Club History | Season 1961-1962
4th in the League, Scottish Cup Semi-Finalists and the Quarter-Finalists in the European Cup Winners Cup.
As the celebrations after the previous season`s Cup Final victory, died down, The Pars had a new season to look forward to under Jock Stein, and the adventure of European football to come. Jock had added two free transfer players - Jim Thomson from St. Mirren and Bert Paton from Leeds United - and John Lunn also arrived at the club. Going in the other direction was Cup Final goal scorer Dave Thomson who signed for Leicester City.
The month of August would have seven fixtures, beginning with a 2-1 friendly win in Coleraine. The serious stuff got under way badly with a 2-1 defeat at home to Aberdeen in the League Cup. The other two teams in the section were Dundee United and Motherwell.
Athletic gained draws against these two, 0-0 at Tannadice and 1-1 at Fir Park. Midway through the sectional ties came the opening League match which ended in a 3-2 defeat away to Dundee United. Back to the League Cup and a third away draw, this time 0-0 at Pittodrie. The last game of the month was a big improvement as George Miller, Alex Smith and Charlie Dickson got the goals to beat Dundee United 3-0.
September brought the final sectional tie and two goals from Charlie Dickson secured a 2-0 win at home to Motherwell. Eddie Connachan was capped by the Scottish League for their match against the League of Ireland in Dublin. A crowd of 11,706 watched The Pars beat Hearts 2-1 in the League at East End Park.The long awaited debut in Europe was next and it was Irish opposition in the form of St. Patrick`s Athletic (Dublin). A crowd of 10,890 was in East End Park to see a fine 4-1 victory, with goals from Melrose, Peebles, Dickson and McDonald. The team on this memorable occasion was:- Eddie Connachan, Cammy Fraser, Willie Cunningham, John Duffy, Tommy McDonald, Alex Smith, Charlie Dickson, George Peebles, Harry Melrose.
The Fife derby at Starks Park ended in a 2-2 draw before a home win 2-1 against Falkirk.
Dunfermline cruised through the away leg against St.Patrick`s with two goals each for Charlie
Dickson and George Peebles, without reply. The month`s business was completed with a 1-1 draw at Fir Park.
The omens for October were not good when Athletic lost 3-0 to East Fife in the Fife Cup at Bayview. This was followed by more defeats, 1-0 away to Partick Thistle, 1-0 at home to St Johnstone and 2-1 at home to Dundee - not the best preparation for the first visit of a continental team to East End Park as Cup Winners Cup football returned in the shape of FK Vardar. A crowd of 11,958 watched as The Pars won convincingly 5-0. Unfortunately the poor League form returned with another defeat, though only by 2-1 away to Celtic. Athletic had only won twice in the League and hadn`t won away all season.
November kicked off with Dunfermline`s first away win in the League when they beat Stirling Albion 3-2 at Annfield. Eddie Connachan got his first full Scotland cap before the trip to Yugoslavia for the away leg against Vardar. A 2-0 defeat saw The Pars through on a 5-2 aggregate. This was celebrated by beating Airdrie 6-2 at East End Park with a hat trick by young Jackie Sinclair. Athletic were on fire now and won 4-0 at Pittodrie before finishing the month with a 2-2 draw at Rugby Park.
Third Lanark escaped from East End Park with a 1-1 draw before December continued with the Scottish Cup. A 5-1 home win against Forfar Athletic saw Athletic safely through. A big crowd of 17,163 packed East End to see a Harry Melrose goal beat Rangers 1-0. Hibs were beaten 2-1 at Easter Road before the year ended with a spectacular 7-0 win at home to St. Mirren. A personal triumph for Charlie Dickson who scored six of the goals.
1962 began with a home match in the League against Dundee United and a good win 4-1. Falkirk at Brockville were next and a 2-1 win kept the run going. The Fife derby at home to Raith Rovers finished 3-0 to The Pars and they followed this by beating Motherwell 2-1, also at East End Park.
The Scottish Cup draw had given Dunfermline a home tie against Wigtown and Bladnoch. A 9-0 stroll took Athletic through to the next round and completed a 13 game unbeaten run in the last game of the month against Hearts with a 3-2 win at Tynecastle.
The Pars got back to their winning ways by beating Partick Thistle 4-2 at East End Park and continued their February matches with an excellent 5-2 win at Muirton. The trip to Hungary was next and Dunfermline stormed into a two goal lead against Ujpest Dosza before the Hungarians fought back to lead 4-2. Tommy McDonald, who played a stormer, pulled one back to finish the game 3-4 and give great hope for the second leg.
Stenhousemuir in the Scottish Cup found a tired team that only managed a 0-0 draw at East End. The second leg of the Cup Winners Cup drew a crowd of 24,049 and Dunfermline played well but could not find a way past the Hungarian defence in which goalkeeper Ferenc Lung and centre half and captain Karoly Rajna excelled. The young star Ferenc Bene scored the only goal with a header. As often happens after such a big midweek game, it took its toll on the following Saturday and Athletic lost 3-0 at home to Celtic. February`s fixtures were completed with the Cup replay against Stenhousemuir, which The Pars won comfortably 3-0 at Ochilview.
A home league match against Stirling Albion brought in March`s fixtures and Athletic won 3-0. A trip to Dens Park was next and Bert Paton and George Peebles got the goals which gave The Pars a win against the season`s eventual champions. The Cup Semi-Final drew Dunfermline against St. Mirren whom they had beaten at the same stage last year. The Buddies got their revenge with a 1-0 victory. A few days later Airdrie won 3-1 at Broomfield but Athletic recovered in the next game with a 4-1 win at Pittodrie. Two more games to complete the seven match quota for March. Hibs were well beaten 4-0 at East End, with Bert Paton again amongst the scorers. George Peebles got both goals to beat Kilmarnock in the last game to be played in front of the old stand.
To allow work on the new stand to begin, all three games in April were away from home and the season fizzled out with a 1-0 defeat at Ibrox, a 1-1 draw at Cathkin Park and a 4-1 loss at Love Street. May was spent on tour in Norway.
The Pars finished 4th in the League, reached the Semi-Final of the Cup and the Quarter-Final of the Cup Winners Cup.
Their record of conceding only 15 goals at home all season was the best in any league in Britain. Charlie Dickson netted 29 goals in all competitions with Harry Melrose on 23 in second place. John Sweeney, Andy Matthew and Jimmy Stewart were released.
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