Manager reads Stein Story

Hall of Fame to inspire Stephen Kenny's team in SPL and Scottish Cup

Stephen Kenny returned from Celtic Park on Saturday to change into his dinner suit and make his way to the Dunfermline Athletic Hall of Fame event at Forrester Park.  While he witnessed five of Dunfermline's players from the sixties being inducted into the club's roll of honour he deducted from the evening that the club's proud history still has relevance to his side's attempts to preserve their SPL status and reach the Scottish Cup Final:-

 "I am delighted to be here tonight.  It is ironic that I have been reading about the sixties and Jock Stein's biography.  It covered a lot of that period.  Jim (Leishman) has informed me about the period after that when Willie Cunningham was the Manager and of the 68 team as well.

"For me coming in here as Manager I would like to thank people for their decency.  Since we came in a couple of months ago, we have had an indifferent run in the League to say the least.  We have had some good results in the Cup but all the time myself, Declan, Colm, and Craig have found that we have had to fall back on the people at Dunfermline.

"There has been a lot of goodwill about what we are trying to achieve.  We have got a good feeling about the club itself, it has had great times in the past and I know that they want to re-establish those times. Myself as Manager wants to re-establish these times.  The club is important to the town of Dunfermline.

"In relation to the Hall of Fame I think it is a terrific thing.  Think about it, for people to come back and Dunfermline to invite them back, to realise the significance to win the Cup in 1962."

Corrected by Jim Leishman "1961", Stephen was quick to counter "I was just making sure that you were awake Jim!"

Stephen had noted the recipients of the awards:-

"Three of the Hall of Fame were goalkeepers, had you no outfield players?

"It is great to read about that era and about Jock Stein coming in. To hear that story - they are playing Montrose but we should be playing Real Madrid and Eintracht Frankfurt. It would be great but then to go and play Valencia and get results, you can't take that away.  There are a lot of people are pessimists; you have to think more optimistically than that.

"So from our point of view cast adrift at the bottom of the League at the moment, we have a significant game against St Mirren next week. People have seen in the last five home games; we have been Rangers, Hearts and Partick Thistle, drawn with Kilmarnock and lost 1-0 to Rangers that with St Mirren at home this week, one good result there could galvanise us and would have come a long way in relation to staying up."

Referring to the predicament that Jock Stein inheritted when he arrived at East End Park on 14th March 1960 and the six successive League victories that followed to stave off relegation, Stephen took hope:-

"The other period in the sixties when they were bottom and got out of the situation inspires us as well.  

"In relation to the Cup wins, the importance of the Scottish Cup was touched upon earlier on.  We realise the importance of the two wins.  Eddie Connachan was up here earlier and I have been reading about his Final and the 0-0 draw kept the team in it.  Apparently the Celtic goalkeeper didn't have the best.  The contrast between Eddie Connachan and the Celtic goalkeeper - he was going to be dropped for the replay but they didn't drop him.

"It was mentioned before that we went into the Centenary Suite before the Rangers with the players.  The players do not usually go into these rooms and the significance of the photographs - Jock Stein on the wall, the bus going through Dunfermline, the packed crowds and how it inspired people of that era is relevant today.

"We spoke to the players and said 'you know you want to have an effect on people, you want to be the best you can be, you do not want to accept mediocrity whatever you do in life'.  We spoke before the Rangers game that we want to go to Hampden this year. 

"Somebody said to me in Ireland that we were 125-1 to win the Cup at the start of the year but we are one step away from the Final now. We are going to Hampden for the Semi Final and we definitely want to get into Europe, Jock Stein was right, you don't have to settle for going up the road you can look further afield and have ambitions like that.

"Hibs are in our way now but if we can beat Hibs and Celtic win we are into the UEFA Cup. That they way we want, that is the way I see for Dunfermline.

" I want to thank all the Hall of Fame Award recipients.  They are all fantastic players in their own right and fantastic characters as we have seen when they came up and spoke. The distance that they have travelled, even you Alex (Smith)!  It is great for them to realise that people care that much after all these years and great for the club to recognise that they are very worthy recipents. It is great for them to see each other and to realise that so many years later that it is still relevant even to today's team and today's supporters.

"It has been a great night and I am going to speak to the players about it. It is very important and I am just thankful that I was here tonight.