Leishman: Pars have the bottle

Possibly tempered by the chance of a cup shock the Big Man, Leish is only offering a bottle of champagne for the Pars player who might score the winner on this visit.

Recently Jim Leishman offered a case of champagne to the next Pars player to score the winning goal in a league match at Ibrox. Now with the Pars drawn away to Rangers in the third round of the Co-operative Insurance Cup there is an opportunity to change the record that Jim Leishman plays to guests in corporate hospitality most weeks. Nearly every Dunfermline Athletic fan has heard, with regular and popular monotony, the story of how Jim was the last Dunfermline player to score the winning goal at Ibrox but he is adamant that his record is not in jeopardy while this is a cup match.

"You are not going to take my title away from me" he maintained "it's got to be in the league, after all my feat was in the country's top division".

That means that Leish is only offering a bottle of champagne for the Pars player who might score the winner on this visit. Possibly tempered by the chance of a cup shock the Big Man added:-

"We have got every chance at Ibrox. The boys will give it everything and they've got a good opportunity. They will all be looking forward to it and will be giving it a go. If the boys play well enough they can cause an upset."

Back on 27th April 1972 it was certainly an upset when George Miller's side - bottom of the table at the time and staring relegation in the face - defeated third placed Gers by 4-3. Ken Mackie, Kenny Thomson and a Sandy Jardine own goal had matched two from Alex McDonald and one from Colin Stein but a strike from Leishman made the historic milestone. Even though it was Willie Henderson's last game for Rangers it was played in front of one of the lowest ever crowds at Ibrox - only 6021 - and the result wasn't enough to save the Pars from the drop into the Second Division for the first time since 1958.

Of the goal, that gets struck from nearer the half way line every time the story is told, on that Thursday evening match Leishman recalled :-

"We needed to win games towards the end of the season to have a chance of staying up. It was an absolutely amazing feeling to score the winner, especially since the game was in Glasgow."  He added however that winning promotion the following season was his best ever memory as a player.

The tie in the third week in September was welcomed by the Pars Manager and the bank manager:-

"Getting either half of the Old Firm at their place makes for a fantastic occasion," said Jim McIntyre.

"And just as the players are pleased to have the chance to test themselves against the best, so the directors are pleased from a potential revenue perspective."

The sides last met in this cup competition in 2006-07 with Rangers winning 2-0 but that same season was the last time Dunfermline defeated Rangers - 3-2 in the Scottish Cup in front of the East End Park crowd. Let's hope the champagne's on ice Leish!