Barrie Mitchell (15.03.47 - 24.01.21)

The club is saddened to learn of the death at the age of 73 of former player Barrie Mitchell.
Funeral Details added.

Above: Left to right- George McLean, Pat Gardner, Alex Edwards, Bert Paton and Barrie Mitchell

Barrie played in most of the forward positions, was part of the Scottish Cup winning squad in 1968 and spent just short of five years at East End Park from 1967 to 1972.

Dunfermline Athletic expresses its sincere condolences to his wife Moira and Barrie’s family.

Born in Aberdeen on 15th March 1947, he rejected the chance of joining Arsenal as an amateur and subsequently spent four years with Sunnybank at both juvenile and junior level before joining Arbroath at the start of 1967/68.

Above: Barrie Mitchell, centre of front row

Mitchell had only played half a dozen senior matches when, on 5th September 1967, Dunfermline manager George Farm caused a sensation by signing him for £13,000, a record fee for a Second Division player.

A difficult first season saw him undergo an appendix operation, break a bone in his foot and injure himself in a car crash but in between all this he scored his first goal in a 3-0 win at Morton on 25th November.

Becoming a first-team regular in 1968/69, he made his European debut against Olympiakos, scoring in the first leg before being sent off in Athens for retaliation.  Although this was only the second dismissal of his career he earned the dubious distinction of being the first British player to receive a three-match ban from UEFA. 

Along with Alex Edwards, Mitchell refused to turn up for pre-season training in 1970 and despite a furious manager and disciplinary action against them, neither returned until October, after Farm had been sacked and pay rises awarded to the entire playing staff.

Barrie adored his time at Dunfermline but his career at East End Park came to an acrimonious end on 29th April 1972 when, on the morning of a match that would determine the club`s fate, it was reported that he had already agreed to sign for Aberdeen. The Pars lost to Dundee United and Mitchell was given abuse both on and off the field.

Dunfermline received a much-needed £25,000 for Mitchell, who scored 40 goals in 177 appearances, but a slipped disc severely curtailed his Aberdeen career before he had even played a game, costing him that vital half-yard of speed.

In February 1974 he moved on to Tranmere and then played for Vancouver Whitecaps, Preston, York City, Morton and Wigan Athletic.

While at Vancouver Barrie played against Pele, Eusebio, Best and Beckenbauer in the 1970s and scored a winning goal in a match against New York Cosmos. When his football career ended Barrie headed back to Tranmere to be the popular landlord of a pub called the Coach and Horses in Greasby in the Wirral.

Barrie’s funeral will take place on Wednesday, 24th February at 2pm. These are the details for the stream of the service:

https://www.wesleymedia.co.uk/webcast-view.
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