Club History | Season 2004-2005
A miracle worker was needed. Step forward the only man who could possibly save the situation. Jim Leishman was given the task, with Hamish French and Craig Robertson
Last season had been a dream, although it so nearly went wrong off the field. The two Jimmys had maintained the progress on the field. They had taken The Pars to 4th in the SPL, to the Cup Final and qualified for Europe. As the season ended, however, there was mounting speculation that they would move to Aberdeen. This subsequently came to pass and the Club had to find a new management team, which would have to operate on a shoestring.
The board announced David Hay as the new manager and I hoped that they would make Craig Brewster Player/ Assistant Manager to learn the ropes from David. It was not to be and in came Billy Kirkwood and Paul Hegarty. I was not alone in not being convinced.
In preparation for the new season, Jamie Langfield had been signed to cover for Derek Stillie`s intention to pack in football and concentrate on his studies. Stevie Crawford moved to Plymouth Argyle and Lee Bullen to Sheffield Wednesday. David Grondin returned to Arsenal, who promptly released him. Sean Kilgannon signed for Ross County. The only major incoming transfers were Derek Lyle and Simon Donnelly, whilst youngsters Greg Ross, John Dunn, Pat Scullion and Craig Wilson also moved up the ranks.
The season proper began on 7th August at home to Dundee United. Andy Tod scored to earn a 1-1 draw. Jim McIntyre got United`s goal. Former Pars captain Craig Robertson was added to the coaching staff. The following Tuesday saw the Club return to European Competition for the first time since January 1970. The opponents were Hafnarfjorldur from Iceland. Unfortunately the standard of play was abysmal and an ill prepared Athletic side was already 2-0 down by half-time. As he had done many times before, the wily fox Craig Brewster got The Pars back into the game and then assisted Andrius Skerla as he scored the equaliser. Athletic had got out of jail and had two away goals into the bargain. Back to the League and an away trip to newly promoted Inverness Caley Thistle, who were playing their home games at Pittodrie.
Another rank bad performance ended in a 2-0 defeat. The next game was a big one as The Two Jimmys rolled into town with their Aberdeen side. The Dons won 1-0 in front of 8,533 fans. Simon Donnelly made his first start for Dunfermline. The Thursday brought the return leg of the European tie. Due to some petty politics between FIFA and UEFA, the Pars were not allowed to play the match on their synthetic surface and it was scheduled for McDiarmid Park in Perth.
To mark the special occasion, Athletic were resplendent in the candy stripes they wore the last time they were in Europe. Once again, the standard of play was awful but, when Gary Dempsey put Dunfermline ahead, surely a win could be achieved? Each of the 7,189 fans in the stadium could see that the tactics were all wrong and that the part-timers from Iceland were finishing the stronger team. Even when the Icelanders equalised, The Pars would still have gone through on away goals, but the inept new management team made no attempt to change things. Inevitably the part-timers got the winner to leave the home fans disgusted. The last game of a wretched month was away to Kilmarnock who won 1-0.
September arrived with the customary blank week for international matches and when hostilities did get under way, Dunfermline had a home match with Motherwell. The match programme reported, with regret, the deaths of two Pars stalwarts, Tommy McDonald and Willie Duff. Hearts were the next to visit and surprise, surprise, a good performance with a precious 1-0 win, thanks to Barry Nicholson. Three days later, Partick Thistle were beaten 3-1 in the CIS Cup at East End Park. Thomas Butler made his first start in this match, whilst The Jags had Derek Fleming and Andy Dowie in their side and Gerry Britton on the bench. Dowie scored their goal. A 3-0 defeat at Celtic Park brought the month to an end with The Pars second from bottom.
October commenced with a match at home to Hibernian and, in front of a crowd of 7,290, Simon Donnelly scored his first goal to earn a draw. After losing 2-0 at Almondvale, The Pars recovered the following week, by winning 2-1 at Dens Park, Derek Young and Scott Thomson, the scorers. A narrow 2-1 defeat at home to Rangers was followed by going to Tannadice and winning 2-1 to finish the month in eighth place.
With Pat Clark going on loan to Berwick and Derek Lyle returning to Queen of the South, November started with a 1-1 draw at home to Inverness Caley Thistle. In midweek, Dunfermline exited the CIS Cup. beaten 3-1 at home by Hearts. More misery was inflicted by Aberdeen as they won 2-1 at Pittodrie but things brightened up in the next game when an excellent performance gained a 4-1 win at home to Kilmarnock. Greg Ross made his debut in this game. Craig Brewster scored a good goal, but it proved to be a going away gift, as he left to become Player/Manager at Inverness. The earlier decision by the board had come back to haunt them, as they had lost not only a good potential manager but our best player into the bargain. This was perfectly illustrated by the contrasting performances of the two sides over the rest of the season. Another poor month ended with a 2-1 defeat away to Motherwell.
December was going to be more of a trial. It started badly with a comprehensive defeat 3-0 at Tynecastle. Celtic won 2-0 at East End Park, without much difficulty before Hibs won a close game 2-1 at Easter Road. The last game of the year was a very poor affair, a 0-0 bore draw at home to Livingston to finish the year in 9th position, two points ahead of bottom club Dundee United.
2005 rolled in merrily with a 3-1 home win over Dundee. The Scottish Cup was next and an away tie against East Fife, which finished 0-0. Jesper Christiansen and Lee Makel both made their debuts in this game. Before the replay, Athletic lost 3-0 at Ibrox but defeated East Fife 3-1 in the replay at East End. Dundee United, now featuring Stevie Crawford, drew 1-1 in Dunfermline but January ended with a 2-0 defeat at the new Inverness stadium.
February opened with Round 4 of the Cup, at home to Celtic and a convincing 3-0 defeat. New signing Georghi Hristov was on the bench for this match. Two players had left the club, Pat Clark signed for Raith Rovers and Richie Byrne rejoined The Jimmys at Aberdeen. The Dons were the next visitors to East End Park and in an exciting game, The Pars won 2-1 with goals by Billy Mehmet and Simon Donnelly. Iain Campbell had his first start in the game. Aberdeen started Richie Byrne, Phil McGuire and Scott Morrison, with Scott Muirhead on the bench. Last action of the month was a 2-1 defeat away to Kilmarnock.
The first game in March was at home to Motherwell and Athletic were in 9th position, eight points ahead of bottom club Livingston. The result was a dull 0-0 draw. Both Jamie Langfield and Gary Dempsey left for Aberdeen. The following Saturday brought a visit from Hearts and Scott Wilson scored to earn a 1-1 draw. Young Craig Wilson made his debut in the next match. Unfortunately the result was a 6-0 drubbing at Celtic Park. This made the home match against Hibernian all the more important. The alarm bells were ringing at full-time after a 4-1 reverse.
April began with a trip to Almondvale. A hard fought 1-1 draw was the outcome. A 2-1 defeat at Dens Park could prove to be costly, especially when the last game before the split ended 1-0 to Rangers at East End Park. The Pars were in joint second bottom position with Livingston, who had been on a remarkable run. After the split, the first of the five games was at home to Inverness Caley Thistle and finished 0-0. An abysmal performance saw Athletic lose 2-0 away to Livingston and drop to bottom of the League. Something drastic had to happen and, at last, the board acted. David Hay and Billy Kirkwood were sacked and Paul Hegarty also left. Who could they turn to with such an impossible task?
A miracle worker was needed. Step forward the only man who could possibly save the situation. Jim Leishman was given the task, with Hamish French and Craig Robertson. With just three games to go The Pars went into the vital home match with Dundee fired by Jim`s quite remarkable powers of motivation. In front of 8,313 fans Dundee were completely un-nerved by Athletic`s performance and an own goal, an Andrius Skerla counter and a hat trick and wonder display by Derek Young produced a 5-0 win. The result meant that Dundee were now in bottom place and Dunfermline only two points behind Dundee United, who were 10th.
A trip to Tannadice was next and the magic continued when a priceless Gary Mason goal brought back all three points. The final week`s games threatened mass coronaries amongst the Fife faithful as Dunfermline trailed Kilmarnock 4-0 at half time. Livingston and Dundee drew at Almondvale, which meant relegation for The Dark Blues and sainthood for Jim Leishman.
Dunfermline finished 11th with 34 points. The top scorer was Andy Tod with only 7 goals. Top for appearances was Derek Stillie with 45, followed by Scott Thomson on 42, Darren Young and Gary Mason.
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