25/42 - East End Park, Dunfermline

13th April 2019
Ground Number: 25
Ground: East End Park
Home of: Dunfermline Athletic FC
Match: Dunfermline v Falkirk
Score: 0-1
Attendance: 6089

For one final time then we make the trip into Fife, this time to visit East End Park home of Dunfermline Athletic FC. As always we had emailed ahead to the club for some information and they kindly provided details on where to park, best place to sit etc.

Due to our own poor planning we couldn't actually find the official club car park so on street parking followed by a ten minute walk to the ground it was. Plus points were it saved us £2.00 and we burned some calories! On approach to the ground the place was buzzing for this match. Dunfermline with not really much to play for played bottom side Falkirk who had everything to play for. It would be an interesting match. Before that though we have tickets to pick up.

Under the Main Stand (or the SRJ Windows Stand) the Ticket Office and Club Shop can be found. It was a very modern affair with a wide range of stock including pin badges at just £2.99 each. We were asked by the kind assistant where we wanted to sit in the Main Stand - middle or side. Obviously we chose middle. £20 each was the price of the day.

We decided to make our way into the ground with just 15 minutes to kick off at this stage. Entry was via automatic turnstiles and on our way upstairs the food kiosk was calling our name from a narrow corridor down which you had to be careful not to bang your head on the low roof. Although we always like to try the local pie here at East End Park the "award winning Steak Bridie" certainly tickled our interest.

Verdict? Stunning. Better than the Forfar Bridie. Sorry but it really was! Simply delicious. We then emerged from the bowels of the stand to find our seats. Either "middle" actually means "side" in Dunfermline or (more likely) the sales assistant had made a mistake. Our seats were at the far left of the Main Stand. To be fair our view was still excellent aside from the odd pillar in this old structure.

Our overall impression of Dunfermline supporters feelings about their club? Frustration! Around us we heard fans perplexed with the starting line up and throughout the match their frustrations were only going to grow. Quite how Dunfermline lost this match is beyond us.

A first half penalty, hitting the woodwork multiple times and almost total domination of possession but still they found a way to lose the game. I honestly think they could still be playing now and still they wouldn't have scored. They would have hit the post a further 4 times though. Falkirk, in deep deep trouble in the league, performed the ultimate smash and grab and you have to give them enormous credit for that.

As a Dundee United fan though watching Falkirk reminded me of McKinnon's time in charge at Tannadice. Organised enough team but with little to no attacking threat. It'll be interesting to see where they end up in the final standings.

Our seats in the old Main Stand offered us a decent view of the action and we had no complaints, other than being cold! Behind each goal are identical more modern stands, the Norrie McCathie Stand housing the home fans and to our right a similar stand home to the away fans. Opposite us was a small stand only partly in use today to easily the most vocal of the home fans who tried their best to create an atmosphere. Sadly their teams performance sucked the life out of them as the game went on and they seemed to lose interest.

So 0-1 it finished and Falkirk couldn't believe their luck. We made our way out reflecting how much we'd enjoyed our day at East End Park. It delivered our 11th away victory of the tour so far - a 44% rate - and had by some distance the best pie / bridie so far.  

One final note however, whilst making our way back to the car via the rear of the Norrie McCathie stand we, along with a few hundred others, were kept locked behind some gates for....well apparently no reason whatsoever. At times the scene threatened to turn ugly and the steward and police present offered no explanation whatsoever for the delay. After 10 minutes or so the gate was opened and the crowd were allowed to exit. Quite bizarre and a sour note to finish the day i'm afraid.