East End Park
Halbeath Road
Dunfermline
Fife
KY12 7RB
01383 724295
Ground Number: 1277
Friday 15th March 2024
Friday 15th March 2024
Dunfermline Athletic 3-1 Dundee United
Scottish Championship
DUNFERMLINE ATHLETIC FC - A BRIEF HISTORY
Dunfermline Football Club was formed in 1874, when members of Dunfermline Cricket Club decided to establish a football section, to maintain fitness during the winter. 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. They played in local leagues at first, joining the Scottish League Division 2 in 1912. They were runners-up to Ayr United in their debut season. In 1926, they won the title to win promotion to the top tier Division 1. Throughout their history, they have become a bit of a yoyo team between the top two tiers. A long run in the top tier between 1958 and 1975 brought two third-place finishes in 1965 and 1969, their best so far. In 1976, they were relegated to the third tier for the first time, winning promotion back as runners-up behind Berwick Rangers in 1979. Dunfermline went down again in 1983 but the mid 80's would see two promotions in 1986 & 1987 to reach the top tier for a single season. There was a sustained period of remaining in the top two tiers, the highlight being a 4th placed finish in the Premier Division in 2004. In 2013, they were relegated to the third tier through the playoffs and would remain there until 2016. Until 2022, Dunfermline were in the Championship but spent last season in Division 1 before winning the title in May to earn promotion back to the Championship.
MY VISIT
I had wanted to go on the Scottish Hop ever since it was announced last year. Normally, I go on the GroundhopUK coach and have had four excellent weekends away on the coach which has proved decent value. I did one weekend with fellow hopper Dan but due to his snoring, I needed booze to get to sleep on the 2019 hop. Lately, he has tended to go with another hopper, Richard under their own steam. I've always enjoyed the camaraderie of the coach but when he offered to take myself and Colin, I gave it serious consideration. It would mean altering the schedule slightly but it would also work out cheaper. So long as I didn't have to drive, I was happy and in the end, it was Colin who sealed it. He is not the most organised and I decided that it would be far easier and less risky to give him more time to pay rather than the perfectly generous window that Chris gave. In the end, it took a few weeks for him to send the money for his half of the hotels which only worked out at £75 each for four nights. Another bonus was the flexibility it allowed us. That was what allowed myself and Colin to change our Friday night game to Dunfermline though the others were sticking with the hop game. Colin booked his well in advance, I decided around a week before, a new Wetherspoons tick being the sealer. A couple of days before I bought a ticket as close as possible to Colin for £23, right on halfway.
The day of the game came and it had been a boozy one the day before, thanks to a fair few pubs and cans with Daniel in the room until 1 am. I awoke just before 6 and felt fine though. Colin and I spent the morning in the room with Colin waking the others up at 9. We went for a stroll and had a look at Chester-le-Street Town FC where I'd yet to see a game. We left at 10.30 and headed to a great shop called Poundzone that had been recommended by Daniel. Amongst other things, I bought a 12 pack of Irn Bru Energy Drink for £3.50 that normally goes for over a tenner on Amazon. It was then to Wetherspoons 314,, the Harry Clasper in Whickham. There I was planning on sticking to soft drinks this early on after yesterday's excess. However, I had a bit of a hangover and thought a pint might take the edge off. It didn't but it was a good opportunity to fill up with breakfast. The rain started soon after but at least I was starting to feel better. Daniel dropped us off at Edinburgh Gateway station at 3.50 and we were on the train to Dunfermline less than ten minutes later. It was a 20 minute train and a 15 minute walk to the Guildhall and Linen Exchange. A couple of pints of cider and a surprisingly excellent haggis pizza were enjoyed before the walk to the ground. We stopped at the club shop where I got a goalkeeper shirt for £24 then we went to the bar for a pint. It was a pleasant place for a pint of Carling Dark Fruits cider. It was then into the ground, I had a great view of the action.
Dunfermline Athletic sat 7th in the table and were in mixed form. They'd won two, drawn one and lost two of their last five games. Their last game was a 2-0 loss at Raith Rovers. Dundee United were top and had won three, drawn one and lost one of their last five. Their last game saw them thump Arbroath 4-0. The game started with Dunfermline edging proceedings. They took the lead on 12 minutes, a cross field ball was knocked back from the left flank and a low shot from around 15 yards by Matthew Todd. On 37 minutes, it was 2-0, a lovely strike from the edge of the area by Kane Ritchie-Hosler who also provided the assist for the opener. Ritchie-Hosler scored his second and his teams third on 54 minutes following a lovely exchange of ball with ex-Wycombe man Alex Jakubiak. Dundee United pulled a goal back with a rare attack on 80 minutes, the scrappy effort being given as a Kyle Benedictus own goal.
We had the company of some other hoppers next to us who had chosen Dunfermline instead of the hop game at Armadale. There was an attendance of 6,368 at our game, including a healthy following from Dundee. Both sides gave their team good vocal support, albeit the away fans were shocked into silence for a while as their team sunk without trace. From the game, we walked to Tesco where we met the others. They had seen Armadale Thistle beat Ormiston Primrose 3-2 on on front of 436. It was a reasonable journey back and we were at our hotel in Perth by 11.15. Daniel had invited himself round to our room and we had a good chat whilst I typed my blog. No cans tonight as per last night, I'd taken it easier on the booze today and felt a lot better for it.
THE GROUND
EAST END PARK is a great traditional ground. The two ends are modern all seated stands, around 4,000 capacity whilst the sides are older style stands holding around 3,000. These are interesting in that they have loads of little cubby holes housing various facilities such as toilets and tea bar. The Legends bar is a smart clubhouse, not an amazing range of drinks but prices are fair. There are also a couple of club shops, one with old programmes. The ground is around 20 minutes from the town which has a train station and a Wetherspoons.
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