Club History | Season 2000-2001
Dunfermline finished in 9th position as Jimmy Calderwood delivered on phase 1 and provided a season of improvement.
As the new season approached, everyone was delighted with work done by Jimmy Calderwood. The board had backed their manager and some interesting signings were in place for the commencement. Leaving the Club were Jamie Dolan to Livingston, Richard Huxford to Alloa and Kris Mampaey, who had returned to Belgium. Ian Westwater had moved to Hibs as player/goalkeeping coach. On the way in were Dutch goalkeeper Marko Ruitenbeek, Lithuanian international centre half Andrius Skerla, signed from PSV Eindhoven, where he had been recruited by Bobby Robson, promising young Rangers midfielder or full back, Barry Nicholson, St Mirren winger Junior Mendes and Motherwell`s Dutch midfielder Rob Matthei. Also joining were Hibs youngster Russell Huggon, Kevin McLeish and Mark McGarty (son of John a member of the 1967/68 Cup Winning team). Hamish French had joined the coaching staff.
The season opened on 29th July, at home to Aberdeen. A crowd of 7,391 watched a 0-0 stalemate which featured debuts for Ruitenbeek, Skerla and Mendes with Matthei on the bench as was Scott Y Thomson (the goalie). Barry Nicholson made his debut in the 3-0 away defeat to Dundee as August`s fixtures got under way. Another bore draw 1-1 followed at home to St Johnstone. Still living in the west, my next game was local at Fir Park, where The Pars won 1-0, thanks to a David Moss goal. Next Dunfermline put in their usual hapless performance at Ibrox, losing 4-1. The Pars progressed to the next round of the League Cup after beating East Stirling 1-0 at home and repeated the score at home to Dundee United in the League.
The League Cup got September in motion and another good win for Dunfermline, 2-0 at home to Motherwell, Scott Thomson and David Moss, the scorers. Scott Y Thomson was in goal for the away League match at Tynecastle but, despite a good display, could not prevent Hearts winning 2-0. The home match against Celtic was delayed until the Monday, to allow televising a 2-1 win for The Hoops. David Moss scored the goal to draw with Hibs at East End and on the last day of the month came a 2-1 defeat in Paisley.
October began with a blank week, because of internationals. Dunfermline had an attractive friendly at home to Feyenoord and an 8-2 hammering ensued. The Dutch wizards had Ziggy Malkowski (later of Hibs) in goal, former Ger Peter van Vossen, who scored one of the goals, Jan de Visser who scored one of the others and the brilliant Kalou (later of Chelsea), who claimed a hat-trick. Back to business with a 2-1 loss at Kilmarnock, The Pars managed a 0-0 draw on their next road trip, which was to Aberdeen. Dundee were the next visitors and were beaten 1-0.
Moroccan international Youssef Rossi had been signed, although he was currently injured, in the hope that a return to fitness would leave the club with a quality defender. Several players had gone out on loan, to get first-team football. Andy Tod went south to Stockport County, Brian Reid to Blackpool and Colin Nish back to Alloa. Hamish French resumed his playing career by also signing for Alloa, whilst retaining his coaching position with The Pars. The month ended with Dunfermline slipping out of the League Cup, losing 2-1 away to St. Mirren.
November started well with a 2-0 defeat of St. Johnstone in Perth, but they lost their next 2-1 away to Motherwell. The next match brought Rangers to East End and there was added interest as Youssef Rossi made his debut. He looked every bit as classy as any of Rangers international stars. Amongst the big names for the Ibrox side was a home grown talent - Scott Wilson. The game finished 0-0. Back on their travels, a 3-2 reverse was suffered at Tannadice, before finishing with a 1-0 home defeat of Hearts. December was bleak as Celtic handed out a 3-1 defeat at Celtic Park and Hibs a 3-0 stuffing at Easter Road. Thankfully, the team recovered to beat St. Mirren 2-0 at East End Park. Combative midfielder Gary Mason arrived from Manchester City but had to wait for his debut as Stevie Crawford got the goal which beat Kilmarnock to give Pars fans pre-Christmas cheer.
There was, however, a debut for 6`6`` striker Marinus Djikhuizen, who had arrived, on loan, from Utrecht. Boxing Day brought a home match, against Aberdeen, which The Pars won 3-2 , despite the best attempts of the weather to finish it off with freezing fog. The year 2001 came in with a dull thud as The Pars and St Johnstone played out a 0-0 draw at East End Park. The midwinter break followed before the same two had another goalless draw, this time in the Cup, in Perth. The month ended with a 1-1 draw at Fir Park. February began with yet another away match for Dunfermline, this time at Ibrox, where Rangers ran out comfortable 3-0 winners. Dundee United were the first visitors to East End and were seen off 3-1. Leaving the club were Craig Martin and Chris Templeman, who both moved to Stirling Albion. Brian Reid also turned his loan to Blackpool into a permanent move.
The Cup replay was next and what a thriller it turned out to be. Pars fans were lamenting a very poor first half performance, which had seen St Johnstone take a 2-0 half-time lead. For the first ten minutes of the second half, it was more of the same. In the 61st Scott Thomson blasted home to bring The Pars back into the game. Fifteen minutes later, Marinus Djikhuizen, who had not been playing well, became a hero and scrambled home the equaliser. With less than ten minutes to go, David Moss scored one of his trademark headers and the ground went crazy. There was no way back for the Saints and Dunfermline were through to the next round, which took place four days later and was another thriller.
Celtic were the visitors and The Pars had more than held their own. Andy Tod had been drafted in and did a magnificent job in keeping Chris Sutton quiet. Unfortunately Henrik Larsson was on top form and, just after the hour mark, he put Celtic ahead. Dunfermline fought back and the fans went wild as Andrius Skerla got the equaliser. The game flowed from end to end and, just when it looked as if Athletic would get the draw they deserved, Larsson struck again with only two minutes left. The Celtic hordes were in full song when Barry Nicholson scored a glorious equaliser. I badly bruised my arm illustrating how I thought the Celtic fans should get it right up! Barry Nicholson scored again to bring a 1-0 victory back from Dens Park, but the next match went horribly wrong when Hearts handed out a 7-1 mauling at Tynecastle.
Into March and the home league match against Celtic was conceded too easily 3-0 and it was more misery three days later in the Cup replay when Celtic won 4-1. Back at home, Hibs were beaten 2-1 and there was a debut, on loan, for Arsenal`s Lithuanian striker Tomas Daneleviscius, who really looked the part to me. Unfortunately a week or two later he was back down to Highbury, where he became the prodigious international striker who broke all records for his country. The programme congratulated Chris McGroarty on his selection to a Scotland U-21 squad, which also included Paul Gallagher, Jamie Langfield, Phil McGuire, Mark Burchill, Tam McManus and Derek Young. The month ended with a 1-1 draw away to St. Mirren.
April`s first match for Dunfermline was an away defeat 2-1 at Kilmarnock. The following weekend was a blank, so I went to see Alloa draw 1-1 with Ross County. The Wasps included Guido van de Kamp, Richard Huxford, Hamish French and Willie Irvine with Jim McQueen the sub goalie, County had Eddie Cunnington, Stephen Ferguson and sub John Fraser.
This year and for the next fifteen years the leagues had introduced a split after each team had played each other 3 times (some twice at home and once away, the rest the other way round), they then the top 6 played each other again, the bottom six likewise, but this could mean some teams playing an opponent three times at home or three times away. Sound baffling? It was totally unfair and could only happen in Scotland, where they couldn`t organise a farting contest in a baked bean factory. Anyway on with the farrago and The Pars were in the bottom half but safe from relegation, so had to play out five totally meaningless games. The first of these was at Pittodrie and was lost 1-0. Home to St. Mirren was next and a miserable 2-1 defeat, the outcome. One piece of good news was the call-up of Barry Nicholson and Stevie Crawford to the Scotland squad.
May arrived with three more games to go. The first of these was at Tannadice and a 1-0 defeat. The Pars penultimate match was at home to Motherwell and another dire performance saw The Well triumph 2-1. The crowd of 2,437 said it all. A few more turned up to see the final match, also at home, against St Johnstone, which finished 0-0. With Eddie May already released,
Jimmy Calderwood announced the transfer listing of Andy Tod, Rob Matthei, Junior Mendes, Lee Bullen and David Moss. Already fixed up for next season was Dutch striker Jack de Gier. Dunfermline finished in 9th position with 42 points, 12 clear of bottom club St. Mirren. They scored a total of 44 goals, in all competitions, Stevie Crawford with 9 and David Moss with 8, the top scorers. Despite the negative vibes from the post split matches, Jimmy Calderwood had delivered on phase 1 and provided a season of improvement.
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