News and Events | Jimmy Calderwood (28 February 1955 - 19 January 2025)

Jimmy Calderwood managed Dunfermline through 152 SPL fixtures and in 2003/04 when the Pars finished 4th in the Premier League, the best the club has ever achieved. His success was not confined to the league - in 2004, Dunfermline reached the Scottish Cup Final for the first time since 1968.

Jimmy Calderwood brought supporters fond memories and some of Dunfermline Athletic`s greatest moments.

Born in Govan in Glasgow, Jimmy developed into a very good young midfielder. Signed as an apprentice by Birmingham City at the age of sixteen in 1971, Jimmy very quickly won first team recognition. Birmingham had just been promoted to the top division, but had no hesitation in giving 17 year old Calderwood his debut on 18 November 1972 against Stoke City, a game Birmingham won 2-1. Three weeks later Calderwood scored his debut goal to help Birmingham to a 1-1 draw against Leicester City, and by 1974, Jimmy had won international recognition with a Scotland Under-23 cap against England. However, by the late 1970s, Jimmy`s career had stalled and with his contract cancelled, Jimmy moved to Dutch football in 1980.

It was to be a move that hugely influenced his own take on the game, and one which in later years provided him with the knowledge and experience to successfully manage football in Scotland. In the 1980s, Jimmy played for a number of Dutch clubs including Sparta Rotterdam, Willem II, Roda and Heracles. His managerial career began with amateur football in Holland in 1991, before going on to manage Willem II and in 1977, NEC Nijmegen. However, it would be fair to say that football fans in Scotland by this stage hadn`t a clue who Jimmy Calderwood was. That was soon to change.

Back at East End Park, the mid-1990s, with Bert Paton and Dick Campbell at the helm, had seen the Pars revive their fortunes, gaining a best-ever 5th place in the Premier Division and reaching two League Cup semi-finals. However, Bert resigned in January 1999, and although Dick took his place, he was unable to prevent the club`s relegation. After a mixed start to 1999-2000, Dick too tendered his resignation on 2nd November. With a new stadium under construction, the club`s new owners led by Gavin Masterton and John Yorkston wanted Dunfermline to be ambitious on the park too, and were advised to have a look at a young Scottish manager who was gaining lots of accolades in Holland `“ that man was Jimmy Calderwood. In order to attract Calderwood to the job, the Board had to promise him a decent budget for players, and rightly or wrongly, that is precisely what they did.

Jimmy took over Pars manager on 30th November 1999, and had this to say on his appointment:

`I still had another year and a half of my contract to run in Holland. Although I had made no secret of the fact that I wanted to return to Scotland, I would not have been persuaded had it not been for the set up at Dunfermline and the definite ambition that the club has shown me.`

Jimmy`s impact was immediate `“ at last there seemed to be some tactical plan, and the football started to get played on the deck with patient build-up. Results, however, weren`t any more convincing and indeed Dunfermline failed to win the First Division title, only securing promotion in second place, but the changes to the way the game was being played was there for all to see.

Calderwood knew that he would have to strengthen the team if success was to be achieved, and the next four years would see Dunfermline go on a spending spree like never before. Perhaps one of his best qualities was his ability to identify talented players. By the time he reached his first season in the Premier League, he had encouraged Stevie Crawford to sign a long-term contract with the club and later persuaded former Rangers captain Ian Ferguson to join the Pars. He built him team around the likes of Barry Nicholson, Andrius Skerla, Lee Bullen and Marco Ruitenbeek, who were to become the vital to the team in the following four years.

He also rejuvenated players who had perhaps not been achieving their full potential before `“ Scott Thomson was the most notable of these, with Scott going on to become surely Scotland`s best uncapped defender under Calderwood. Players like Gary Mason, Derek Stillie, Scott Wilson and Craig Brewster followed soon after. Jimmy also used his extensive contacts to bring in players `“ his Dutch contacts allowed the likes of Kris Mampaey and Jack De Gier to sign in the early days, while his friendship with Don Given, the Republic of Ireland Under 21 manager, helped Dunfermline to secure the signatures of Gary Dempsey, Noel Hunt and Ritchie Byrne. And when he went to Lillieshall, he picked up Billy Mehmet and Aaron Labonte, two of the clubs` most talented youngsters.

Jimmy also built himself a reputation for being, at very least, unpredictable when it came to tactics. If Dunfermline were getting beaten, he would move from a conventional 4-4-2 system to 2-4-4, with just two defenders! It seemed quite a ridiculous idea, but it certainly made the opposition think. He also established one of the great goalscoring partnerships in Crawford and Brewster `“ a duo who at that time that would have improved any team in the land.

The net effect of all of this is that Dunfermline secured a regular Premier League place, which is something that no other Dunfermline manager did before or indeed, has done ever since. In his first Premier season, Jimmy took the team to a comfortable 9th place in the league; the following season the team managed a top six place, and in 2002/03 that moved one better to 5th place. However, the best was just about to come in 2003/04 when the Pars finished 4th in the Premier League, the best the club has ever achieved. Jimmy Calderwood managed Dunfermline through 152 SPL fixtures, a higher number of top flight matches than any Pars manager in history. His record was a decent one too, winning 50 of those top league matches. Unfortunately, his record against a dominant Old Firm was poor, with a miserly two wins and three draws in no fewer than thirty matches making his overall figure look worse than it really should.

His success was not confined to the league `“ in 2004, Dunfermline reached the Scottish Cup Final for the first time since 1968. The game at Hampden Park was a cracker, and showed just how far Dunfermline had come. Cheered on by 17,000 Pars fans, Dunfermline took a first half lead against Celtic, thanks to an Andrius Skerla header. Dunfermline also thought they had a penalty when Bobo Balde handled inside his own box, but there was no VAR in those days, and instead Henrik Larsson waltzed up the park to score for Celtic. Celtic won 3-1, but no matter `“ fans had had a great day out and were guaranteed European football for the first time in 35 years.

In the aftermath of the Final, Dunfermline fans were digesting that exciting prospect, when the news came in `“ Jimmy Calderwood would be leaving immediately to take over as Aberdeen manager for the start of the new season. It was a bitter blow for Pars fans and they were unhappy. Gossip about secret deals and betrayal lingered for ages, but time is a great healer.

Jimmy went on to manage Aberdeen for five seasons, winning the European qualification twice, but left the club in May 2009 after a disappointing end to the season. He was appointed Kilmarnock manager in January 2010 and helped save them from relegation. He nevertheless left the club at the end of the season, before taking on the manager`s role short-term at Ross County in February 2011. He returned to Holland in 2012, briefly managing Go Ahead Eagles and De Graafschaap.

In 2017, Jimmy was sadly diagnosed with early onset dementia. In a heart-rending interview with the BBC at the time, Jimmy said that taking Dunfermline to the Cub Final was his finest moment as a manager. He also said with no regrets, `I`ve had a wonderful life in football.` From everyone at Dunfermline, Jimmy, we`d just like to say thanks for allowing us to share some of those wonderful times.