Jim Jefferies reviews 2013

"The next day was crucial, it was a horrible day seeing boys leave. I thought 'do I need this'

Speaking exclusively to the website Pars boss Jim Jefferies reflected on the most turbulent year in the history of the 128 year old football club:-

"In the first full season after being relegated from the SPL, it was a new thing for Dunfermline to go for the younger route. The fans had to buy into that and I think when we started the season it took a couple of games to accept. People were encouraged but we said 'we will improve' and we did big time I think."

In the first sixteen games of the 2012-13 season defeats only came at the hands of Aberdeen in the Scottish Communities Cup and twice at the hands of the champions to be, Partick Thistle. Unfortunately from mid December onwards Dunfermline were to win just three times in their next 22 outings. Jim pinpointed the problem:-

"We suddenly became terrific to watch and got a good run going but then with all the things that happened off the pitch, it was not going to be easy. The final straw was going into administration and losing the experienced players we had.   

"That was vital and I couldn't even see where we were going to get another point. I have to say the players from then on in grabbed the opportunity. Needs must and I thought some of those young players that we brought in, who have now become the older players, responded well.

"It is amazing how we ever got to a play off stage because the fifteen point deduction for going into administration, was a killer for us. I have gone on record before saying that is a stupid punishment because it doesn't punish the people who put the Club in that position. It punishes the supporters, players and staff. People lose their jobs and that's the sad part about it. Somebody cooked up the idea thinking it was the right thing to do, but it is not!

"We had to accept it and the main priority was not just administration but keeping this Club alive because we were very close to going into liquidation. That took one tremendous effort from the supporters and from the Pars United people.

"Remember there were problems there as well because when certain groups set up to save a football club, it is all with good intentions. But there were that many groups with many people involved in them that one group ends up fighting against the other. It was great that they knocked their heads together, settled down and came up with picking a couple from each of the various groups who could work together because that was the most important thing.

"I have got to say that they did a fantastic job of it; of course they had to go round and plea to the supporters that they needed them. A lot of them put in sizeable amounts of money and the fans rallied with the money that they collected and with great effort every wee bit helped."

Jefferies was motivated by this concerted effort and revealed that it made him feel that he wanted to do something to repay them.

"Coming out of administration was great. We know that we are in League One, and with Rangers promoted to this league we knew that it was going to be hard to get promoted especially when they brought in a lot of players with Premier League experience, the likes of Jon Daly and Nicky Law."

The Manager accepts that the most likely route to Championship football next season will be down the avenue of the play offs but recognises that to do that you would probably have to beat a team from the division above:-

"Whoever finishes second bottom is going to be in the mix but we just have to put ourselves in that position at the end of the season. We have young boys in a different league and as Rangers found out in the previous season with young boys, it is not just as easy as you think. A lot of the boys you play against in this league have maybe been short of playing in the Premier League or the Championship but find their level and become decent players at this level.

"I have got to say that our players have been fantastic and maybe just as recently as the last four or five weeks, with the Club coming out of administration, the big game against Ayr after the draw for the Cup was made, players through Pars United getting a lot of help and support for things that they were due, things in place that we couldn't do anything about until the Club was in a position to be taken over officially; these have all come through in the last few weeks and created a real feel good factor about the Club."

2013 was a year that tested Jim Jefferies' strength. Only two days after his youth side had won through to the SFA Youth Cup final, it was announced that the Club would be going into administration, players would leave and a dark cloud of uncertainty gathered over the Club.

On the day between the announcement of administration and the day that players would be made redundant, the Club had to fulfil a home fixture against Falkirk. In normal times this would have been a cracking local derby contested with fervour and passion. That was not going to be the case that night and the fans reflected that gloom by staying away. The crowd that late March evening was just 2879, almost half of those who had turned out for the December game at East End Park. Jefferies spelt out the sentiment:-

"We played Falkirk on a night where we knew a lot of them were coming in the next day and would probably lose their jobs. It was a hellish thing to have to face but to go into a game against one of our greatest rivals in the league, knowing that the next day you might not be there was tough for us all.

How they managed to motivate themselves to put up a good performance. They lost the game but I think a lot of their minds were on other things. It was credit to them that they even took to the pitch.

   
   
Andy Barrowman, Andy Kirk, Andy Dowie, Joe Cardle., Paul Gallacher, Jordan McMillan, Stephen Jordan and Steven Mayne left the Club

"The next day was crucial, it was a horrible day seeing boys leave. I thought 'do I need this' but people came to me saying that they would get behind the Club if I stayed. At the time I didn't think that was right; it was a nice thing for people to say. I didn't want to be disrespectful to them but it was about the Club and not about me. Whether I stayed or didn't stay, I still wanted them to go ahead and put money into the Club because they deserved it.

"It wasn't just that though. These young boys had come through a hell of a lot and the Club were going to go into new ownership. I felt that Pars United probably needed somebody with experience at the helm.

"I sat back and thought 'well for some strange reason, for everything that has happened, it has been really enjoyable job'. You might think that I am mad saying that but it was seeing everybody galvanise to try and save the Club. Young players playing out of their skin to try and help the cause, a lot of them with very little experience. To see them perform like they did, give every ounce, making mistakes but for the whole run in that season.

"Going down to Morton and winning, beating Cowdenbeath and then we should have won at Partick. That would have been it. I just felt that last week was a big ask. We had gone to Partick and never got a break when the referee played an added five and a half minutes and that goal was so important. We felt gutted after that and then you had to pick these players up because a lot of them had to play in the Youth cup final in midweek.

"You didn't want to put in young kids and devalue the hard work of those who got there. The most important game was the one on the Saturday against Airdrie. We should have battered Airdrie; everybody knows that it should have been four or five at half time.

"Just as happens with young boys, if you do not take your chances and there is a little naivety about making mistakes you are punished. The boy came off the bench that day and hit a thirty yarder with his first touch into the corner. You think that it is just not to be.

"It is not the players fault, it was circumstances but that was a huge week. I felt sorry for the players to be put into that position. It was not a great week and I said at the time, the only plus to come from being relegated is that it will build these boys' characters. They have gone through something that they have not been put through and it will be the making of them.

"This season was all about accepting where we were and trying to do something about it, you cannot ask anymore of them. They have been going well, they are improving, taking hits along the way but it has always been an enjoyable job, even given what has happened to us.

"In all the years that I have been in the game, I have never been at a club in administration - I have been at clubs that have threatened it but never actually happened - so it was new for me as well. To see people put that amount of work and effort into it and what it meant to them, it makes you want to stay.

"We are a great club with a great tradition and I think the fans realised that it would have been a shame to see it go. They worked hard to save it.

"To come out of administration was a huge plus but there is no doubt that we are now on a long hard road. BDO may have moved out but there is still a lot of hard work to be done. The only way that we can make it easier or better for everybody is by doing our bit on the pitch. It is a difficult situation with a young team but they are bearing up well.

"We just have to look ahead and be positive now. So far the foundations have been laid. We need to stick to what we believe in, what we set out to do a couple of years before administration, going down the younger path, bringing through our own youths and having a good eye for younger players from lower leagues."