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| Full name | East Fife Football Club | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Nickname(s) | The Fifers, The Methil Milan or TheFife | ||
| Founded | 1903; 122 years ago (1903) | ||
| Ground | Bayview Stadium,Methil | ||
| Capacity | 1,980[1] | ||
| Chairman | Jim Stevenson | ||
| Manager | Dick Campbell | ||
| League | Scottish League Two | ||
| 2023–24 | Scottish League Two, 5th of 10 | ||
| Website | http://www.eastfifefc.info/ | ||
East Fife Football Club is a semi-professionalfootball club established in 1903 inMethil,Fife, Scotland. They are members of theScottish Professional Football League and compete inScottish League Two, the fourth tier of theScottish football league system.
The club were the first to win theScottish League Cup three times and the first of only two sides from the second tier of theScottish league system to win theScottish Cup. This makes them the most successful club in Fife in terms of major honours won.
East Fife are one of four SPFL clubs based in Fife, but are the only one to bear the name of the area. The three others areDunfermline Athletic,Kelty Hearts and theKirkcaldy-basedRaith Rovers (Cowdenbeath play in theLowland Football League), all of whom have historicallyshared rivalries with East Fife.
Local demand for the establishment of a senior football team led to a public meeting being held in January 1903 and resulted in the formation of East Fife Football Club. After spending its first season competing in the Fife League and theScottish Qualifying Cup, as well as playing in a number of challenge matches, the club joined theEastern League forseason 1904–05. The following season East Fife joined theNorthern League, which included clubs such asDunfermline Athletic andSt Johnstone. The club remained in the Northern League until the1908–09 season. In 1909, East Fife joined theCentral League, which consisted of many of the teams who had played in the Northern League, with the addition ofAlloa Athletic,Stenhousemuir andKing's Park fromStirling.
East Fife remained in the Central League until 1921, apart from a period during theFirst World War when the Eastern League was reformed. In the period following the war, the clubs competing for the Central League were mainly from thecoal andshale mining communities ofFife andWest Lothian. As the mining towns thrived with the growth of themining industry and its associated influx of miners and their families, so did the local football clubs. The result of this was that by the end of the decade, the Central League clubs could afford to pay their players higher wages than they would receive in theScottish Football League. In an effort to stop the migration of its players to the Central League, the Scottish League decided to admit the Central League clubs, including East Fife, to its membership. The Central League therefore became theScottish Division Two at the start of the1921–22 season.
Only six years after becoming members of the Scottish League, East Fife appeared in the1927 Scottish Cup Final, which it lost 3–1 toCeltic atHampden Park.[2]
East Fife's only season in Scottish football's top division beforeWorld War II was1930–31 after finishing Second Division runners-up the year before.
The 1927 cup feat was surpassed just over a decade later when "The Fifers" won the1937–38 Scottish Cup. The prestigious trophy was secured with a 4–2 win overKilmarnock in the replayed final. The game was watched by a crowd of almost 92,000 spectators.
East Fife's best years were undoubtedly in the decade following theSecond World War. In1946–47, the first season after the war, the club finished third, missing promotion by one place.Scot Symon joined as manager in 1947. At the end of1947–48, East Fife were promoted to the top flight of Scottish football as 'B' Division champions.[3]
During this "Golden Period", the club won theScottish League Cup on three separate occasions (1947–48,1949–50, and1953–54) in seven seasons. A thirdScottish Cup final appearance was added to its achievements list in1949–50.[3]
The club's league record was also impressive. In the six seasons between 1948 and 1954, East Fife finished itsScottish Division One (then the pinnacle of Scottish football) campaigns in fourth, fourth, tenth, third, third and sixth respectively.[4] In one of these seasons,1952–53, they were still in the running for the league title with only a few games remaining.[3]
Among the players who were at the club for at least part of this era wereTommy Adams andWillie Laird – both had played in the Scottish Cup-winning side before the war. Others joined and would go on to representScotland while at the club –George Aitken,Davie Duncan,Allan Brown,Henry Morris,Charlie Fleming andAndy Matthew. Others such asJimmy Philp and winger and later Scottish League capBobby Black were among those who picked up cup winners' medals at the club.[3]Harold Davis was on the books for a number of seasons but rarely played due to fulfilling his national service in theKorean War in which he was seriously injured in combat. Davis took two years to recover from his injuries, then played a couple of games for the first team before following Symon to Rangers where both had much success.
Having spent ten successive seasons in Scotland's top league, East Fife were relegated from Division One at the end ofseason 1957–58. Since then, the Methil outfit has struggled to match previous success, emphasised by the fact that aside from three seasons during the early 1970s, the club has played all of its football outside the top league since the 1950s.
In November 1998, East Fife moved to a purpose-built stadium nearMethil power station.
The2006–07 season saw East Fife begin theScottish Third Division campaign impressively, at one point amassing a commanding nine point lead over their nearest rivals. The Fifers' form declined markedly but recovered to qualify for the newly implemented promotion play-offs. East Fife beatSecond Division outfitStranraer 4–2 on aggregate before losing 7–2 toQueen's Park on aggregate in the final.Season 2007–08 commenced with high expectations for The Fifers amidst a flurry of preseason signings.[5][6] The new acquisitions proved successful as the team thoroughly dominated the early stages, culminating in a twelve-point lead at the top of the division by Christmas. East Fife also revived their historic tradition in the Scottish League Cup by reaching the third round, beatingQueen of the South andSPL sideSt Mirren,[7] before losing out toOld Firm heavyweightsRangers.[8]
The new ground was officially renamedBayview Stadium in 2007.
East Fife secured the2007–08 Scottish Third Division title after beatingEast Stirlingshire atFirs Park,Falkirk 3–0 on 15 March 2008. This gave them a points total of 74, 26 points ahead of Stranraer. This was East Fife's first league title for 60 years and their first piece of silverware since 1954. Having lead the team to league success the previous campaign, managerDavid Baikie resigned from his position on 14 April 2009.[9] Baikie was replaced byStevie Crawford, who had joined the playing staff the previous summer.
On 23 August 2011, the Fifers delivered an emphatic victory againstDunfermline Athletic of theSPL in theLeague Cup.[10] Then on 20 September 2011, East Fife recorded yet another cup shock, defeating SPLAberdeen 7–6 on penalties, after a 3–3 draw, atPittodrie, to advance to the quarter finals of the Scottish League Cup.[11]
East Fife remained in the Second Division for six seasons before being relegated at the end of the 2013–14 season after defeat in the relegation playoff final, losing 3–2 on aggregate to Stirling Albion. In the preceding season they won the playoff final 1–0 on aggregate with the only goal of the tie coming from David Muir at Peterhead's Balmoor Stadium. They spent two seasons in League Two before winning the league in 2015–16 with 62 points to return to League One, withGary Naysmith at the managerial helm. Nathan Austin finished the championship-winning season as top scorer, with 22 goals from 25 games.
The Fifers enjoyed a period of relative stability in League One over the coming years, registering several mid-table finishes, including a 5th-place finish in the2016–17 season, just four points away from a promotion play-off berth. The2021–22 season saw a downturn in fortunes for the club, leading to their automatic relegation down to League Two for the2022–23 season.
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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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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| Name | Role |
|---|---|
 Jim Stevenson | Club chairman |
| John Donaldson | Vice-chairman/Stadium safety officer |
| Liam Anderson | Director/Player liaison director/Media |
| Douglas Briggs | Director/Company secretary |
| Tom Brown | Director |
| Robert Cargill | Director/Child wellbeing & protection manager |
| Stephen Mill | Director/Disability access officer |
| Elizabeth Anderson | Associate director |
| Laura Anderson | Associate director |
| Lee Gillies | Associate director |
| Leona Guidi | Associate director/Office manager |
| Scott Young | Associate director |
| Denis Nicol | Honorary director |
| Harry Blyth | Honorary director |
| Role | Name |
|---|---|
| Manager | Dick Campbell |
| Assistant manager | Ian Campbell |
| First-team coach | John Young |
| First-team coach | Stuart Malcolm |
| Goalkeeping coach | Jim Moffat |
| Physiotherapist | Jeb Spink |
| Head of football development | Dave Heddle |
| Under 20s manager | Roy Barnes |
| Under 20s coach | Jamie Allan |
| Kitmen | Colin Miller, Chris Watson, John Keddie |
East Fife's original ground wasBayview Park, in Wellesley Road in the centre of Methil. Since 1998, home matches have been played at the new all-seatedBayview Stadium situated at the old Lower Methil docks, capacity 1,980.[1] The ground has one stand and is open at the three remaining sides. The far side was overshadowed by the derelictMethil power station until its demolition in April 2011 and has a growing business park being built around it as well as a local train station for theLevenmouth rail link which was opened to the public in June 2024.
In2013–14 East Fife hired in three temporary stands to increase the ground capacity for the two fixtures withRangers and one fixture withDunfermline Athletic who visited the ground on 1 February 2014 with only two of the temporary stands open, one for the home support and one for the away support. These boosted the capacity of the Stadium to 4,900. The three temporary stands were removed at the end of the season after the club was relegated.
At the Stadium there is a club shop/cabin for the home supporters, and two bars which are open for both sets of supporters while attending the match.
The stadium was renamed the "MGM Timber Bayview Stadium" in March 2023 following a new partnership withMGM Timber.[24]
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