NORRIE by Jim Leishman

“I have a lot of my own personal special thoughts about the man, and I think about him a lot. As a manager I was privileged to have him in my team and he was one of the driving forces behind our success in the 1980s. He was also a great guy and we all remember that cheeky smile. It was and still is a sad loss, but it is great to know that he hasn’t been forgotten even ten years on.”

NORRIE by Craig Robertson

“The biggest thing that I miss about Norrie is when he scored a goal his whole face lit up with a huge grin. I only joined the club when it was in the Premier League, but Norrie’s contribution was massive a long time before that.

After Norrie’s death, nobody outside the club will ever really know the week that the players had. I think the Clydebank game was the same for all of us – it was like a blur.  Going out on to the pitch was eerie, it was so quiet. Then the minute’s silence was so difficult for everyone. We were so drained by all that had gone on that our legs had given up by half-time – after that we kept going on emotion.

Dunfermline is a very special place and we never seem to make it easy for ourselves. But when that happens, the fans seem to know when to come out and get on your side – it happened at Falkirk on Saturday, it happened at Tannadice last season and in 1996, and it happened that day against Clydebank . The fans carried us to victory, and I think what happened to Norrie brought the fans and the club closer together. I’m sure that’s what kept us going to win the title.”

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NORRIE by Hamish French

“When I look back to that period when I was a player it is still very fresh in my memory. I think that’s because it was a very happy time for me personally – it was a good team enjoying success and there was a lovely banter among the players. There was also a great team spirit, and Norrie was one of the main men who fostered the team spirit. He was a larger than life character, but he was also a friend to all the players, and that is what made him so special to us.”

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NORRIE by Bill Kinnear

Today’s programme is tinged with sadness as we devote many of the column inches with tributes to and memories of the late Norrie McCathie who left us a decade ago. Ten years ago this week I was in New York City when I was to hear the sad news that Dunfermline Athletic had lost one of their all time favourite players in very tragic circumstances.

Of course almost everyone’s favourite memory will certainly be the sight of Big Norrie scoring from the penalty spot in that now infamous Skol Cup semi-final at Tynecastle in 1991. If like me, you are a regular patron of DAFC.net, you will have had the opportunity to see a video recording of that penalty in recent weeks. What a sight indeed. And as coincidence would so often have it, our opponents in that semi-final were Airdrieonians – predecessors of today’s visitors, Airdrie United.

For me Norrie was never a skilful player but he was committed and effective and passionate and courageous. When faced with making a clearance, there was nothing fancy about his style, the ball went out of the park whichever way he was facing. No messing. A few of today’s players could learn a lot from that simple but often effective tactic.

He was captain of Dunfermline Athletic at a time the Club was emerging from the depths of despair of the seventies and eighties and his commitment to the Pars was there for all to see. Not for nothing did he gain the moniker ‘Mr Dunfermline’.Â

Norrie is rightly a member of the Pars ‘Dream Team’.  So far Dunfermline Athletic Football Club has held two Hall of Fame events. My guess is that it won’t be long before Norrie is inducted to join other players and staff who have made our football club special. Aye, fond memories indeed.

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AND FINALLY…NORRIE

…for a issue of The Game that is special for more reasons than one. Dunfermline may still be in the mire this season, but very few fans have doubted their spirit and desire. It was that spirit that even with ten men that allowed them to make a comeback against Rangers, and to go to Falkirk and hold on for three precious points.

This never-say-die attitude was also something of a Norrie McCathie trademark over the years. In one of his last matches Dunfermline fell two goals behind Dundee at Dens Park in the opening ten minutes.  Not that Norrie was worried, he knew that his team was good enough to recover and, true to form, it was Norrie himself that led the fight back, on hand to finish off a sweeping one-touch move. The Pars then went on to win 4-2.

A year earlier, at the same ground, Dunfermline were trailing Dundee 4-2 going into the closing stages. Norrie drove the team on and after Hamish French scored from the spot, the captain was on hand to head the equaliser, throwing himself at a Derek Laing cross.

Perhaps the best comeback was by Norrie himself.  In 1988/89 he was unable to re-establish himself in the Dunfermline team after an injury early in the season.  During January he went out on loan to Ayr United and played two matches in which Ayr conceded nine goals. Recalled by Jim Leishman, Norrie went straight into the side for a crunch match at Airdrie, scored in the 2-0 win and was never left out of the team again.

Let’s hope that the McCathie spirit lives on…and on.

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