Part Three - Central League Days
The Fifers, after having discarded their green and white jerseys in favour of navy blue, played their first ever Central League match against St Johnstone at Bayview on 21st August 1909. The first win in the new competition, however, was not recorded until 25 September 1909, when Broxburn Athletic were beaten 4-1 in Methil. What is also significant about this match is that Wilkie’s three goals for the Fifers that day was the first ever hat-trick scored at Bayview Park! Later that same month, the Fifers won the right to play in the Scottish Cup for the first time in their history by beating Aberdeen Harp 3-0 in the third round of the Qualifying Cup.
The club’s first ever Scottish Cup tie was played against Hurlford at Bayview on 15 January 1910, where the Fifers won a place in the last sixteen of the competition with a convincing 4-1 win. The following round saw the Fifers drawn at home against Queen’s Park, who at the time fielded a host of well known players including the famous Scottish internationalist R.S. McColl. Despite a brave performance from the Methil men, the Spiders ended the Fifers interest in the competition with a 3-2 win.
During the summer of 1910 East Fife became increasingly concerned about the uncertainty surrounding Bayview Park as plans for the new school at Aberhill were drawn up. Initially, it was hoped that the only change to the football ground would be a further reduction in the dimensions of the playing surface, but when spectators arrived at Bayview for the first match of the 1910/11 season, they found that the whole playing surface had been moved several yards to the west. This meant that the grandstand, which had been situated in the middle of the north touchline, was now at the north-east corner of the ground. The pavilion, which had occupied a position between the grandstand and the north-west corner of the park, now found itself situated almost exactly on the half-way line!
Early in 1911 it became apparent that all was not well behind the scenes at Bayview Park when it was announced that the club was in a bad way financially, largely due to poor gates during the first half of the season. The club struggled on, but after two blank Saturdays in March when the financial situation forced the cancellation of two fixtures, doubt was expressed as to whether the Fifers could stay afloat. Faced with the possibility that their beloved football club was about to cease operations, club officials, local businessmen and supporters rallied round and decided on a course of action. Eventually, the decision was taken to float the club as a Limited Liability Company and, by April 1911, the flotation was reported to be ‘proceeding merrily’. On 29th May 1911, East Fife Football Club Limited was incorporated as a Company under the Companies (Consolidation) Act 1908. The Fifers had been saved!
Everyone associated with East Fife looked forward to the 1911/12 season with fresh enthusiasm. Never before in the history of the club had the outlook been so promising. The Fifers’ re-birth as a Limited Company with the associated cash injection from the sale of shares meant that the ‘old wood’ could be cleared away and some fresh talent brought to Bayview. The opportunity was also taken to change the team colours to black and gold, a choice that the club has retained to this day.
In the summer of 1914, East Fife applied for Scottish League membership yet again when the size of the Second Division was increased to sixteen, but were rejected in favour of Lochgelly United and Clydebank. Had their application been successful, however, the Fifers’ league membership would have been short lived due to the outbreak of the Great War just weeks later. After war broke out, Central League fixtures became few and far between for obvious reasons and, in August 1915, a meeting was held by club officials to decide if it was worthwhile keeping the club going. Fortunately the Fifers decided to carry on and joined the Eastern League, which was created as a result of the Scottish League’s decision to disband the Second Division for the remainder of the war.
Peace was eventually declared in November 1918 and East Fife joined the Central League once again when it was re-started in August 1919. The following season, East Fife won their first major trophy, the Scottish Qualifying Cup, by beating Bo’ness at Central Park, Cowdenbeath, in front of a record crowd of 18,603. Huge crowds gathered at Methil station to welcome the team home, where some players were lifted shoulder high and carried along Methil High Street with the cup held aloft. It was, at the time, the greatest achievement in the Fifers’ history.
Reaching the latter stages of the qualifying competition won entry to the Scottish Cup for the fourth time and, after defeating Stevenston United, the Fifers met Celtic for the first time in their history. With a huge crowd expected, major improvements were carried out at Bayview Park and squads of workmen were employed raising an embankment on the north side of the ground, adjacent to the grandstand. The match attracted a new ground record of 11,000, who saw the Glasgow side progress with a 3-1 victory.
By 1920, the Central League had become a very successful competition and, as the league was made up mainly by clubs from the prosperous mining communities of Fife and the Lothians, healthy crowds meant that member clubs could pay their players good wages. Eventually it became apparent that the Scottish League clubs were in grave danger of losing most of their better players to the Central League, attracted by the healthy wages on offer. In order to prevent this scenario, the Scottish League decided to offer membership to the sixteen Central League clubs, along with Vale of Leven, Johnstone, Forfar Athletic and Arbroath, at the start of season 1921/22.
After so many failed attempts, East Fife had finally managed to attain Scottish League status!
