East Fife FC

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East Fife
East Fife FC.svg
Basic data
Surname East Fife Football Club
Seat Methil
founding 1903
Colours yellow black
Website eastfifefc.info
First soccer team
Venue Bayview Stadium
Places 2,000
league Scottish League One
2019/20 5th place
home
Alternatively

East Fife Football Club (also called The Fife or The Fifers ) is a Scottish football club from the coastal town of Methil in the Fife region . The club currently plays in the third- tier Scottish League One .

The club was founded in 1903 and has a famous and unique history in Scottish football. East Fife was the first club to win the Scottish League Cup three times and, along with Hibernian Edinburgh, is the only club that has won the Scottish Cup as a lower-class club .

There are a total of four major clubs in the Fife region, of which East Fife is the only one that bears the region's name. There is a historically grown rivalry between the clubs Cowdenbeath , Dunfermline Athletic , Raith Rovers and East Fife.

Club history

Foundation and early years

The earliest known image of East Fife

The club was founded in January 1903. After initially taking part in various local leagues in the game operation, East Fife joined the Central Football League in 1909 . In this league played many clubs that benefited from the industrial growth in the region, coal and slate mining. This enabled them to pay players a higher salary than the Scottish Football League . However, to prevent the migration of their players to the Central Football League, the Scottish Football League integrated the Central. The Central Football League thus became the Scottish Football League Second Division at the start of the 1921/22 season

In 1927 East Fife reached the Scottish Cup final for the first time where they lost 3-1 to Celtic in Hampden Park . A decade later, however, in 1938 , it was done. In the final they won against FC Kilmarnock 4-2, in front of a crowd of 92,000 spectators. Thus, until the Hibernian Edinburgh Cup victory in 2016, they were the only non-first division club that could ever win the Scottish Cup.

The most successful years

East Fife's best years were without a doubt the decade after World War II . So they won the Scottish League Cup three times within seven years and in 1950 they were able to reach the final of the Scottish Cup for the third time .

In addition, you could always achieve one of the top places in the Scottish First Division in the period from 1948 to 1954 . Overall, East Fife was able to stay in the First Division for 10 years in a row before relegation.

1960s until today

After the end of the 1957/58 season, East Fife rose from Scotland's top division. Since then, it has not been possible to build on the successes of the past. In the 1970s they played again for three seasons in the Scottish First Division , but otherwise remained unsuccessful.

2006/07 East Fife was able to sit up and take notice again and after lean years reached the play-offs for promotion to the Scottish Football League Second Division . If you could still beat Stranraer in the first round, you lost in the final against Queen's Park FC . Spurred on by this success, they made some transfers in the run-up to the 2007/08 season. This should also pay off, because they dominated the league and at the end of the season were in first place with 74 points and thus 26 points ahead of second place FC Stranraer . It was the first league title in 60 years and the first trophy since 1954.

Club successes

Important players

Coach chronicle

  • David McLean
  • Scot Symon 1947-1953
  • Jerry Dawson 1953-1958
  • Jimmy Bonthrone
  • Dave Clarke 1978-1987
  • Gavin Murray 1987-1992
  • Alex Totten 1992-1993
  • Steve Archibald 1994-1996
  • Jimmy Bone 1996-1998
  • Steve Kirk 1998-1999
  • Rab Shannon 1999-2001
  • Dave Clarke 2001-2002
  • Jim Moffat 2002-2006
  • David Baikie 2006-2009
  • Stevie Crawford 2009-2010
  • John Robertson 2010-2012
  • Gordon Durie 2012
  • Billy Brown 2012-2013
  • Willie Aitchison 2013
  • Gary Naysmith 2013–

Web links