THERE will be two massive games in Fife this weekend and Jim Leishman will be at both, one in his capacity as a Dunfermline director in Kirkcaldy and the other seeing him return to the dug-out at East End Park.
The Pars travel to Stark's Park tomorrow to face Raith Rovers for the first time on league business since the opening game of the new millennium, and Sunday will see Leishman return to motivational team talks and the role of proud husband as a game
is held to raise funds for The Mary Leishman Foundation.
The foundation was set up to benefit local good causes and to remember Leishman's wife of 30 years, who died on their wedding anniversary of February 24 this year, aged 53, after a battle with cancer which lasted less than six months after being diagnosed.
There will be plenty of pride at stake, with Leishman's championship and promotion-winning team of the 1980s taking on a Dick Campbell side made up from his time at Dunfermline a decade later.
Leishman said: "I am so pleased that this game is taking place as it will bring back fantastic memories. I have managed to get almost my entire squad together with Stevie Morrison, John Watson, Ross Jack, Ray Farningham, David Irons, Graeme Robertson, Stuart Rafferty and Ian McCall from Partick Thistle playing.
"There are a few managers and coaches in there and I have noticed that Dick wanted to top that by bringing Owen Coyle in from Burnley. They have Manchester City on Saturday but Dick is hopeful that Owen will be here. He has also called in Andy Tod, Greg Shields, Steve Crawford, Allan Moore, Ivo den Bieman, and Scott McCulloch."
The motto of the foundation is to "encourage potential and ease distress", and since Mary's passing Leishman has participated in a sponsored walk from the Tay Bridge to the Forth Road Bridge, a fashion show and a quiz night to raise funds and keep Mary's name prominent in the Fife community.
Leishman, awarded the MBE in 2007 for his services to sport, has been involved at East End Park for over 40 years, and it is fitting that the club that has been pivotal in his life is hosting a match for the lady who was the cornerstone of his career, which began in 1968.
"Mary would have loved to see me here again, as Dunfermline was a big part of our lives. I signed in 1968 just after the club had won the Scottish Cup. I was a Scottish schoolboy internationalist, and it shows the standard of player here then, in that you needed to be a schoolboy internationalist just to get on the groundstaff."
Leishman's playing career was cut short by injury in the mid 1970s, but he remains the last Dunfermline player to score the winner in a league match at Ibrox when the Pars beat Rangers 4-3 in 1972.
A spell coaching the youths at East End Park ended in the role of first-team manager in 1983, although Dunfermline's fortunes had declined in the 15 years since Leishman first joined.
"We were 34th out of 38 teams and at a low ebb. We turned things around, won consecutive promotions and would have stayed in the 12-team Premier League if the present one-up and one-down rules were in force.
"We bounced back up and were getting crowds on average of over 10,500 during that time. I left in 1990 when I declined the post of general manager and then managed at Inverness Thistle, Montrose and Rosyth before becoming the last ever manager of Meadowbank Thistle, and the first boss at Livingston. I was there eight-and-a-half years before coming home as I was now ready to be the general manager at Dunfermline."
This spell at the Pars included taking charge of the team again in 2005 to win two of their final three league matches to avoid relegation, with Leishman saying: "That was one of the best things I have done in my life."
Leishman returned to his role as general manager in 2006 and now also serves on the SFL League Management Committee, and said: "I have done my bit over the years and now I can use my experience across the game."
He added: "I'm looking forward to this weekend and it has been a long time coming. The game at Kirkcaldy will have a terrific atmosphere and it is one victory apiece this season between us."
Sunday's game kicks off at 2.00pm and has entry set at £5.
"I am sure Mary will be proud of how everyone has responded and that is all I can ask for."
• Jim Leishman's full interview can be read at The Co-operative Insurance League Insider at theleagueinsider.com.
