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| Date: |
2nd
August 2003 |
Opposition: |
Portsmouth |
Score (H/T): |
1-0
(0-0) |
| Competition: |
Friendly |
Venue |
East End Park |
Attendance: |
4,147 |
| Scorers: |
[1-0] Nicholson
(46) |
| Yellow Cards: |
Stefanovic
(Portsmouth) |
| Pars Team: |
Stillie (Ruitenbeek HT); Bullen, Tod,
Wilson, Mason, McGroarty; Nicholson, Darren Young, Grondin (Dair 67);
Crawford, Brewster. Subs not used: Dempsey, Walker, McGarty,
Fotheringham, Karnebeek.
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| Portsmouth: |
Wapenaar; Zivkovic (Aiyegbeni 69), De Zeeuw,
Stefanovic, Primus; Stone, O’Neill (Robinson 69), Quashie, Berger,
Todorov (Pericard 69), Sheringham (Brrton 84)
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| Referee: |
I Fyffe |
| Portsmouth provided the
opposition for the final warm up game prior to the season's start in a
week's time. Played in brilliant sunshine, this was a reasonably
entertaining game, with Dunfermline putting in a good performance against
the English Premiership newcomers. After a quiet first half, the Athletic took the lead with a superb shot from Barry Nicholson that looped over
former FC Utrecht keeper Wapenaar's head. Lee Bullen almost made it two when
he forced the Dutch keeper into a tremendous save after beating two
defenders on a run from the half way line. |
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| After the
game boss JC was pleased that his defence had kept a clean sheet saying, "our problem, which has been well documented, is giving too
many goals away, but I don’t think we looked in danger of doing that
today." Goalscorer Barry Nicholson received some stick from his
team-mates, who questioned whether the midfielder had intended to shoot or
cross for his spectacular strike. |
| Thirteen years after his departure Jim Leishman makes an emotional return to EEP
as General Manager/Executive Director. His role will be help re-ignite the
community spirit that lifted the club during his seven year region as
manager in the eighties. Chairman John Yorkston was delighted saying,
"some people will think I've brought him back just to win back old
fans, but he's here to do a job and he wouldn't be here if I didn't think
he was capable of doing a good job for us." An emotional Jim said,
"I am really chuffed to be sitting here today." |
| Andrius Skerla
receives his work permit just two days before he was due to be deported
from Scotland. An appeals tribunal which included Craig Brown, Pat Nevin
and Walter Smith reviewed the Lithuanian's case and found in his favour. |
| John Yorkston is reported to have told the
press that he would rather Sutton stayed away from Saturday’s fixture,
provoking a heated reaction from Parkhead boss Martin O’Neill. However, yesterday Yorkston said his comments were misinterpreted and
that Celtic “could bring who they wanted” along to the game. "What actually happened was that a reporter asked how I would react
if Martin O’Neill said Chris Sutton wasn’t going to the game and I
said that would probably be best for all involved,” said Yorkston. |
| Scott Thomson's
could be a further
four to six weeks away from action after encountering further problems
with his injury in Holland. The Pars skipper also restated his position on
the Chris Sutton incident, saying, "I'll never forgive him for that - he crossed the line you just can't
cross." |
| A meeting
is held in the Jock Stein Suite to discuss the possibility of launching a
supporters trust. Life long Pars fan Rodney Shearer chaired the meeting, which
included speakers Mike Barile of the Arabs Trust, and Jim Proctor, a full
time official of Supporters Direct. Those present unanimously agreed with
the setting up of a trust. |
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The pitch at East End
Park is to be dug up immediately after Dunfermline play Celtic tomorrow, to make
way for a new state-of-the-art synthetic surface. The supplier of
the new pitch is Symbior Technologies, based in
Montreal, Canada, who have signed a contract to install the £130,000
pitch - the first of its kind in the UK. The pitch is certified by UEFA for properties that allow the ball to bounce
and roll like it would on a natural surface. Dunfermline is one of only four European clubs to pilot synthetic
pitches on behalf of UEFA, with the others being Torpedo Moscow, Austria Salzburg and Orebro in Sweden. |
| Davie Nicholls joins Faklirk after
being released by Dunfermline. Nicholls joined DA in May 2001 and had been
on loan at Falkirk last season. |
| The injury list that blighted the Pars
pre-season eased considerably before the first game. Only three
players were listed as injured, Scott Thomson, Noel Hunt and Mark McGarty,
with Lee Bullen serving a one match suspension. |
| Immediately before the
Celtic game, new General
manager/Executive Director Jim Leishman took his bow in front of an
enthusiastic crowd. Ever the showman, Leish kissed the turf and did his
famous airplane impression. |
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| Date: |
9th
August 2003 |
Opposition: |
Celtic
(photos) |
Score (H/T): |
0-0 (0-0) |
| Competition: |
Sc Premier League |
Venue |
East End Park |
Attendance: |
10,082 |
| Scorers: |
None |
| Yellow Cards: |
Nicholson
(DAFC) |
| Pars Team: |
Stillie: Skerla, Wilson, Tod; Nicholson, Darren Young,
Derek Young (Grondin 71), Mason, McGroarty; Crawford, Brewster. Subs
not used: Ruitenbeek, Storrie, McNichol, Walker
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| Celtic: |
Douglas; Valgaeren, Balde, Mjallby; Lennon (Miller 71);
Agathe, Lambert (Smith 71), Petrov, Thompson; Larsson, Maloney. Subs
not used: Hedman, Varga, Beattie
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| Referee: |
H
Dallas |
| An excellent performance from
the Pars saw them pick a point from a game that will be remembered for all
the
right reasons. Whilst the best Dunfermline performances came in defence
from Andrius Skerla and Derek Stillie, and particularly from Man of the Match Andy
Tod, Dunfermline had a number of opportunities to score in a game which could have gone either way.
Excellent chances fell to Derek Young and Stevie Crawford, whilst
Celtic came close to stealing the game in the dying seconds when a
Thompson shot scraped the outside of the post. The result saw Jimmy
Calderwood gain his first league point from Celtic since arriving in
November 99, and it wad the first time in 57 matches that Celtic had
failed to score in the league game. |
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| Not surprisingly at the post
match press conference Jimmy Calderwood was the happier of the two
managers, expressing his delight at not only the point, but the fact that
his defence had kept a clean sheet. A disappointed Martin O'Neill was
pleased that his team's behaviour throughout the match had been
exemplary |
| Two pieces of trouble took
the tarnish off a match that had passed off without incident. The first
came when a Dunfermline supporter threw the ball with some vigour at
Larsson (despite the incident appearing in the referee's report, no action
will be taken), and after the match Celtic supporters threw stones and bottles at
the Pars support exiting the North West Stand. Supporters were forced to
leave the ground via the pitch. Meanwhile Celtic managed to take offence at an
article in the club's matchday programme! |
| Immediately after the Celtic
game, work started to lift the 100 year old East End turf in
preparation for the installation of the plastic pitch. The following day,
as bulldozers ripped the ground to pieces, square metres of turf selling
at £2 were snapped up by fans and gardeners alike. A further sale took
place on the Monday as the last remnants of the once hallowed turf
disappeared forever. |
| The Pars Under 21s start the
season where they left off at the end of last, with a defeat. The team
lose 3-0 to Celtic at New Douglas Park. |
| A strong team of first team
fringe players sees off East Fife 1-0 in the semi-final of the Fife Cup at
New Bayview. Billy Mehmet scores the only goal of the game after half an hour. |
| Stevie Crawford is called
into the Scotland squad for the friendly game Norway.. |
| Despite
having been placed on the open to transfer list, David Grondin revealed
that him and his girlfriend had now settled in Scotland. |
| Ian
Rush and the inventor of the artificial pitch visit EEP to sing the
praises of the new surface. |
| Joining Scott
Thomson and Noel Hunt on the injury list ahead of Dundee, are Kevin
McLeish, Sean Kilgannon, and the unlucky Andre Karnebeek. |
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| Date: |
17th
August 2003 |
Opposition: |
Dundee
(photos) |
Score (H/T): |
2-0 (1-0) |
| Competition: |
Sc
Premier League |
Venue |
Dens Park |
Attendance: |
7,750 |
| Scorers: |
[1-0]
Wilkie (45 og), [2-0] Crawford (88) |
| Yellow Cards: |
Crawford
(DAFC), Nemsadze (Dundee) |
| Pars Team: |
Stillie; Skerla, Wilson, Tod; Bullen, Nicholson, Mason,
Derek Young (Mehmet 87), McGroarty (Dair HT); Crawford, Brewster (Dempsey
55) Subs not used: Ruitenbeek, Labonte
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| Dundee: |
Speroni; Sancho (Caballero 66), Wilkie, Mair; Brady, Smith,
Nemsadze, Rae, Hernandez; Novo (Carranza 77), Lovell Subs not used:
Langfield (GK), Hutchison, Jablonski
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| Referee: |
C
Richmond |
| This Pars
committed daylight robbery as they stole three points from Tayside. With
Dundee well on top, having hit the post, had close misses and forcing
Derek Stillie into making a number of excellent saves, the Athletic took
the lead on the stroke of half time, when Lee Wilkie, under pressure from
Andy Tod, diverted a Scott Wilson free kick past his own keeper. The
second half continued in much the same vain, with Stillie and his defence
once again preventing Dundee from breaking through. With the home side
looking like they would score in the closing minutes, the Athletic broke
away and after a fine move involving Dempsey, Mehmet and Crawford, the
latter popped the ball into the net to steal all three points away from
Dens Park. |
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| Post match it was a contented Jimmy
Calderwood that spoke to the press saying, "it is a very difficult
place to come and in games you do need luck and we got that today." |
| The Under 21 side lose 2-0 to Dundee at
Bayview.
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| A delegation from Dunfermline Athletic
will travel to Lithuania to discuss the possibility of a tie up between
the club and country. Chairman Yorkston believes that the tie-up could be
of benefit to the Athletic.
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| Stevie Crawford plays for 79 minutes as
Scotland draw 0-0 in a dull game away to Norway.
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| Chris McGroarty is to go on loan to Clyde.
The twenty year old left sided defender Richie Byrne from Shamrock Rovers
spent a week at East End Park on trial.
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| It is revealed that an international
select match
will take place prior to the
game with Hibernian. Karl Heinz Ruminige, Jean Pierre Papan, Ian Rush will
all participate.
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| Missing from the game at Dundee through
injury and illness are Scott Thomson, Noel Hunt, Steven Hampshire, Jason
Dair and Chris McGroarty. There was better news for the long term injured
with Noel Hunt who returned to training earlier in the week. Scott
Thomson is due to start the following week.
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| Date: |
23rd August 2003 |
Opposition: |
Aberdeen |
Score (H/T): |
2-1
(1-1) |
| Competition: |
Sc Premier League |
Venue |
Pittodrie |
Attendance: |
10,870 |
| Scorers: |
[0-1]
Zdrilic (23), [1-1] Brewster (30), [2-1] Nicholson
(56) |
| Yellow Cards: |
None |
| Pars Team: |
Stillie; Bullen, Skerla, Wilson, Tod, Grondin; Nicholson,
Darren Young (Dempsey 88), Mason; Crawford, Brewster (Mehmet 74) Subs
not used: Ruitenbeek, McGarty, Labonte
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| Aberdeen: |
Preece; Hart, Anderson, Deloumeaux, McGuire, McQuilken;
Tosh (McNaughton 75), Heikkinen, Sheerin; Booth (Muirhead HT), Zrdilic
(Hinds 40) Subs not used: Esson, Tiernan
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| Referee: |
J
Rowbotham |
| For the first 25
minutes or so Dunfermline looked second best to every ball, but after
finding themselves a goal down, the Pars rallied to the cause and put in an excellent
performance. After just eight minutes Stillie had to look very lively to
knock a Sheerin long distance effort over as it headed towards the net.
Then Zdrilic gave the Dons the lead with an angled shot from some fifteen
yards out. With Dunfermline coming into the game, some superb work
from Stevie Crawford saw him put in an inch perfect cross for Craig
Brewster to head past Preece. Eleven minutes into the second half and a
poor Preece kick out was seized on by Brewster, who slipped the ball to
Nicholson who closed in on goal to pop the ball past the beleaguered
goalkeeper. Although Aberdeen tried to come back into the game it was the
visitor's that stayed the stronger of the teams to return home with a very
welcome three points. |
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| Post match Jimmy Calderwood revealed
that he had told his team a few home truths
at half time, and upped the pace for the first 15 to 20 minutes of the
second half. New Executive Director Jim Leishman praised the support that
had made the long journey up to Aberdeen, saying "the players were across
giving them a clap and the fans deserved that. They have travelled a long
way today and they are going home happy. I say just watch this
space!" |
| Dunfermline's
Under 21 side pick up their first point of the season with a goalless draw
at home (played at New Bayview) to Aberdeen. Marco Ruitenbeek prevented
the visitors from returning north with as string of excellent saves. |
| As Chris McGroarty heads to Clyde on
a six month loan deal, six of the other transfer listed players leave the
club by mutual consent. Andre Karnebeek, Jason Dair, George Fotheringham,
Kevin McLeish, Steven Hampshire and Scott Walker all agree severance deals, which will allow them to find new clubs even after the transfer
window closes at the weekend.
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| Youssef Rossi
has managed to go missing again, and is believed to be back in Morocco. The Pars again stop paying
his wages.
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| Stevie
Crawford is included again in the Scotland squad for the forthcoming Euro
Qualifiers against the Faeroe Isles and Germany.
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| With
players departing, Irish 20 year old defender Richie Byrne signs for
Dunfermline, although his clearance doesn't go through in time for him to
be included in the squad for Tynecastle.
Missing from the Hearts game through injury will be Scott Thomson, Noel
Hunt and Derek Young.
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| Date: |
31st
August 2003 |
Opposition: |
Heart
of Midlothian |
Score (H/T): |
0-1
(0-0) |
| Competition: |
Sc
Premier League |
Venue |
Tynecastle |
Attendance: |
11,934 |
| Scorer: |
[0-1]
Wyness (62) |
| Yellow Cards: |
Bullen, Brewster,
Wilson (DAFC), (De Vries (Hearts) |
| Pars Team: |
Stillie; Bullen, Skerla, Wilson, Tod,
Grondin; Nicholson, Darrren Young (Dempsey 78), Mason; Crawford, Brewster
(Kilgannon 71). Subs not used: Ruitenbeek, McNicol, Labonte.
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| Hearts: |
Moilanen; Neilson (Kisnorbo (64), Pressley,
Webster, Maybury; Stamp, MacFarlane, Severin, Hammill (Boyack 71); De
Vries, Wyness (Weir 81). Subs not used: Gordon, Hartley.
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| Referee: |
A Freeland |
| A
disappointing
performance from the Pars at Tynecastle, a ground where they have
failed to win for the past thirteen years. Hearts dominated for most of
the game, and although Stevie Crawford had the ball in the net and had a
penalty claim turned down, most of the action came from Hearts. Derek
Stillie had a tremendous save from a Severin header which kept the Athletic
level at the break. The second half was much of the same, but then Wyness
capitalised on a poor Nicholson pass and strode through the defence before
slipping the ball past Stillie. Despite pushing Tod and Bullen up front,
the Pars could only muster one shot on target, a weak effort from
Crawford. |
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