Dunfermline Athletic F.C. season 2007-08

Infobox Football club season
club = Dunfermline Athletic


season = 2007-08
manager = Jim McIntyre
chairman = John Yorkston
league = Scottish First Division
league result = 5th
cup1 = Scottish Cup | cup1 result = Fourth Round, Losers v Partick Thistle (1–2)
cup2 = Scottish League Cup | cup2 result = Third Round, Losers v Hearts (1–4)
cup3 = Scottish Challenge Cup | cup3 result = Final, Losers v St Johnstone (2–3)
cup4 = UEFA Cup | cup4 result = Second Qualifying Round, Losers v BK Häcken (1–2) agg.
league topscorer = Mark Burchill (11)
season topscorer = Mark Burchill (15)
highest attendance = 4,946 (vs St Johnstone, 2 Sept 07)
lowest attendance = 2,444 (vs Hamilton Academical, 11 Mar 08)

After 36 league games, Dunfermline Athletic finished 5th in the Scottish First Division with 51 points. Mark Burchill was the top scorer with 15 goals.

Review and Events

Dunfermline Athletic's first season after relegation from the Scottish Premier League started with disappointment. One win in seven games left them languishing in second last place and even more pressure was put on manager Stephen Kenny after they were knocked out of the UEFA Cup in the knockout qualifying round by Swedish minnows BK Häcken. Despite this the team managed to get to the final of the Scottish Challenge Cup, where they played against St Johnstone but lost 3-2. [cite web|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/scot_cups/7110899.stm|title=Dunfermline Ath 2-3 St Johnstone|accessmonthday=April 8|accessyear=2008]

At the start of December, Stephen Kenny was sacked as manager of Dunfermline after just over a year in charge. [cite web|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/d/dunfermline_athletic/7127417.stm.stm|title=Pars part company with boss Kenny|accessmonthday=February 7|accessyear=2008] Jim McIntyre was immediately given the role of caretaker manager and after a successful run in which he won four out of six games, he was appointed as Dunfermline manager on a full time basis on the 3rd of January 2008. He signed a two-and-a-half year deal. [cite web|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/d/dunfermline_athletic/7169445.stm|title=McIntyre named Dunfermline boss|accessmonthday=January 3 |accessyear=2008] McIntyre started his reign by allowing 6 members of his squad to leave in order to try and cut the squad size down. [cite web|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/d/dunfermline_athletic/7221362.stm|title=Six more players depart East End|accessmonthday=February 7|accessyear=2008] McIntyre's changes to the squad seemed to have a positive effect as the Pars eventually finished 5th overall, beating Queen of the South by 4 goals on the final day of the season.

Chronological list of events

This is a list of the significant events to occur at the club during the 2007-08 season, presented in chronological order. This list does not include transfers, which are listed in the transfers section below, or match results, which are in the results section.

*4 August: Pre-season favourites Dunfermline get off to the worst possible start to the season, losing 2-1 to Hamilton Academical [cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/scot_div_1/6930284.stm|title=Hamilton Accies 2-1 Dunfermline|publisher=BBC Sport website|date=2007-08-04]
*8 August: Played a testimonial match for Scott Thomson against Manchester United, losing 4-0 with Wayne Rooney scoring two of United's goals. [cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/d/dunfermline_athletic/6938212.stm|title=United win Thomson's testimonial|publisher=BBC Sport website|date=2007-08-08]
*4 December: After a disappointing start to the season, manager Stephen Kenny was sacked with the Pars in second bottom of the First Division. Striker Jim McIntyre was made caretaker manager. [cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/d/dunfermline_athletic/7127417.stm|title=Pars part company with boss Kenny|publisher=BBC Sport website|date=2007-12-04]
*3 January: Jim McIntyre was appointed manager of Dunfermline full-time after notching up four wins and two draws as caretaker of the club. [cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/d/dunfermline_athletic/7169445.stm|title=McIntyre named Dunfermline boss|publisher=BBC Sport website|date=2008-01-03]
*11 January: Jim McIntyre picks up the First Division Manager of the Month award for December. [cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/d/dunfermline_athletic/7181947.stm|title=McIntyre wins managerial award|publisher=BBC Sport website|date=2008-01-11]
*31 January: New manager Jim McIntyre has a major clear out at the club in the January transfer window, getting rid of four players on deadline day. [cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/d/dunfermline_athletic/7221362.stm|title=Six more players depart East End|publisher=BBC Sport website|date=2008-01-31]
*1 February: Stirling Midfielder Steven Bell signs a pre-contract agreement with Dunfermline to become Jim McIntyre's first signing. [cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/d/dunfermline_athletic/7221362.stm|title=Six more players depart East End|publisher=BBC Sport website|date=2008-02-01]
*18 April: Manager Jim McIntyre announces that both Mark Burchill and Stephen Simmons have rejected new contracts, while Scott Thomson signed a new one year deal. [cite news|url=http://www.dafc.premiumtv.co.uk/page/News/FNewsDetail/0,,10288~1293050,00.html|title=Manager on Friday|publisher=dafc.co.uk|date=2008-04-18]
*26 April: The final game of the season sees Dunfermline demolish Queen of the South 4-0, leaving the Pars final position being 5th. [cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/scot_div_1/7364829.stm|title= Dunfermline 4-0 Queen of South|publisher=BBC Sport|date=2008-04-26]

League table

Results

Friendlies

Pre-Season

Mid-Season

League

August

eptember

October

November

December

January

February

March

April

Cups

cottish Cup

Fourth Round

cottish League Cup

Third Round

cottish Challenge Cup

econd Round

Third Round

emi-Finals

Final

UEFA Cup

econd qualifying round

Fife Cup

emi-Final

tats

quad

Notes:
*¹ Denotes player left the club during the season.
*Player substitutions are not included.

Goalscorers

Fifteen players have scored for the Pars first team during the 2007-08 season, with 48 goals being scored in total. The top goalscorer was Mark Burchill with 15 goals.cite web|url=http://www.soccerbase.com/squad_season.sd?teamid=749|title=Dunfermline Athletic 2007/2008 player appearances|work=Soccerbase|accessdate=2008-01-17|format=HTML]

Kit

References

External links

* [http://www.dafc.premiumtv.co.uk/page/FirstTeam/0,,10288,00.html Official Site: 2007-08 fixtures]
* BBC Sport - [http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/d/dunfermline_athletic/club_stats/default.stm Club Stats]
* Soccerbase - [http://www.soccerbase.com/results2.sd?teamid=749 Results] | [http://www.soccerbase.com/squad_season.sd?teamid=749 Squad stats] | [http://www.soccerbase.com/transfers_by_team.sd?teamid=749 Transfers]