Willie Callaghan (Junior) 23 March 1967 – 13 April 2023

Everyone at Dunfermline Athletic Football Club is saddened to hear that our former player Willie Callaghan (junior) has passed away just three weeks after his 56th birthday.

Willie was called ‘junior’ at the Football Club at least to distinguish him from his father of the same name, Willie Callaghan. The senior Willie Callaghan was one of Dunfermline Athletic’s greatest players, and a mainstay at right back of the club’s halcyon days of the 1960s. And of course, Willie senior’s younger brother Tommy was also one of Pars all-time greats who then went on to become a legend in his own right under Jock Stein at Celtic.

He originally reached East End Park via Hill of Beath Swifts, his first club, then Kelty Hearts, before signing for Dunfermline Railway Club Under 21s. From there he signed what was known as a delayed transfer to DAFC, and in 1984/85 he made the Pars starting line-up against Stirling Albion on 16 February 1985, and then against Stranraer. He was released at the end of that season and went back to Kelty Hearts before later joining Halbeath juniors.

It was at Halbeath that Willie managed to revive his career. His earlier football, including those two first team appearances for the Pars, were played as a winger, but at Halbeath he was moved to a central striking role where he started to score regularly. That form encouraged Jim Leishman to bring him back to East End Park on 11 December 1987 during Dunfermline’s first-ever Premier League season.

There was no immediate impact with all of his time spent in the Reserves, but as Dunfermline moved towards what seemed certain relegation, Leishman made wholesale changes to his team to face Dundee on 19 March 1988, one of which was to start Callaghan at number 9. In what was one of the most remarkable matches of that or any other season, relegation-threatened Dunfermline defeated Dundee 6-1.

Although he didn’t score any of the goals Callaghan led the line so well that the following week against Morton Callaghan kept his place. Dunfermline won that one 3-0 and Callaghan scored his first Pars goal. A week later he scored another although the team went down 3-2 at Fir Park. Although Dunfermline were eventually relegated, Callaghan had done enough in his eight Premier Division starts to earn a contract.

It was expected that Callaghan, still only 21, would try to cement his first team place the following season in 1988/89. Unfortunately for him, the excellent form of Ross Jack and George O’Boyle up front meant that Willie scarcely got a look in and by the end of the season had managed just half a dozen substitute appearances.

Willie spent the remainder of his contract with the Pars on loan to other clubs – firstly, to Walsall in England, and then to Clyde and Cowdenbeath. When his contract was terminated he moved back to junior football with Kelty Hearts, but before long, he was back in the senior game, firstly at Montrose, then in 1993 with Cowdenbeath where he enjoyed his most successful playing days, playing just under one hundred games and scoring around 30 goals. He moved to Meadowbank Thistle who became Livingston during his three years spell there, before moving to Partick Thistle in 1999, where he finished his senior career at the end of that season.

Willie Junior’s career at East End Park was perhaps more limited than it might have been but he did help provide Pars fans with a few very special memories during our first Premier season.

Our thoughts are with Willie’s family at this sad time.