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Dunfermline Sporting Memories Club welcomes ex Scotland Player and Manager

Posted on February 9 2023

Our Club members welcomed Scottish footballing legend Craig Levein (Back row 4th from right) to their weekly meeting at Abbeyview Bowling Club. It was a full house of members and guests who sat down to hear Craig share his memories of both being a player and manager with some top flight clubs.

Craig started playing football at junior level aged 16 after being persuaded by his brother not to abandon the game. Craig had showed serious promise as a youngster but lost interest till he signed with Lochore Welfare. It wasn’t long before he was noticed by senior clubs and he joined local Fife Club, Cowdenbeath in 1981 and was soon snapped up by Scottish Premier League club Heart of Midlothian where he began a lifelong association as a player then manager.

From Internationals to Podcast Craig is still fitba’ daft!

He won 16 caps playing for his country but was forced through injury to take early retirement and moved into management. He successfully managed several Premier League sides before stepping back to enjoy time behind the mic commentating for the BBC. He also co-hosts extremely popular BBC Podcast “Sacked in the Morning”

Members were keen to ask Craig a wide range of questions from his success and failures. He shared some very candid thoughts on the issues facing managers and how the whole club scene has changed in the past 40 years. From being a ‘team’ and having a common goal of winning to how now the individual player demands and needs along with tough agent negotiated contracts makes it much harder for managers to field energetic consistently winning sides.

Shared Memories

Craig had also brought along a treasure chest of memorabilia including tops from key games in his career. Some of these were handled with much reverence from our members. Craig took time to speak individually with members who were keen to share their own memories before gathering for a team photo. He also shared his own Sporting Memory which you can enjoy below.