Club History | Season 1968-1969
A glorious run in Europe provided the highlight to the season, but it should not be ignored that the Club finished third in the League and qualified again for Europe.
After the previous season`s Scottish Cup triumph, fresh signings had been lined up. Midfielder Willie Renton had been signed from St Mirren, winger Ian Cowan from Falkirk and goal-scoring prospect George McKimmie from junior ranks. The best news was Roy Barry`s decision to withdraw his transfer request.
As usual, the League Cup sectional matches formed the August start to the season. The Pars section included Dundee United, Aberdeen and Clyde and the opener was at East End Park against United. Memories of the Cup Final as Ian Lister and two from Pat Gardner got Athletic off to a winning start, 3-2 the score. The programme noted that Roy Barry who was currently suspended, had entered an Edinburgh nursing home to have his tonsils removed. A midweek 1-0 defeat at Pittodrie preceded the tie with Clyde at East End Park. Barrie Mitchell and Bert Paton got the goals in a 2-1 home win. Pat Delaney was at centre half for the Bully Wee. The rest of the League Cup campaign unravelled in defeats 2-1 at Tannadice, the same score against Aberdeen at East End and 3-0 at Shawfield.
September brought the start of the League season, which began at home to Raith Rovers. A close fought encounter finished 3-2 in favour of The Pars. Two goals from Bert Paton and one from Ian Lister won the day. Former Pars Paddy Wilson and Mike Judge played for The Rovers as did future East Ender Jim Gillespie. A 3-1 defeat at Tynecastle was not the best preparation for the return to the European stage but a 10-1 trouncing was handed out to Cypriot side Apoel (Nicosia). The following weekend Celtic arrived on League business and were held to a 1-1 draw. The scorer of The Pars goal was Jim Fraser and interviewed after the game he was asked "How did you feel when you scored the equaliser" his reply was priceless - "I hurt my toe". The momentum was maintained with a 1-0 win away to Kilmarnock.
October began in the Cyprus sun. Youngsters Eddie Ferguson, George McKimmie and Stewart Kennedy were included in the party. Pat Gardner and Willie Callaghan scored to ease the team to a comfortable 2-0 win. St Johnstone at home was next and another comfortable win, this time 3-1. Falkirk were next on the hit list with a 1-0 win at Brockville but Rangers proved too strong, winning 3-0 at Ibrox. Newly promoted Arbroath completed the month`s fixtures and suffered a 2-0 defeat at East End Park, both goals scored by Barrie Mitchell against his former club. Jim Herriot finally got a long overdue first cap when he played for Scotland against Denmark in Copenhagen.
November arrived with a home game against Morton. An entertaining match finished 5-3 to The Pars. Unfortunately, the game was marred by a ridiculous sending off for Roy Barry and thoroughly fed up with Scottish referees treatment of him he put in another transfer request. John McGarty continued to make progress from his skin graft operation, following his horrific car crash and Willie Duff was also coming along after his cartilage operation. A 1-0 defeat away to Dundee preceded the home first leg tie against the Greek side Olimpiakos. Goals from Jim Fraser, Barrie Mitchell and two from Alex Edwards, without reply saw Athletic to a 4-0 win. Some brutal tackles from the Greek side gave an indication of what the second leg would be like.
Clyde were the next visitors and a narrow 2-1 win recorded. The board announced that they had reluctantly agreed to Roy Barry`s transfer request, in the interests of the player. Other news was that Ian Hunter had joined his former manager Willie Cunningham at Falkirk. Young blond bombshell Jimmy Brown had joined the playing staff. Eddie Ferguson made his first team debut in an away draw 2-2 against Airdrie.
The return leg in Athens was next on the agenda. The match turned out to be a disgrace, reporters stating that the referee had been deplorably weak and that the Scots had to endure outright thuggery, before Barrie Mitchell finally snapped and lamped the latest Greek to foul him. The Pars held out at 3-0 against to go through 4-3 on aggregate. The relief was evident the following Saturday when a 5-1 thrashing was handed out to Aberdeen at East End Park. A Pat Gardner hattrick was bolstered by goals from Alex Edwards and Bert Paton.
Tom Callaghan, who had recently won his first Scottish League cap re-joined Jock Stein at Celtic. It said a lot for the Pars that he had been signed to give the Celtic midfield a player experienced in European football. The first result in December was a 1-0 win at Firhill and this was followed by a 6-2 trouncing of St Mirren at East End. The form could not be maintained, however and Easter Road saw a 3-1 defeat. The year ended with a 2-2 draw at home to Dundee United. The prolific striker Jim Traynor was signed from Petershill.
The New Year was welcomed with a 0-0 draw in Kirkcaldy and a day later Hearts were in town for a visit. Although manager George Farm had been understanding of Roy Barry`s situation, he was far from impressed when Bent Martin put in a transfer request. He immediately replaced him with Willie Duff. Two goals from Bert Paton and one apiece from Pat Gardner and Barrie Mitchell secured a 4-2 win. A crowd of over 40,000 saw the Fifers lose 3-1 at Celtic Park. To cover Roy`s expected departure, Doug Baillie was signed from Falkirk. Kilmarnock were next to visit East End Park and the usual hard fought game ended 1-1, with John Lunn scoring The Pars goal.
The following Wednesday brought the European Cup Winners Cup Quarter Final first leg at home to West Bromwich Albion. Willie Duff continued in goal, Alex Totten covered for the injured Willie Callaghan and Ian Lister for the suspended Barrie Mitchell. The Baggies team included John Osborne, Doug Fraser, John Talbut, Tony Brown, John Kaye, Bobby Hope, Jeff Astle and Asa Hartford and they held out for a tense 0-0 draw. As often happened after a midweek European tie, a tired team suffered a 2-1 defeat away to St Johnstone. The final game of the month was the beginning of another Scottish Cup campaign and a trip to Starks Park. Pat Gardner and Bert Paton scored to achieve a 2-0 win.
The 1st February had Dunfermline at home to Falkirk and a 2-0 scoreline kept Pars fans happy. Willie Cunningham had brought in George Miller to skipper the Bairns in a bid to stave off relegation. A new pub had been built on Halbeath Road at Touch. This was The Elizabethan, soon to become the favourite pre-match haunt for fans, which it remains to this day. Postponement of the Cup tie at Aberdeen meant that the next game was a trip to Gayfield to meet Arbroath. Bert Paton scored the only goal on a perishing cold day with freezing spray blowing in from the North Sea.
Midweek and it was off to the Midlands to play the return leg with West Brom. The English club had given the impression after their draw at East End that they considered it job done but, despite this, there was tremendous interest in the tie from the Scots. An estimated 2,000 fans travelled down for the game and British Rail even put on a special train. A further crowd, in the region of 7,000 paid to watch on giant screens erected on the pitch at East End Park. A quite marvellous display saw the defence, led by Roy Barry refuse to be beaten and Pat Gardner netted a precious goal to put The Pars through to the Semi Final beating a side who, the previous week, had put Arsenal out of this year`s FA Cup.
Athletic celebrated with a 2-0 win away to Morton and, three days later, had to travel north to face Aberdeen in the postponed cup-tie. Goals from Jim Fraser and Willie Renton earned a replay. In stepped the SFA with a typically ludicrous decision, insisting that the replay must take place two days later. With a League match due on the Saturday, this meant six games in a 17 day period. So much for helping a provincial club bring European glory to the country. It all proved too much and a shattered Pars team lost the replay 2-0.
March 1st brought that 6th game in 17 days - a League match at home to Dundee. Alex Kinninmonth, George McLean and Jocky Scott all featured for the Dark Blues, but goals from Hugh Robertson and Alex Edwards brought a 2-0 home win. Clyde handed out the usual defeat at Shawfield, 3-0 this time, but Athletic bounced back when an Ian Lister goal was enough to see off Airdrie at East End. George McLean was signed from Dundee for what, at the time, was the highest fee ever paid by Dunfermline. Another 2-2 draw at Pittodrie, this time in the League, saw the debut of George McKimmie before the month ended with a 2-0 home win over Partick Thistle, with a first goal for George McLean and one for Pat Gardner. Evergreen Dan McLindon was still playing for The Jags.
The first game in April was an away match against St. Mirren. The 2-1 win was enough to ensure that The Pars would finish high enough to qualify for European football next season. The home leg of the ECWC Semi-Final was next and Slovan Bratislava the opponents. Slovan was a top team, packed with internationals, including the brothers Capkovic. Jan Capkovic scored for the Czechs but Jim Fraser`s equaliser gave some hope for the second leg. Tannadice was the next venue as Jim Fraser and Barrie Mitchell scored in a 2-2 draw. The second leg of the semifinal was spoiled by another joke of a referee who kept giving nothing fouls against The Pars, whilst ignoring a succession of assaults on Athletic players. He then compounded it by sending off Pat Gardner for an imagined foul on Jan Capkovic. It was he who scored the only goal against the ten men. Despite the unsatisfactory nature of the defeat, there was no denying that Slovan were a quality side and they proved this by beating Barcelona in the Final.
Back to League business and a midweek 1-1 draw at home to Hibs and on to the final game of the season, at home to Rangers. The game was one too many for an exhausted team and they slumped to defeat. There is no doubt that the glorious run in Europe provided the highlight to the season, but it should not be ignored that the Club finished third in the League and qualified again for Europe. With the Scottish Cup won in his first season and this season`s achievements, there can be no denying George Farm`s place in Pars History.
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