THE GRUDGE MATCH
Pars and Bairns are ready to go again
LOCAL legend has it that the ill-feeling stems from an historic dispute over ownership of the Kincardine Bridge. A more modern theory cites clashes between men of both towns at the roller discos of the 1970s.
If the origins of the Dunfermline and Falkirk rivalry remain murky, one thing is for sure: this is a fixture that often contains poison.
Tensions will be running high at East End Park this afternoon as these two fierce foes prepare to lock horns for the first time since Bairns pair Kevin O’Hara and Joe McKee were handed lengthy bans after being found guilty of mocking Dunfermline playmaker Dean Shiels for only having one eye.
It is the latest controversy in a ferocious rivalry that hardened in the 1980s and 1990s as the two teams frequently did battle for the First Division title.
On the pitch, it has produced memorable matches. March 7, 1989 entered Falkirk folklore as
Super Tuesday; the night when Dunfermline were routed 4-0 under the lights at Brockville in front of a bumper crowd of 9,200.
Pars boss Jim Leishman, whose face featured on balloons being popped by Bairns fans that season, had the last laugh as his side won the league title by two points.
And last term, Peter Houston — who played for Falkirk in that encounter — accused Dunfermline of acting unprofessionally by ‘shopping’ Myles Hippolyte to the SFA after they tweeted an emoji of a diver alongside a video of the Bairns striker tumbling to win a penalty in the 2-1 derby win. Hippolyte was then banned for two matches for simulation.
In the aftermath of that match, a Dunfermline fan was charged and fined £300 for challenging Falkirk players to a fight at full-time. Dunfermline Sheriff Court later heard the man had previously been ejected from a derby match earlier that same season.
The Shiels incident was as close as it comes to the fixture’s most deeply unpleasant nadir, which occurred during a Scottish Cup tie at Brockville back in February 1997. Falkirk’s 2-1 win on the road to a cup final appearance against Kilmarnock was marred by socalled Bairns fans mocking the tragic Norrie McCathie — a year after the late Dunfermline captain had died.
‘I find it despicable that fans under the banner of Falkirk should behave in this way. There is no place in the game for them,’ said Falkirk manager Alex Totten at the time.
Yet, in October this year, the ugly side of the rivalry surfaced once more — during a 2-0 Irn-Bru Cup win for Falkirk — when former Northern Ireland international Shiels was goaded over the eye he had surgically removed after a childhood accident.
O’Hara was banned by the SFA for eight games, McKee for four, after both were found guilty of verbally abusing the 32-year-old, himself sent off in stoppage time for a lunge on McKee. Both Falkirk players remain suspended for today’s potential powderkeg.
With the Shiels incident still to emerge into the public domain, the teams met again in a league clash at Westfield on November 4. Dunfermline finished with nine men after Kallum Higginbotham and Declan McManus were both sent off in the 1-1 draw.
It followed the sides’ first meeting of the season in August, when Lee Miller and Craig Sibbald were sent off as Dunfermline won 3-1 at East End Park. In all, that made it five red cards in just three games between the rivals this season.
It is safe to say, then, that today’s match officials should prepare for a busy 90 minutes.
‘The team that keeps the head the most normally comes out on top in these games, so all the boys will be focused and channel their aggression out on the pitch,’ said Falkirk defender Jordan McGhee.
‘We will try and play the way we want to play and, hopefully, we can go there get a result.
‘In your own head, you know what you need to do and the players are all focused.
‘I’ve played in two of these games now and I knew what to expect. Having played in the Edinburgh derbies, it’s more or less the same.
‘It’s always a fast tempo, with tackles flying in and everyone aggressive, especially at the start. Maybe later on you can get a chance to strut your stuff.
‘Whether you enjoy it or not, you need to be up for it and committed 100 per cent. The boys will be raring to go for the game.
‘In the big games I’ve played in, you try and block out the crowd. Sometimes it’s hard but, most of the time, you stay focused on yourself.
‘(A win) would be a great way to start the year and that’s what we’re looking for; to try and lay a marker for 2018 and get back to where we should be.
‘I’m sure when the fixtures first came out that the Falkirk boys all looked for the Dunfermline game. There’s a real buzz for it.’
There is such a buzz about the fixture on both sides that Pars keeper Sean Murdoch insists the passion of the rivalry matches the Old Firm.
‘I’ve had fans of other teams contacting me on social media, saying: “We need to get to a Dunfermline-Falkirk game because, on paper, they seem great”,’ he said. ‘They are good games to be involved in.
‘It means so much to the fans, just as much as Celtic and Rangers, for instance. Okay, it’s on a smaller scale, but it means just as much to these fans.
‘To be fair, Falkirk fans are noisy and they make it lively, as do our fans. It’s a good game to play in, it really is.
‘It means so much to the fans. There’s bragging rights at stake. It doesn’t have to be a CelticRangers game for it to matter. It does matter to our fans as well.’