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| Full name | Cowdenbeath Football Club | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Nicknames | The Blue Brazil Cowden The Miners | ||
| Founded | 1881; 144 years ago (1881) | ||
| Ground | Central Park | ||
| Capacity | 4,309[1] | ||
| Chairman | Donald Findlay[2] | ||
| Manager | Paul McLean | ||
| League | Lowland League | ||
| 2024–25 | Lowland League, 10th of 18 | ||
| Website | www | ||
Cowdenbeath Football Club (/kaʊdənˈbiːθ/kow-dən-BEETH) is a Scottish semi-professionalfootball team based inCowdenbeath,Fife. They are members of theLowland League, the fifth tier of theScottish football league system after their relegation fromScottish League Two on 14 May 2022 following a 4–0 aggregate defeat toBonnyrigg Rose. Formed in 1881, the club has played atCentral Park since 1917. They first joined theScottish Football League (SFL) in 1905. The club has never won any of the major honours in Scottish football, but have won lower tier divisional titles on five occasions. They competed in the top division of the SFL from 1924 to 1934, but have only completed one further top flight season since, in1970–71.
 | This section needs to beupdated. The reason given is: relegation from the SFL. Please help update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information.(December 2023) |
Cowdenbeath traditionally date their origin to the merger of two local clubs, Cowdenbeath Rangers (formed 1880) and Cowdenbeath Thistle, which occurred in 1881.[3] However, research by the club's historian[4] suggests the Cowdenbeath Rangers name continued to be used at this time and the founding of Cowdenbeath F.C. should properly be dated to 1882,[5] when another merger saw Rangers combine with a local club called Raith Rovers (formed 1881 and unrelated tothe present Kirkcaldy club). The establishment of one club to represent the town thus coincided with the establishment of the Fifeshire Football Association that year. Cowdenbeath, who are the oldest surviving football club in Fife, lost in the inauguralFife Cup final in 1883 but won the Cup for the first time in 1885.
In 1888 the club moved toNorth End Park, and in 1905 were admitted to Division Two of theScottish Football League. They won Division Two in1913–14 and1914–15, but were not promoted to Division One on either occasion. The SFL was suspended due toWorld War I in 1915, and the club moved toCentral Park in 1917. They were placed in Division Two when it was reformed in 1921, and after finishing as runners-up in1923–24, the club were promoted to Division One for the first time.
The club remained in Division One until being relegated at the end of the1933–34 season but claimed their third Division Two championship in1938–39. This feat was in no small part aided byRab Walls' 54 League goals – the second highest seasonal total in Scottish League history, behind only Jimmy Smith's 66 goals for Ayr United in 1927/28.[6] However, the outbreak ofWorld War II cut short Cowden's return to Division One, and the club closed down for the duration of hostilities. When peacetime football resumed in 1946, the club were controversially placed in the new (second tier) B Division.
While a 1949League Cup success overRangers atIbrox was a highlight of the early post-war period, Cowden struggled to return to the elite level of Scottish football. This was finally achieved under popular managerAndy Matthew in the1969–70 season, but the solitary season in Division One that followed remains the club's only top flight campaign since the 1930s. More recently, hopes for the future were raised when Cowden were promoted to theFirst Division inseason 1991–92, but they soon slumped back to the basement of the Scottish League amidst a run of 38 League games without a win atCentral Park.
A more professional approach was ushered in with the appointment of former Scotland defenderCraig Levein, who had begun his playing career with Cowdenbeath, as manager in 1997. Promotion from the Third Division was achieved in the2000–01 season, although they would be relegated again two years later. After a third-place finish in the2004–05 season. The2005–06 campaign saw the team achieve their first divisional title win for 67 years with player-managerMixu Paatelainen when they won the Third Division. Season 2008–09 saw Danny Lennon's side miss out on promotion in a penalty shoot-out after a scoreless two-legged match and extra time against Stenhousemuir. However, they were promoted to the second division for the 2009–10 season asLivingston were demoted to theScottish Third Division after breaching the league's rules on insolvency. After a tough start to life in theScottish Second Division, Cowden soon found their feet and finished in third place. Amazingly they went on to defeat Alloa and Brechin in the play-offs to secure promotion.
Prior to the 2010–11 seasonJimmy Nicholl was appointed new manager.[7] They were relegated from theFirst Division to theSecond Division on Saturday 14 May 2011 after losing their relegation/promotion play-off semi-final tie 4–2 on aggregate toBrechin City with the first leg atGlebe Park ending 2–2 and the second leg atCentral Park ending 2–0 toBrechin City. It was a massive blow to the club especially after being 2–0 up at half time in the first leg in Brechin.
Under new managerColin Cameron,[8] Cowdenbeath immediately regained promotion the following season, winning the league with two games remaining. The season after, they ensured survival on the final matchday with a 3–1 away win overHamilton Academical.[9]The following season they avoided relegation again by defeating local rivals Dunfermline Athletic 4–1 on aggregate in the Championship Play Off final thanks to goals fromKane Hemmings,Greg Stewart andThomas O'Brien.
The following season they finished bottom of the Championship after losing 3–0 on the final day to fellow strugglers Alloa Athletic. Before kick off Cowdenbeath had sat in eighth place but were overtaken by Alloa and Livingston who also won. Jimmy Nicholl handed in his resignation shortly after the match leavingColin Nish to rebuild the team for life in Ladbrokes League One. Nish was unable to stop the slide and Cowdenbeath suffered successive relegations, finishing 9th but being defeated 2–1 on aggregate byQueen's Park in the semi-finals of the play-offs. Nish was sacked on 12 May 2016, being replaced byLiam Fox. Continuing Cowdenbeath's woeful run, they finished 10th in the2016–17 Scottish League Two.[10] They avoided a third consecutive relegation, and dropping out of the SPFL, by winning a play-off against Lowland League championsEast Kilbride.[11] The2017–18 season was no improvement at all, with Cowdenbeath finishing last again and having to go through the play-off to avoid relegation. Their opponents were Highland League championsCove Rangers and Cowdenbeath survived once again thanks to a 3–2 home win following an away goalless draw.[12] Comparatively, season2018–19 saw a successful campaign. The club finished in sixth place, comfortably avoiding the play-off spot by 24 points.[13] This improvement in form continued into the truncated season of2019–20, with the club finishing in fourth place after 27 games played.[14]
In June 2020, it was announced that fans had donated over £14,000 across three months via the 'Club 135' initiative, to assist the club financially during the ongoingCOVID-19 pandemic.[15]
Biggest win: 12–0 vsJohnstone inScottish Cup on 21 January1928[16]
Biggest loss:
Biggest homeattendance: 25,586 vsRangers on 21 September1949[16]
Youngest debut: Peter McKean vsForfar Athletic on 11 November 2014 (15 years 60 days in Scottish Championship
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined underFIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
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Note: Flags indicate national team as defined underFIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
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| Position[18] | Name |
|---|---|
| Chairman | Donald Findlay |
| Club President | Bob Brownlie |
| Honorary Presidents | Alex Anderson & Sandy Ferguson |
| Finance Director | David Allan |
| Club Director | Craig Scott |
| Governance & Compliance Director | Margaret Steven |
| Youth & Community Development Director | Thomas Ewing |
| Commercial Director | Malcolm Slora |
| Position[19][20] | Name |
|---|---|
| Player/Manager | Paul McLean |
| Assistant Manager | Graeme Nisbet |
| Player/First Team Coach | Gary Fusco |
| Goalkeeping Coach | Steven Parker |
| Football Operations Co-ordinator | Colin Nelson |
| Community Coach | Dean Ewing |
| Sports Therapist | Toni Ross |
| Kit Manager | Dale Smart |
| Assistant Kit Manager | Michael Dunster |
The following former Cowdenbeath players are all members of the club's Hall of Fame or recent players who are still playing at a higher level in Scotland (as well as some notable loan players).
Kenny AdamsonRay AllanEric Archibald Richard Baillie
Graeme BrownLiam Buchanan Fraser CarverWilliam DevlinJohn DicksonScott DuncanJohn Falconer Brian FerrierTom Glancy Charlie GronbachCraig Gordon George JordanAndy Kinnell Bob Law Thomas LeaskHookey LeonardCraig LeveinDuncan LindsayJohn MartinAndy MatthewJim McArthurAlex MenziesWillie Mercer
Markus PaatelainenMikko PaatelainenBill Paterson James Pollock John PollockDerek RiordanInnes RitchieAndy RollandDavie RossGreg StewartAlex VentersRab WallsSteven WeirGeorge WilsonCraig Winter John Young (−1905)Joe Parker (1905–1906)Sandy Paterson (1906–1924)James Richardson (1924–1925)Scott Duncan (1925–1932)Sandy Paterson (1932–1933)John Dougary (1934–1938)Bill Hodge (1938–1946)Willie Fotheringham (1946–1948)George Sweet (1948–1951)Bobby Baxter (1951–1955)John Dougary (1955–1958)Jimmy Mitchell (1958–1959)Archie Buchanan (1959–1960)Harry Colville (1960–1964)Archie Robertson (1964–1968)Andy Matthew (1968–1974)Bert Paton (1974)Dan McLindon (1974–1975)Frank Connor (1975–1977)Paddy Wilson (1977–1980)Pat Stanton (1980)Andy Rolland (1980–1982)Hugh Wilson (1982–1983)Willie McCulloch (1983–1984)John Clark (1984–1985)Joe Craig (1985–1987)Dick Campbell (1987)John Blackley (1987–1988)John Brownlie (1988–1992)Andy Harrow (1992–1993)John Reilly (1993–1994)[21] Paddy Dolan (1994–1995)Tom Steven (1995–1997)Sammy Conn (1997)[22]Craig Levein (1997–2000)[23]Peter Cormack (2000)[24][25] Gary Kirk (2000–2002)[23]Keith Wright (2002–2004)[26][27]David Baikie (2004–2005)[28][29]Mixu Paatelainen (2005–2006)[30][31]Brian Welsh (2006–2008)[32][33]
Danny Lennon (2008–2010)[34][35]Jimmy Nicholl (2010–2011)[36][37]Colin Cameron (2011–2013)[8]Jimmy Nicholl (2013–2015)[38][39]Colin Nish (2015–2016)[40][41]Liam Fox (2016–2017)[42][43]Gary Locke (2017)[44][45]Billy Brown (2017)[45][46]Gary Bollan (2017–2021)[47]Maurice Ross (2021–2023)Calum Elliot (2023–2024)Dougie Hill (2024–2025)Paul McLean (2025- present)
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