BY IAIN COLLIN – @CCP_sport
Chairman Bob Garmory has hailed the way the Dunfermline supporters commemorated the 20th anniversary of the death of former captain Norrie McCathie at the weekend – and hopes the fans will continue to rally round the club this season.
Saturday’s Fife derby against Cowdenbeath attracted an incredible crowd of 5,641 – the fifth largest in Scottish football over the weekend.
The East End Park attendance for a League One match beat that from the likes of Kilmarnock against Hearts and the Highland derby between Inverness Caley Thistle and Ross County in the Premiership, and was only narrowly behind that for Motherwell against Hamilton Accies.
The Pars’ 2-1 victory paid the perfect tribute to McCathie, who tragically passed away in January 1996 from carbon monoxide poisoning.
And Garmory has offered his own praise for the supporters who made Saturday’s match a special occasion 20 years on from the horrors of McCathie’s death.
He said: “From the club’s point of view, Saturday was a good game against Cowdenbeath and it attracted a very good crowd.
“It was a fantastic turn out to pay tribute to Norrie McCathie, and the Cowdenbeath supporters and directors also deserve great praise for the part they played.
“It was very nice to meet Norrie’s family on Saturday and that they participated in the commemoration. They were blown away with the respect for Norrie and the memories that people had of him.
“It’s good for Scottish football that people are attracted to derby games and there are a lot of people in Scottish football trying very hard to make it as attractive as possible.
“Hopefully more and more people will want to enjoy themselves at the football.
“This weekend we have Ross County at home in the Scottish Cup and hopefully as many as possible of the fans from Saturday will be back.
“It will be the return of our old manager, Jim McIntyre, who is confounding a few of his critics with the way Ross County are doing in the Premiership, and we are hopeful of another good crowd.”
