Preview Albion Rovers

Of the 71 previous league matches, the Pars have won 37, 12 have been drawn and 22 lost.

The second of three successive away games takes Dunfermline Athletic to Coatbridge to face Albion Rovers. It was April 1985 when Dunfermline last played at Cliftonhill, so for most Pars fans this will be their first opportunity to see the Pars play there and for that reason there could be a sizeable away support this Saturday.

The last away game against Albion Rovers was in March 1986, when Tommy Gemmell was their manager, but since the Pars had a travelling support that regularly exceeded 1000 and Cliftonhill had an SFA imposed limit of 850 at the time, the match was actually played at Broomfield Park, Airdrie.

Former Pars midfielder Darren Young is their player/manager and he has defied the expectations of many who predicted that his newly promoted team would struggle this season. On the contrary they currently sit in joint third spot in the Ladbrokes League One table. Dunfermline are just 10 points ahead of the Coatbridge club in second place with a game in hand.

Of the 71 previous league matches, the Pars have won 37, 12 have been drawn and 22 lost. Dunfermline's games against Lanarkshire club have tended to be high scoring games but the most recent have been all one way with the Pars scoring 22 goals in the last six encounters without reply.

Albion Rovers were founded in October 1882 with players drawn from two junior teams - the Rovers and The Albion. It was not until 1903 when they entered the Scottish League playing in Division Two. Dunfermline first met Albion Rovers on 14th September 1912 when the Pars ran out comfortable 5-2 winners. The following season Albion Rovers finished runners up - one point ahead of the Pars.

In season 1919/20 they were elected to the First Division and in the same year they moved to their current home, Cliftonhill. This was perhaps The Wee Rovers most successful period in their history, reaching the Scottish Cup final in 1920 only to lose 3-2 to Kilmarnock in front of a crowd of 95,000, a record for the time.

With their relegation in 1922/23 season it meant that they would face Dunfermline once more, with the Fifers taking three points out of four but finishing three points and two places behind fifth placed Albion. In season 1933/34, Albion pipped Dunfermline to the Second Division title. They had to thank their 2-1 victory at East End Park on 17th March - when Dunfermline were top of the league and undefeated at home - for this achievement.

After the Second World War Albion found themselves, like Dunfermline, in Division 'B' and in 1947/48 they were promoted as runners up to East Fife. One season on they were back in the bottom league. They finished fourth in the Second Division in 1979/80 and in 1988/89 won that league. Albion Rovers won League Two last season by a ten point margin and a goal difference of +28. Last season's League Two champions find themselves up against the Pars in the league for the first time since season 1985/86.

Connections

Sandy Clark left Albion Rovers in the summer to join Allan Johnston's management team at Dunfermline but the most famous link between the clubs is Jock Stein. Stein played 94 times for Albion between 1942 and 1950 and was part of the team that won Division 'B' in 1948.

In addition to Darren Young the current Albion squad includes former Pars players Andy Barrowman, Paul Willis and Scott McBride. .

Last Time Out

DUNFERMLINE (v Airdrieonians): Sean Murdoch; Lewis Martin, Marc McAusland, Ben Richards-Everton, Jason Talbot; Michael Paton ,Andy Geggan, Rhys McCabe (Shaun Byrne HT), Ryan Wallace, Michael Moffat, Faissal El Bakhtaoui.
SUBS NOT USED: Lewis Spence, David Hopkirk, Josh Falkingham,
Shaun Rooney, Mickaël Antoine-Curier, David Hutton (GK).

ALBION ROVERS (v Ayr United): Ross Stewart; Alan Reid, Michael Dunlop, Ross Dunlop, Kyle Turnbull; Mark Ferry (Josh Mullin 73), Gary Fisher, Ross Davidson, Paul Willis, Ally Love (Scott McBride 64), Andy Barrowman (Callum McRobbie 81).
SUBS NOT USED: Ricardo Talu, Terry, Darren Young, Blair Lochhead (GK)

Referee will be Alan Mur

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