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ARCHIE SMITH

The club was saddened to learn of the passing of former player Archie Smith.

After signing from Bayview Youth Club in December 1949, Smith made his first appearance in a Fife Cup final win against Cowdenbeath in April 1951, before manager Scot Symon handed him his competitive debut at right back the following August in a 1-0 League Cup victory over Queen of the South at Bayview.

Smith made a further three first team appearances, alongside players of the calibre of Sammy Stewart, Willie Finlay, Charlie Fleming, Henry Morris and Davie Duncan amongst others. In 1953 he moved to Tannadice to join Dundee United where he turned out on 12 occasions before joining Arbroath. Unfortunately a knee injury would prevent him from appearing for the Red Lichties and brought a premature end to his footballing career.

A native of Buckhaven, later moving to Methilhill, Archie Smith continued to cheer on his favourites at Bayview and as recently as last season was attending games as a season ticket holder.

East Fife Football Club would like to extend our condolences to Archie’s family and friends at this sad time.

Betfred Cup Group A Fixtures

The fixtures for our Betfred Cup Group A matches were released today and we kick off the campaign with a home tie on Tuesday 6^th October when we welcome League 2 side Cowdenbeath to the Locality Hub Bayview Stadium. Cowdenbeath ran out 2-0 winners at Central Park in the opening match of last year’s competition. The previous meeting between the sides, also at Central Park, in the 2018/19 Challenge Cup where second goals from Anton Dowds, Liam Watt and Jonny Court saw us triumph 3-1 after Jordyn Sheerin had given Cowdenbeath the lead.

Next up we make the short trip along the Standing Stane to take on Raith Rovers on Saturday 10^th October. It was a mixed bag when the sides met in last seasons League 1. East Fife comfortably won the opening match at Bayview 4-2 which was followed by a 1-1 draw at Stark’s Park while Raith claimed victory in the final derby of the season.

Heart of Midlothian visit Bayview on Tuesday 10^th November in a rematch of last season group decider. Jamie Walker have given Hearts an early lead before Chris Duggan equalised in the 53^rd minute. With no further scoring the match moved on to penalties to determined who picked up the bonus point with East Fife triumphing 7-6.

The final match of Group A sees us travel up the A9 to face Inverness Caledonian Thistle on Saturday 14^th November. The last meeting between the sides was all the way back in 1999 when ICT ran out 4-0 winners in Inverness. East Fife’s only victory against Inverness came in December 1998 at Bayview Park when goals from Gilbert Allan, Lee Dair and John Martin securing a 3-2 victory.

Further details on whether fans can attend the games will be announced in due course.

A Bright Start to the Season

In August 2017 Fifers For The Community (FFTC) assumed responsibility for the maintenance and management of the 3G pitch and introduction of community use at Bayview. Our first winter immediately highlighted that use of the floodlights increased ten-fold and after the lease was the major overhead cost for the Charity. The heavy electricity bills combined with the cost and limited availability of replacement bulbs was a major issue which FFTC and East Fife Football Club (EFFC) decided to address.

Six months ago both parties started to examine the options available and opened discussions with Zero Waste Scotland (ZWS).  ZWS launched the project by carrying out an energy assessment to establish the benefit of installing LED floodlights at Bayview. The potential cost reduction was significant so with the support of ZWS the project was put out to competitive tender and a preferred supplier selected.

From there we started the process of identifying possible sources of funding and we were delighted to secure a heavily discounted, long term and low interest loan from the Energy Saving Trust. This alone left us with a difficult decision considering the past and future financial constraints caused by COVID-19.

It was at this stage that a white knight arrived. EFFC and FFTC have previously received enormous support from the Scottish Football Partnership (SFP) and once again they supported all groups involved at Bayview. Following an application by EFFC the SFP awarded a significant grant which turned this into a financially viable project.

Installation of the new LED floodlighting will begin on 22nd August of this year and will exceed SFA Bronze Level standard.  Repayment of the loan will be made by FFTC from savings made on electricity usage during community use ensuring there is no financial burden to EFFC. The floodlights will become part of the fabric of Bayview Stadium and as such EFFC will be responsible for maintenance of the system which carries a lengthy warranty.

This has been a tremendous combined effort between FFTC and EFFC who would like to thank Zero Waste Scotland, the Energy Saving Trust and the Scottish Football Partnership for their support throughout.