Stevie Crawford signs up

The club is delighted to announce that Stevie Crawford has today been appointed Reserve Team Manager / First Team Coach.

Allan Johnston says Stevie Crawford has fitted in really well since he has come in and he is delighted that he has joined the back room staff on a permanent basis as Reserve Team Manager / First Team Coach. He told the website:-

“I am sure that he will be a good addition to the coaching team. It is great having someone of his quality coming in. It is just trying to get him involved more and more. He is feeling a big part of it now. He has coached at a high level, he is good with the young lads and he still manages to bond with the players.

“Stevie is a hard worker, desperate to get involved and play a big part. He has fitted in really well and is a good link between the boys and myself. That is what you need. You can see that he wants the young boys to do well and improve. He is always talking to them, giving them advice about how to be better players and better professionals.”

Stevie Crawford was invited in for discussions with Chairman Ross McArthur when it was known that John Potter would be leaving to join the coaching staff at Sunderland. Initially he came in short term fulfilling a need for someone to come in and help Allan Johnston and Sandy Clark out on the Monday morning. He quickly realised that making the job more than temporary might be attractive. He explained:-

“Coming in and seeing how the boys were, where the club are hoping to get to over the next few years, it just felt right. When I put the coach’s kit on that first day with its Dunfermline badge it was right. It is great that the club has given me the opportunity of this important role and I am just delighted to be here officially.

“The club has been good for me and my family. I want to try and bring something back to the club. As much as I have fond memories of most of my time here as a player, it is now about trying to help the younger boys and even the first team boys so that they can go and create memories for themselves and for everybody connected with the club.”

As a player Stevie worked with Sandy Clark as his coach and he played alongside Allan Johnston in under 21s. He continued:-

“You come into a new environment working alongside Allan and Sandy comparing that to when I worked alongside Robbie (Neilson) at Hearts and then with Steven Pressley and Neil McFarlane at Falkirk. Different people have different ways, there isn’t a right or wrong way.”

Jimmy Nicholl is credited with being a big influence on the young and developing Stevie Crawford.

“As well as progressing me as a football player, I became an adult but also respected everything at the club whether it was supporters, tea lady, chairman - everybody was on an equal. I just feel that is what the chairman is trying to do at the moment. Everybody is respected, everybody has a role at the club and want the club to be successful.

“It was a positive atmosphere to come into after a hard thirteen months down at MK. It will be hard for Robbie because that’s our partnership split up, you never know in football maybe years down the line we will work together. He was a great guy both on and off the pitch and good for me.

“I learned a hell of a lot from him and from Steven in the defensive way that they think about football. Their work rate and attitude to the game doesn’t leave any stone unturned. It is something that I will carry with me and hopefully Dunfermline can benefit from as well.”

Turning to his young squad, Stevie related to his time at Raith Rovers and how Jimmy Nic coached young players. “I cannot remember him raising my voice at me. He had different ways, he was very firm, he made it very enjoyable and I always felt that he was encouraging you to learn yourself.

“Potts has been fantastic in his role over the last five or six years. He develops young men and that is something I will be conscious of while trying to teach them.

“If you can get some of them there that wee bit quicker then the opportunities might come to get regular reserve team football and longer term always aiming to get into that first team.”

Stevie knows that he will go about things in a different way from Potts but still try to carry that same philosophy that he had. His role will include taking the Fife Elite under 18s games on a Friday night.

On match days Stevie is already fulfilling a role watching the first team from the stand and passing on his analysis to the management team.

“I think that is great because the younger ones can see that there is a connection between the staff as well. Sometimes that doesn’t happen at clubs.

“I love first team football, was lucky enough to have played for long enough and I still have a contribution to try and help Allan and Sandy. My main focus has to be the reserves though.”

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