Cammy Fraser Inducted
Monday, 11th Oct 2010Cammy made 114 appearances for Dunfermline , scoring just one goal. He will be most remembered as the youngest member of Stein's magnificent Cup-winning team in 1961.
John 'Cammy' Fraser was inducted into the Dunfermline Athletic Hall of Fame on Saturday 9th October. Winning a Scottish Cup winners medal at the age of only 19 Cammy didn't quite appreciate then what a huge achievement had come his way:-
"When you are young you expect to win something every year. It is very difficult to know what your greatest memory is. My obvious greatest memory is that I played under Jock Stein, that's all I can say because I am sure that everybody knows the status and talent that Jock Stein had. Not only for me, the team but the Scottish team and for Celtic. Playing under Jock Stein made me a better player. That is my memory of my best period with Jock Stein."
Next year the 1961 cup winning team will celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Pars first ever Scottish Cup win and Cammy will be hoping that all the surviving team members will be re-united:-
"Being young, the next game is just another game. You expect it always to be something that happens. I remember the cameraderie of the players of that era. We were together, always meeting each other, always being with each other therefore you had a rapport with them and you became a better team. My memories are not me as a person but me as part of a team."
The Cup Final went to a replay and many people would have been thinking that you only get one chance against the Old Firm. That one chance wasn't taken 0-0 on the Saturday but Cammy insisted it was that teamwork that meant the silverware would be travelling back across the Kincardine Bridge:-
"We became a team because everyday and in every situation we were always part of a team. Whether you were in the reserves or the first team everybody was treated equal, therefore when it came down to having to play for that team, you were not an individual but part of the team."
Born on 24th May 1941, Cammy Fraser started life as a centre forward at Larbert High School , but soon moved into defence.After gaining some experience with Steelend Juniors he signed for Dunfermline in July 1959 as one of manager Andy Dickson's last signings for the club as it desperately tried to avoid the relegation struggle it had endured for most of the previous season.
Cammy was promoted to the first team after only four reserve games, and made his debut in a home league match against Clyde on 12th December 1959.Dunfermline lost the match 5-4, but it didn't stop Cammy from being included in the next game, nor indeed for the remainder of the season.Jock Stein took over as manager in March 1960 and steered the Pars away from relegation with six wins out of six at the end of the season.Cammy was still only just 18 but he played in them all and was outstanding.
Cammy maintained his position under Stein the following season and played in every Scottish Cup match from the quarter final on, including both the Cup Final and the replay.At just 19 he had been the youngest player on either side, but performed brilliantly in Dunfermline 's 2-0 victory.By season 1961/62, Cammy was virtually ever-present in the Dunfermline side that entered European football for the first time and he scored his first and only goal for the Pars against Aberdeen in an August League Cup tie.By now his performances were being noticed further afield and he was rewarded on 6th December 1961 by becoming only the second Dunfermline player to win a Scotland Under 23 cap, playing in a 0-0 draw against Wales .
As Dunfermline continued to progress, it was inevitably only a matter of time before Cammy went to a bigger club and in October 1962 he was transferred to Aston Villa for £23,500 - a huge fee for that time. Jock Stein joked that the new main stand should have been named after him as the fee went a long way to paying it off.Despite a good start at Villa, where he played in the League Cup Final, he lost his place and moved to Birmingham for £9,000 in May 1964. Two years later he joined Falkirk , his last senior club.
Cammy Fraser with Willie Callaghan, the player who
took over at right back when Cammy left Dunfermline
After football, Cammy worked in the computer division of the Bank of Scotland when he left football. After ten years he then went on holiday to Singapore and found a job out east in the computer division this time of an oil company.Returning to Scotland Cammy had short contract work until he retired.Now at the age of 69 Cammy and his wife Moya live in Edinburgh while their two sons have settled for a new life in Australia .
In many ways, Cammy Fraser was the epitome of a Stein player - young but filled with the confidence that success brought.In all Cammy made 114 appearances for Dunfermline , scoring just that one goal. He will however be most remembered as the youngest member of Stein's magnificent Cup-winning team.
16/09/10 Interview with Cammy Fraser
2010 Hall of Fame inductee Jackie Sinclair
2010 Hall of Fame inductee Ian Westwater
2010 Hall of Fame inductee Stevie Crawford
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