Latest News
Match Preview - Stirling Albion
Three wins in the last seven days has seen the momentum swing round following our opening day defeat against Elgin City 3 weeks ago. Last week’s 2-1 victory against Forfar Athletic sees us currently sitting in 4th position in the William Hill League 2 table going into today’s game.
This week’s opposition Stirling Albion are coming off the back a good win themselves last weekend when they defeated bookies favourites Clyde at New Douglas Park.
William Hill League Two Table
| Team | Pld | GD | Pts | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Peterhead | 3 | 3 | 9 |
| 2 | Elgin City | 2 | 3 | 6 |
| 3 | Stirling Albion | 3 | 2 | 6 |
| 4 | East Fife | 3 | 1 | 6 |
| 5 | The Spartans | 2 | 2 | 4 |
| 6 | Clyde | 3 | -1 | 4 |
| 7 | Forfar Athletic | 3 | -2 | 1 |
| 8 | Stranraer | 3 | -2 | 1 |
| 9 | Edinburgh City | 3 | -3 | 1 |
| 10 | Bonnyrigg Rose | 3 | -3 | 1 |
Last Week’s Results
Clyde 0-2 Stirling Albion
East Fife 2-1 Forfar Athletic
Edinburgh City 2-2 Bonnyrigg Rose
Peterhead 1-0 Stranraer
This Week’s Fixtures
Bonnyrigg Rose vs Clyde
Forfar Athletic vs Edinburgh City
Stirling Albion vs East Fife
Stranraer vs Elgin City
The Spartans vs Peterhead
The Form
The Fifers
East Fife’s last 6 matches have seen us pick up 4 wins and 2 loses.
Wins have come curtesy of a 4-0 home victory over Brechin City in the League Cup, and three consecutive home wins against Edinburgh City (League 2), St. Johnstone B (SPFL Trust Trophy) and last week against Forfar Athletic (League 2), where goals from Nathan Austin and Alan Trouten saw up dispatch the Loons.
The two defeats have both come on the road. Firstly, on the final weekend of the League Cup group stages away to Premiership side St. Johnstone before succumbing to a 4-2 opening day defeat against Elgin at borough Briggs.
Our Opposition
Their last 6 matches have seen the Binos pick up 2 wins, 2 draws and 2 loses.
The two victories have both come away from home in the league against Edinburgh City and last weekend at New Douglas Park against Clyde.
Their two draws were both back in the League Cup group stages against Hamilton Academical and Stranraer with Stirling going on to pick up the bonus point on both occasions.
The two defeats came at the hands of Premiership side Ross County in the League Cup and at home two weeks ago against Elgin City where a first half goal from Mark Gallagher was enough to see the Highlanders head back up the road with all three points.
Previous Encounter
Stirling Albion 2-2 East Fife
8th April 2023, Forthbank Stadium
The last times the sides met was towards the end of the 2023/24 season where a back-and-forth encounter ended in a share of the points following a 2-2 draw.
Jack Healy opened the scoring after 15 minutes with a left-footed volley following good work from Alex Ferguson down the right-hand side. The Binos hit back 3 minutes later through a Dale Carrick header. Carrick put the home side ahead just after the half-hour mark with an acrobatic effort.
Aaron Steele levelled the match again 7 minutes into the second half with a looping header from Liam Newton’s cross before East Fife had to see out the match a man down when Alan Trouten was dismissed for a second booking with 15 minutes left to play.
Squad News
Sean Docherty returns to the squad after missing out last weekend meaning the management team have a full squad at their disposal this afternoon.
Speaking yesterday, Assistant Manager Pink Campbell commented: “Stirling have had a good start to the season, so we’ll be giving them our upmost respect, but we’re really looking forward to the game after a really good week’s training.”
Match Tickets
East Fife fans will be housed in the East Stand this afternoon. Tickets for the match can be bought online or via cash at the turnstiles, with admission prices below:
Adults - £17
Concessions - £12
Students - £8
Under 18s - £8
Under 12s – Free with a paying adult
Please note, Stirling do not permit under 12s to attend the game unaccompanied.
Turnstiles will open at 2:00PM.
Live Stream
For our International Fans, live Streaming for today’s game will be available on EFTV, using a Monthly, or Annual Gold Pass. Today’s commentator will be Lee Gillies.
Club Colours
The Fifers will don the new, Back Onside sponsored away kit of blue & white striped shirts with white shorts and socks. The Fife goalkeeper will wear yellow for the match.
Officials
The referee today is Sean Murdoch and his assistant referees are Chris Gentles and James Duffy.
The Extra Bits
The speciality pie this afternoon is a South Indian Garlic Doner pie.
Mon the Fife!
SPFL Trust Trophy 3rd Round
Our SPFL Trust Trophy 3rd Round match against Dunfermline Athletic will take place on Saturday 7th September 2024 at the MGM Timber Bayview Stadium with a 3:00pm.
Admission prices for the match have been agreed as follows:
Adults £15
Over 65s £10
Under 16s £5
Ticket Info v Stirling Albion
Tickets for our William Hill League 2 match against Stirling Albion at Forthbank Stadium on Saturday 24th August are now on sale and can be purchased here.
Admission Prices
Adults - £17
Concessions* - £12
Students - £8
Under 18s - £8
Under 12s - Free with a paying adult
Please note, Stirling Albion do not permit unaccompanied U12s to be admitted to the stadium.
East Fife supporters will be housed in the East Stand. Cash turnstiles are available.
A live stream is available to viewers outside the UK and Ireland this via East Fife TV with a monthly or annual subscription.
SPFL Trust Trophy 3rd Round Draw
We have been drawn against Dunfermline Athletic in the 3rd round of the SPFL Trust Trophy.
The tie is scheduled to be played on 7/8th September. Full details will be announced in due course.
New Honorary Director Appointed
We’re delighted to confirm the appointment of Denis Nicol as an Honorary Director.
Denis has been an East Fife supporter since the late 1940s, with his family business, RS Nicol & Sons, being the main club sponsor for a number of years. He began volunteering with the stadium maintenance team following his retirement and was appointed to the club board as an Associate Director in 2014.
Chairman Jim Stevenson: “We are delighted that Denis has accepted this position of Honorary Director. He has been around the club for a long time from sponsoring club cars to various financial donations before stepping into the role of Associate Director, where continued to put in many hours of work alongside the stadium volunteers. Congratulations Denis - this is very much deserved.”
Match Report - Forfar Athletic
East Fife 2-1 Forfar Athletic, Saturday 17th August 2024
William Hill League 2, MGM Timber Bayview Stadium
East Fife welcomed Forfar Athletic in their third league outing of the season, having won 2-0 against Edinburgh City last week and suffering a 4-2 loss against Elgin City on the opening day. The Fifer’s started with an unchanged lineup from last week’s victory with Alan Trouten captaining the side once again.
In the opening exchanges, both teams were looking to spring the offside trap and use their pace in behind. Unfortunately for the home team, however, Nathan Austin was flagged offside 8 times in the first 20 minutes! Chances for both teams came around the 10-minute mark where Jess Norey’s first time volley from the edge of the box was held at the first attempt by Marc McCallum, and Arran Cocks forced a smart stop from Liam McFarlane down at his left-hand side.
The remainder of the first half was, at times, a rather difficult watch. That was until the 43rd minute after Norey was fouled 20 yards out and the resulting free kick was expertly curled into McCallum’s top right corner by Nathan Austin to give us a 1-0 lead at the interval. For further reading, please refer to the EFTV highlights of the goal to gain a true appreciation of the set piece!
From the sublime, to the silly - a straightforward cross into the box 6 minutes into the second looked to be easily dealt with by the East Fife back line. McFarlane came for the cross, Munro tried to turn the ball behind for a corner but instead rolled the ball into the bottom corner to draw the Loons level. Spooked by the calamity, the Fifers struggled to regain the initiative for the next 10 minutes as Forfar tried to capitalise and go ahead.
East Fife soon rallied and looked like the team in the ascendency. On 64 minutes, Norey was played through on goal by Reis Peggie and, in truth, should have restored the lead but managed to push his effort wide of the upright. On 75 minutes, East Fife had the ball in the back of the net but the far-side linesman adjudged Kieran Millar offside as he stabbed home a fumble from the Forfar goalie.
An outstanding long ball from Liam Newton and a deft touch from Nathan Austin bamboozled the Forfar backline on 78 minutes. Our frontman took the ball round the keeper and was tripped, having the goal at his mercy. Penalty to East Fife! You know the rest - Trouten steps up, to regain our 1 goal lead with 10 minutes to go. The rest of the game was rather nervy as we tried to hold on to our lead. After 4 minutes of injury time the referee called the game to a stop and the 3 points remained in Methil.
East Fife sit in 4th place in the league after 3 games on 6 points, 3 points behind the league leaders Peterhead who maintained their 100% record in the league this season. Next week it’s away to Forthbank Stadium to face Stirling Albion.
Reporter’s Man of the Match: Jess Norey.
The midfielder was everywhere, claiming every second ball and turning defence into attack at every opportunity, and on another occasion could and should have got himself a goal.
East Fife – McFarlane, McManus (Murdoch 45’), Peggie (Laaref 78’), Munro, Newton, Millar, Norey, Trouten, Shepherd (Healy 65’), Austin (Slattery 84’). Subs not used: Fleming
Forfar Athletic – McCallum, Klimionek (Skelly 80’), Morrison, Allan, Hutchinson, Taylor, MacLean (Reekie 75’), Whatley, Robson, Cocks (McLean 66’), Cannon. Subs not used: Franczak, Paris
Referee – Alex Shepherd
Attendance – 645
Report by Niall Anderson
Photograph by Kenny Mackay
