 | |||
| Full name | Dunfermline Athletic Football Club | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Nickname | The Pars | ||
| Founded | 2 June 1885; 140 years ago (1885-06-02)[1] | ||
| Ground | East End Park | ||
| Capacity | 11,480[2] | ||
| Owner | Park Bench SFC LLC | ||
| Chairman | Jim Leishman | ||
| Manager | Neil Lennon | ||
| League | Scottish Championship | ||
| 2024–25 | Scottish Championship, 7th of 10 | ||
| Website | dafc | ||
 Current season | |||
Dunfermline Athletic Football Club is a Scottish professionalfootball club based in the city ofDunfermline,Fife. Founded in 1885, the club currently compete in theScottish Championship after winning the2022–23 Scottish League One title. Dunfermline play atEast End Park, are nicknamedThe Pars and are managed by formerCeltic andNorthern Ireland midfielderNeil Lennon.[3]
The Pars' most successful period was in the 1960s, when the side won theScottish Cup twice, in1961 and1968 under the management ofJock Stein andGeorge Farm respectively. The club regularly playedEuropean football in this period, reaching the semi-finals of the1968–69 European Cup Winners' Cup under Farm.
The club have played atEast End Park since their formation in 1885; however, the pitch they initially played on – also known as East End Park – was slightly west of the present stadium.[1]
After a period of relative success in the 2000s marked by appearances in three major finals (the2004 Scottish Cup Final, the2006 Scottish League Cup Final and the2007 Scottish Cup Final), all of which were lost againstCeltic, Dunfermline were relegated to theFirst Division in 2007. The club then encountered financial problems and, in April 2013, applied for and was granted full administration at theCourt of Session in Edinburgh,[4] and in October 2013, the fan group Pars United assumed control of the club.[5]
Dunfermline Football Club was formed in 1874, when members of Dunfermline Cricket Club decided to establish a football section, with the intention of maintaining fitness during the winter.[6] A dispute over club membership caused some members to split away from Dunfermline Cricket Club, which resulted in the creation of Dunfermline Athletic Football Club on 2 June 1885. The club became the principal football club inDunfermline and their first twenty-five years saw them compete primarily as an amateur team, until they turned professional in 1899.[7] The club first entered into theScottish Football League in1912 where they took part in theScottish Division Two. The fifty years following the club's admittance to the SFL saw little success, with the side most frequently playing in thesecond tier, with occasional appearances in thetop flight.
Dunfermline's finest period came during the sixties. After being appointed manager on 14 March 1960 and saving the club from relegation toScottish Division Two,Jock Stein – in his first managerial appointment – guided the Pars to their first major piece of silverware, winning theScottish Cup in1961 after just thirteen months in charge.
The years which followed saw Dunfermline consistently competing inEuropean competitions, reaching the semi-finals of the1968–69 European Cup Winners' Cup underGeorge Farm. Although they lost by one goal on aggregate to eventual winnersSlovan Bratislava, it remains the greatest achievement in Dunfermline's history.[8] This followed Farm managing Dunfermline to their second Scottish Cup victory, winning the competition in1968.
After a period of decline during the 1970s and much of the 1980s, the club returned to thetop tier in1987 under club legendJim Leishman, although they were subsequently relegated after just one season. The following years saw a similar pattern, with a handful of promotions and relegations throughout the 1990s. It was during this period that the club were rocked by the loss of club captainNorrie McCathie, who died on 8 January 1996 bycarbon monoxide poisoning.[9]
The appointment ofJohn Yorkston as chairman and the involvement of Gavin Masterton in 1999[10] saw the club enter a period of resurgence, with twoScottish Cup final appearances in2004 and2007, aScottish League Cup final in2006, as well as two short-lived excursions in theUEFA Cup in2004 and2007. In 2012 it emerged that the club had a number of outstanding tax bills withHMRC[11] following the financial mismanagement of the football club by Yorkston and Masterton. The club were put into administration on 11 April 2013[12] and after a points deduction, were relegated to thethird tier for the first time since1986.
Following relegation toScottish League One and with a depleted squad,Jim Jefferies remained as manager and achieved a comfortable second place finish behind aRangers team climbing the divisions following their own administration and multiple relegations two years prior.
The club were officially taken over by fans owned group Pars United in October 2013, including the full ownership of the club'sEast End Park.[13] Pars United's Bob Garmory was appointed the club's interim chairman and was joined on the board by Jim Leishman, Ian Hunter, Kip McBay, Craig McWhirter and Margaret Ross. Eventually Ross McArthur would become the club's new long standing Chairman.[14]
Jefferies’ side eventually failed to win promotion through the playoffs and he resigned in December of the following season.[15] The club stumbled to a 7th place finish underJohn Potter but the squad was in a much stronger position andAllan Johnston lead the Pars to the League One title by an 18-point margin in 2015.[16] This period in the club's history saw the arrival of fan favourites such asFaissal El Bakhtaoui,Andy Geggan and a returningJoe Cardle.[17]
Club legend and former strikerStevie Crawford was appointed head coach in January 2019 following a restructure that introduced other former playersJackie McNamara as technical consultant andGreg Shields as assistant head coach.[18] Crawford resigned after two and a half seasons and was replaced byPeter Grant,[19] who would become the manager with the lowest win percentage in the club's long history.John “Yogi” Hughes replaced Grant after five months and with the club bottom of the Scottish Championship he failed to turn around the team's fortunes, with the Pars once again relegated to League One.[20]
In September 2020 and at the height of theCOVID 19 pandemic, Dunfermline announced that a group of four German investors had agreed to purchase a minority share in the club with the intention to eventually be the majority owners.[21] The investors, led by formerSt. Pauli managerThomas Meggle joined the club's board with Meggle also naming himselfDirector of Football. Ross McArthur retired as Chairman and the German outfit brought in formerManchester City andNottingham Forest executive David Cook to serve as CEO and eventual Chairman.[22]
Work started on re-establishing the club's own in-house youth academy and the purchase of the formerRosyth Civil Service Club was made to develop state-of-the-art training facilities.[23] Work stalled due to pandemic related construction cost increases and a fading interest from the German investors who had still not taken up the commitment to purchase the majority shares they had previously agreed to buy. Relations between the club and the fans began to sour due to a perceived lack of investment in the squad and the manager and in August 2024 the Germans announced their intention to sell their shares in the club after four years in charge.[24]
Dunfermline appointed former Dundee bossJames McPake as manager on a two-year deal following relegation to League One, withDave Mackay joining as assistant. McPake brought instant success with the Pars winning the league by 14 points and losing only one league game all season. After struggling to compete in the Championship amid the ongoing sale of the club, McPake was dismissed at Christmas 2024.[25]
January 2025 saw a deal finalised for American based outfit Park Bench SFC LLC to buy the club, with former poker starJames Bord & business partner Evan Sofer named co-owners.[26] TheLas Vegas based duo cited their desire to utilise their backgrounds in data analytics and artificial intelligence to realise the club's "immense potential". Already owning a minority stake in SpanishSegunda División sideCórdoba CF and Bulgarian outfitPFC Septemvri Sofia, Park Bench LLC acquired 99.84% of Dunfermline. The club's social media profiles quickly replaced the "Living True Sportsmanship" motto of the previous German owners with tag lines of "A new era".
The new owners first act was to fill the head coach vacancy by appointing Fife neighboursKelty Hearts managerMichael Tidser on a two and a half year deal. With the team failing to score in eight out of eleven games and stuck in ninth place in the Championship, Tidser was sacked on 17 March after only two months in charge.[27] On 21 March 2025, the club appointed formerCeltic andHibernian managerNeil Lennon on a short-term deal until the end of the season.[28] Lennon signed formerUEFA Champions League finalist andKenyan internationalVictor Wanyama until the end of the season.[29] Wanyama made his debut from the bench againstAyr United on 29 March 2025 and was sent off after 20 minutes following a deliberate handball.
After confirming the club'sChampionship status with a 7th place finish, Lennon signed a two year deal to remain as manager.[30]
For much of Dunfermline's history their home colours have been black and white striped shirts, with black shorts and black socks, though recently they have worn white shorts and white socks. From the club's formation in 1885 until 1901, the club's home colours were a plain maroon shirt with either navy or white shorts and either maroon, white or grey socks.[31] The club then went through a period between 1901 and 1909 when their kits were blue.[31] The club first wore their now well-known black-and-white-striped shirts in 1909 and have worn these colours every year apart from the 1971–72 season, when they wore all white, the 2004–05 season, when they wore a white shirt with a single black stripe running down the left side of the shirt and during the2007–08 season, in which they wore an all-white shirt with black shorts and white socks.[31] For the2008–09 season, the Pars reverted to their well-known black-and-white stripes resembling the kit they wore for the 1997–98 and 1998–99 seasons.
Conversely, there has been no consistent colour or design of the club's away strips. Since the start of the newmillennium, the club have most regularly had red kits of varying design; for example, the 2004–2005 away strip consisted of vertical red and black lines, whereas the2016–17 kit was mostly red, with four horizontal lines of red, white and black across the chest. However, away kit designs have not been exclusively red, with the club having also had kits of purple, blue and yellow, as well as black, as was the case during the 2005–06 season.
| Period | Kit manufacturer | Front of Shirt sponsor |
|---|---|---|
| 1977–1980 |  Bukta | none |
| 1980–1983 | Braisby Roofing | |
| 1983–1986 | Rennie | |
| 1986–1988 | Umbro | Aluglaze |
| 1988–1989 | Thomson's World of Furniture | |
| 1989–1992 | Landmark | |
| 1992–1994 |  Hummel | |
| 1994–1996 | Matchwinner | |
| 1996–1997 |  Le Coq Sportif | |
| 1997–1999 | Avec | |
| 1999–2000 | Auto Windscreens | |
| 2000–2001 | TFG | |
| 2001–2005 | RACAuto Windscreens | |
| 2005–2007 | The Purvis Group[32] | |
| 2007–2008 |  Adidas | |
| 2008–2012 | Puma | |
| 2012–2015 |  Joma | |
| 2015–2023[33] | SRJ Windows[34][35] | |
| 2023-2025 |  Erreà[36] | |
| 2025- | Gamdom.News[37] |
The current Dunfermline Athletic club badge design was created in 1957 by Colin Dymock, an art teacher atDunfermline High School. It was allegedly inspired by one of Dymock's mysteriousnightmares.[38] The "DAFC" represents the initials of the club, Dunfermline Athletic Football Club, whilst the tower is a representation ofMalcolm Canmore's Tower. The tower was adopted by the town ofDunfermline to be used for the Burgh Arms and old seals.Malcolm Canmore wasKing of Scotland from 1057 to 1093, and made his residence in Dunfermline within what is nowPittencrieff Park. The park is represented by the stormy, ghostly blue and black night scene behind the tower, including the park's infamoushanging tree. The green area at the bottom of the crest is meant to represent the club's stadium,East End Park. Whilst the badge has been in use since the 1950s, it has undergone a number of alterations since its original incarnation, with the most recent adjustments in 2011 altering the outlines, font and colours of the logo.
According toBlack and White Magic, a 1984 book about the club by Jim Paterson and Douglas Scott, there are numerous theories as to the origin of the club's nickname, the Pars. The authors wrote:
"Most tend to confirm the more common belief that the name arose from the team's parallel striped shirts, their drinking habits or their style of play. The latter were both described as "paralytic". The earliest theory claims that in the early days when the Football Club was closely connected with the Cricket Club, the footballers were renowned for their performances at the bar and so were called the "Paralytics".
However, in the early 1900s it is known that Athletic's nickname was the "Dumps" – shortened from Dunfermline – and this is said to have been coined by English sailors visiting East End Park when their ship docked atRosyth. After World War I they were known as the Pars and some believe the parallel black and white stripes to be the reason.Another school of thought involves English workers who came to work at the armaments depot at Crombie and at Rosyth Dockyard; they kept their association with their local team by forming thePlymouth Argyle (Rosyth) Supporters Club and it is said that the Dunfermline nickname comes from the banners in evidence around the ground."
Another view, which holds water with the older supporters is that the name derives from the word 'Parr' which is a juvenile salmon with dark vertical markings.[39]
Like other football clubs, Dunfermline has a number of songs and anthems. A popular song, and the anthem to which the team runs out is "Into The Valley" by local bandthe Skids.Since the 1950s the crowd have left the ground after the game to the tune of "The Bluebell Polka" byJimmy Shand and his band. After Dunfermline score a goal atEast End Park, the chorus ofthe Dave Clark Five'sGlad All Over is played.
Dunfermline Athletic have traditional rivalries with local sidesCowdenbeath andRaith Rovers as well as contesting the Kincardine Derby with near neighbours,Falkirk. They have also participated regularly in theFife Cup since their formation in 1885, winning the competition more than thirty times, most recently during the2018–19 season.
In theSTV television detective dramaTaggart, the writer and Dunfermline fan, Stuart Hepburn used the names of the 1968 Scottish cup winning side for the characters in a 2003 episode.[40]
The club launched its Hall of Fame in 2004, initially with nine inductees. 50 individuals (ranging from players and managers to kit managers and the club historian) and two team groups (the 1960s cup winners) were members as of 2019.[41]
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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| Period | Captain | Vice-captain |
|---|---|---|
| 1985–1988 |  Bobby Robertson | |
| 1988–1996 | Norrie McCathie | |
| 1996–1998 | Craig Robertson | |
| 1998–1999 | Andy Smith | |
| 1999–2000 | Andy Tod[43] | |
| 2000–2002 | Ian Ferguson | Scott M. Thomson |
| 2002–2007 | Scott M. Thomson | |
| 2007–2009 | Scott Wilson[44] | Stephen Glass[44] |
| 2009–2010 | Stephen Glass[45] | |
| 2010–2012 | Austin McCann[45] | |
| 2012–2013 | Jordan McMillan[46] | Josh Falkingham |
| 2013–2014 | Josh Falkingham[47]Andy Geggan[48] | Josh Falkingham[48] |
| 2014–2015 | Josh Falkingham[49] | Gregor Buchanan[49] |
| 2015–2017 | Callum Fordyce[50][note 1] &Andy Geggan[51][52] | |
| 2017–2018 |  Callum Morris[53] | Sean Murdoch[citation needed] |
| 2018–2019 | Lee Ashcroft[54] | |
| 2019–2020 |  Paul Paton[55] | Lee Ashcroft[55] |
| 2020–2021 | Euan Murray[56] | Ryan Dow[56] |
| 2021–2022 | Graham Dorrans[57] | |
| 2022–present | Kyle Benedictus[58] | Chris Hamilton |
| Position | Name |
|---|---|
| Manager | Neil Lennon |
| Assistant managers | Iain Brunskill Kevin McDonald |
| Goalkeeping coach | Andrew Collier |
| Football operations manager | Gary Montignani |
| Head of professional development | John McLaughlan |
| Head of medical | Karen Gibson |
| Club doctor | Dr Paul Grealis |
| Head of performance | Steve Curnyn |
| Senior sports scientist | Euan Donaldson |
| Sports therapist | Euan Heeps |
| Sports therapist | Alan Richmond |
| Match analyst | Davie Honeyman |
| Kitman | Mo Hutton |
| Kit coordinator | Sammi Connell |
| Position | Name |
|---|---|
| Chairman | Jim Leishman |
| Chief executive officer | David Cook |
| Director | James Bord |
| Director | Alsharif Faisal Bin Jamil |
| Director | Ian Laing |
| Director | Drew Main |
| Director | Evan Sofer |
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