Preview Forfar Athletic

First competitive match of the season as Pars travel to Forfar for Ramsden Cup Fir

If Dunfermline fans had been able to choose an away tie in the Ramsdens Cup then it would have been to play Dick Campbell`s Forfar Athletic.  The former Pars player and manager still has a squad that includes a number of former Pars players:- Mark McCulloch, Jamie Bishop, Iain Campbell and Chris Templeman.  Dick`s other son (and Iain`s brother) Ross also plays for the Station Park club and of course other former Pars such as Andy Tod, Greg Paterson, Craig Wilson and Greg Ross have also come and gone at Forfar.

This will be a severe first test for Jim Jefferies newly shaped team and Dick Campbell will need little motivating of his team against a club who were in the SPL last season.

 Dunfermline met Forfar Athletic in the Challenge Cup in season 1995-96. Goals from Andy Tod and Greg Shaw saw the Pars through and immediately after that game Manager Bert Paton signed David Bingham from the Angus Club for a fee of £100,000. That broke Forfar`s previous transfer fee record of £57,00 that Raith Rovers paid to them for Craig Brewster.

The Dunfermline team that beat Forfar in 1995:- Guido van de Kamp, Paul Fenwick (Andy Tod), Derek Fleming (Paul Kinnaird), Norrie McCathie, Craig Robertson, Paul Smith, Allan Moore, Jackie McNamara, Grrg Shaw, Stewart Petrie, Mark Millar (Ivo den Bieman).

When Dunfermline were held to a 0-0 draw at Station Park in the Scottish Cup on 25th January 1992 that marked Norrie McCathie`s 400th appearance for the club. Jocky Scott`s team went on to win the replay

The SFL Challenge Cup is now in its 22nd season of competition since its inauguration in 1990/91 to celebrate the centenary of the Scottish Football League. Initially it was sponsored by DIY retailers B&Q, who also gave financial backing top the SFL, the Fair Play League and the national Schoolboys` Cup, the B&Q Centenary Cup was intended as a one off tournament but its popularity ensured that it was retained as simply the B&Q Cup.

The notion that this first season was `popular` was largely down to the fact that the semi final between Kilmarnock and Dundee drew 7,933 spectators to Rugby Park (still a record for the competition outside of a final), while the final itself (when Dundee beat Ayr United 3-2 after extra time) attracted an excellent crowd of 11,506 at Fir Park. The reality was that the average gate of the B&Q Challenge Cup, omitting the final, was only 1664.

Dunfermline Athletic`s first involvement in the B&Q Cup was in 1992-93 with the 3-0 defeat at Arbroath marking an ignominious debut for Jackie McNamara. The Pars reached the semi final of the competition in 1994-95 before falling to Dundee at East End Park before a crowd of 7154, a club record in the B&Q Cup.

It looked like the competition had reached the end of the road when it was shelved in 1998-99 but new sponsors were found and the competition reborn as the Bells Challenge Cup in 1999-2000. The Pars returned to the competition after a four year absence and made a sharp exit, losing a first round match to Morton on penalties after drawing 2-2.

In season 2007-08 Dunfermline made the final of the Challenge Cup. This was the Club`s sixth appearance in the competition and, despite a miserable league campaign, they repeated their cup form of 2004 - 2007 by reaching the final. The Pars became the twentieth different club to do so, a pretty good representation of the SFL.

Against St Johnstone in the first final to be played at Dens Park, Dunfermline displayed all the defensive ineptitude that marked Stephen Kenny`s reign at the Club. In an awful opening half hour, they fell three goals behind before a change of formation heralded an unlikely come back. Leading 3-2, the Saints looked shaky but held on to become the eleventh different club to win the cup. The attendance of 6446, a reflection of the sense of frustration felt by the Pars supporters who had turned up in great numbers for their club`s three Hampden Park finals over the previous four years.

In 2008-09 Dunfermline defeated Stirling Albion but lost out 2-0 to Queen of the South. The following season Queen of the South again inflicted an East End Park knock out 2-1 after a 5-0 first round win over Dumbarton who were under the management of one, Gerry McCabe.