfermline were promoted along with Queen of the South from the Scottish league's third tier to the second tier. No player was ever-present, Ian Westwater and Dave Young missing only one game each and Norrie McCathie only missing two games. On the scoring front, the Pars netted 91 times in the league. John Watson was top with 24 goals and Ian Campbell was next with 15 and Grant Jenkins with 14 goals.