East Fife On This Day

North of Kirkcaldy, lucky are those - from Levenmouth through the East Neuk to the Tay - who can count East Fife as their Club. It is, by some standards, a very young team, founded some 20 years after Raith Rovers, and a good 30 years after senior football had begun to take off. The first Scotland International was played in 1872, and the first Scottish Cup final took place in 1874, yet East Fife didn’t kick their first football until 1903. The other teams got off to a good start, but East Fife caught up. They played in Methil at Bayview, from where in 1927 the team reached the Scottish Cup Final and, in 1938, won the trophy, all while in the Second Division. After the Second World War came three great League Cup triumphs in 1947/48, 1949/50 and 1953/54, before teams like Celtic and Hearts had even appeared in a final. In 1998, the club moved to a new ground, much closer to the sea, and sometimes called New Bayview. The story of these achievements includes tales of players – famous and less well-known – and of managers, supporters, referees, chairmen, directors and club officials. There are over 100 photographs of players, teams, strips, and crowds. Plus a full Index of names, clubs, grounds, competitions, newspapers, sponsors and spiders. In the words of the author: `Every East Fife supporter would love to see the great days come back. It does not look, at the moment, all that likely, it has to be said, but then who am I to say that?’