Overview
The latter period of the James Calderwood era was the best I had seen in my life. While that is not saying much given I am a 21-year-old, many fans – my Grandfather included – believe this was the best time to be a Dunfermline Athletic supporter since the heydays of the 60s under the stewardship of Jock Stein, Willie Cunningham, and George Farm. The Pars were comfortably making gradual improvements in each of the five years Jimmy was at the club, from promotion from the second-tier to finishing fourth in the SPL.
There were some glorious footballers, some became cult figures, and a few of them were hometown talents. Although the heart was ripped out that team when Calderwood left for Aberdeen, and the decline was drastic.
This period (2002-2004) seemed to exacerbate the financial plight of the club, and given the aftermath of the decade following, you can see how crippling the effect it has been. However, it cannot take away the memories it gave me as a pre-adolescent boy from the Kingdom of Fife, especially when it all ended at the Scottish Cup Final in 2004.
Iconic Moments
That run in the national trophy was something special, the match that defined it was the semi-final replay against Inverness in Pittodrie. Personally I feel it is lunacy that a cup competition ever has replays, however, in this instance I am glad such a nonsensical event happened at the time. Derek Stillie put in a fantastic performance in goal and Barry Nicholson’s strike – which turned out to be the winner – summed him up to a tee, a must watch.
The cup final itself was a momentous occasion. It did end in bitter disappointment, but in that first half the Pars were in the ascendancy against the champions of Scotland – one year on from their exploits in Sevilla. Andrius Skerla’s header gave every Par hope in Hampden at the half, and not one person thought they would go on to lose.
The defeat of Rangers in the league for the first time in over 30 years was another milestone. The first goal in that match showcased what the Craig Brewster and Stevie Crawford partnership was all about. The set-piece long for Brew to flick on and Craw with what at the time was an under appreciated volley finish past Stefan Klos. Then the hilarity as Paolo Vanoli caught in a panic after handling in the area just trickling a back pass into the bottom left-hand corner of the German keeper’s goal.
Manager
At the time of Jimmy’s arrival, the Pars were languishing in the second tier. This was due to Dick Campbell opening up the season after relegation with six draws in the first dozen games. The final game of his tenure was at Love Street. St Mirren already had a comfortable lead at the top of the First Division and won the game 3-1. As a result, Campbell was dismissed and left East End Park with his bunnet in tow.
At the time, there was much scepticism giving his relatively unknown status in Scottish football, making his name mainly in the Netherlands as a player and for a short period as a manager. For me, it just meant another Panini sticker for my collection.
He literally brightened up East End Park with more than his complexion, the dour brand of football was out for a more swashbuckling style of play. It did not matter how many they conceded, he always backed his team to score more. It was apparent when you look at the league table and see the goal difference. In his last season when they finished fourth, it was minus seven.
Once Calderwood departed they were lumbered with the retractive David Hay. It did not get much better when everybody’s favourite provost and airplane impersonator Jim Leishman took charge in the dugout instead of his much maligned Director of Football role. Somehow between the pair they brought in some of the most dreadful “players” ever to grace grass, some you can read about in my “Worst Pars XI” article on the site.
Player
The one player that encompassed the joy of everyone at the club was Stephen “Stevie” Crawford. He helped prolong Craig Brewster’s career as a target man for many years, and this is considering the Dundonian was signed at the age of 35.
I had seen Crawford playing for Hibernian when my father took me to Easter Road. Back then he looked a good prospect. However, he flourished in black and white stripes. The striker was one of quite a few footballers Jimmy Nicholl had at Raith Rovers that ended up playing 20 minutes along the B1957.
Recently I got to watch him play in a charity bounce match and it reminded about just how great a footballer he was because of his intelligence. Obviously, nowadays, he is not as explosive as he once was but showed his ability when backheeling the ball into the onrushing David Bingham to score. This was seven years after he last pulled on a home strip, but it was everything you loved about his game. The close control, skill and exquisite finishes were everything you wanted in a frontman playing off Brewster. Pound for pound you could make the argument that they were the best partnership in the top flight. It was no coincidence that his best spell was in tandem to his perfect pairing with his former Rovers teammate and that is backed up with him finishing second in the goalscorer chart to Henrik Larsson in 2002-2003 with 19 goals.
Defining moment
It is hard because this team never won anything of note. Just two Fife Cups is the legacy of Calderwood. However, the game at East End Park on the television and under the floodlights against Hearts was everything to love about the way Jimmy wanted his team to play and some of the goals and build-up were absolutely sublime.
Best line-up
Podcast
The Calderwood-Crawford-Brewster era team is discussed at greater length by Michael Wood, Shaughan McGuigan and Craig Cairns on the podcast Poor Dick. It can be listened to by clicking here and fast forwarding to 27 mins 55 seconds.
Written by Michael Wood (@MichaelWood_SJ)