Last Update:
November 27, 2024
The overall look of the ground has greatly improved with the re-development of both ends of the ground. The Norrie McCathie and East Stands at each end of the ground, are very similar in design and were opened in 1998. Both are covered single tiered stands, that are quite steep in appearance. On one side of the ground is the two tiered South (Main) Stand, which is a classic looking football stand built in the early 1960’s and is of a good size. On the other side is the smaller North Stand, which is single tiered and covered.
Away fans are normally housed in the East Stand at one end of the ground, where just over 3,000 fans can be accommodated. The facilities in this stand are good and the view of the playing action excellent. If demand requires it, then parts of the North & South (Main) Stand can also be allocated for a total of 6,783, which is the allocation for Old Firm games. Other visitors get a maximum of 4,400 seats. There is normally a good atmosphere generated within the ground.
One point of interest is that the winner of the half time lottery is presented with the relevant amount of cash on the pitch. Lets just hope that they don’t get mugged on the way home!
Jim Francis recommends the Elizabethan, near to the ground on Halbeath Road, for away supporters to drink in. Otherwise the ground is around 10-15 minutes walk away from the town centre where there are plenty of pubs to be found. Of note is a Wetherspoons outlet on the High Street, called the Guildhall and Linen Exchange, plus ‘The Commercial’ located just off the High Street on Commercial Street. Both these town centre pubs are listed in the CAMRA Good Beer Guide.
From North and South
Leave the M90 at Junction 3. Take the A907 towards Dunfermline. Just keep going straight on this road and you will eventually come to the ground on your right.
From the West
From the A985 take the A994 towards Dunfermline. Keep straight on this road into Dunfermline and you will come to the ground on your left.
Car Parking
There is an official car park at the ground (£1) behind the East Stand. Otherwise street parking.
There are two Railway Stations that are each about a 15 minute walk away from East End Park, or about £5 in a taxi. These are Dunfermline Queen Margaret and Dunfermline Town. Both are served by trains from Edinburgh and the latter as the name suggests is closer to the town centre.
Booking train tickets in advance will normally save you money! Find train times, prices and book tickets with Trainline. Visit the website below to see how much you can save on the price of your tickets:
Home Fans
Main (South) Stand: Adults £20, Concessions £14
Other Areas: Adults £18, Concessions £12
Away Fans
Adults £18, Concessions £12, Under 12’s £5
Concessions apply to Over 60’s, Full Time Students, Unemployed and Under 18’s.
Official Programme £3
Falkirk, Raith Rovers, Cowdenbeath and East Fife.
There are 12 wheelchair spaces made available to away supporters in the East Stand.
Dunfermline FC fixture list (takes you to the BBC Sports Website).
If you require hotel accommodation in the area then first try a hotel booking service provided by Late Rooms. They offer all types of accommodation to suit all tastes and pockets from; Budget Hotels, Traditional Bed & Breakfast establishments to Five Star Hotels and Serviced Apartments. Plus their booking system is straightforward and easy to use. Yes this site will earn a small commission if you book through them, but it will go to help with the running costs of keeping the Guide going.
Record Attendance
27,816 v Celtic, 1968.
Average Attendance
2018-2019: 5,009 (Championship League)
2017-2018: 5,243 (Championship League)
2016-2017: 4,438 (Championship League)
If you require hotel accommodation in Dunfermline then first try a hotel booking service provided by Booking.com. They offer all types of accommodation to suit all tastes and pockets from; Budget Hotels, Traditional Bed & Breakfast establishments to Five Star Hotels and Serviced Apartments. Plus their booking system is straightforward and easy to use. Yes this site will earn a small commission if you book through them, but it will help towards the running costs of keeping this Guide going.
Official Web Site: www.dafc.co.uk
Unofficial Web Site: www.dafc.net
If anything is incorrect or you have something to add, then please e-mail me at: [email protected] and I’ll update the guide.
Thanks to Geoff Jackson, Owen Pavey and Matthew Day for providing photos of East End Park, Dunfermline FC for this page. More of Geoff’s football ground photos can be viewed in his online album.
Ground Layout
Dunfermline Athletic v Falkirk
Scottish Championship
Friday 28th September 2018, 7.45pm
Tim Scales (Neutral)
Dunfermline v St Mirren
Scottish Championship League
Friday 26th January 2018, 7.45pm
Jamie Houston (Neutral fan)
Dunfermline v St Mirren
Scottish Championship League
Saturday 16th September 2017, 3:10pm
John Morgan (St.Mirren fan)
Dunfermline v Hamilton Academical
Scottish Cup Fifth Round
Saturday 11th February 2017, 3pm
John Boynton (Neutral fan)
Why were you looking forward to this game and visiting East End Park?
I was looking forward to the game just because I was visiting a new ground and getting to see some live football. Being a long distance Chelsea fan, and with them top of the Premiership at the moment, I've spent a number of frustrating early mornings stuck in their websites virtual waiting room before, after what seems like hours, being told tickets are sold out. So I was quite desperate to go and see a live game. As the wife was away filming a TV show ( get me!) in London so I had the day to myself. I intended to knock off another of the 92 English grounds but from the matches available to do in a day from Northumberland the train prices were pretty prohibitive. So I turned my attention to Scottish games and this was the first game I researched. The train journey only involved one change and the fare was less than £40 return.
How easy was your journey/finding the ground/car parking?
The journey was great. An hour and a half from Morpeth to Edinburgh then a 15 minute wait for a Scotrail train across the Forth to Dunfermline which took about 30 minutes. I got the train past Dunfermline town center station to Queen Margaret's on the expectation that knowing may way back there after the game would give me a better chance of getting a seat on the train to Edinburgh. After getting off the train there seemed to be no signage to help visitors find their way to the town centre etc.. Out of the railway station I headed down the hill knowing if I could find my way to Halbeath road it would lead to the ground. This turned out to be correct and after turning right and a 20 minute walk ( passing what looked like a reasonable pub / restaurant called the Elizabethan on the way ) I was outside East End Park.
What you did before the game pub/chippy etc, and were the home fans friendly?
I had a walk around the town center and the park to stretch my legs after the journey and to grab a chance to see some of the town. Both were very pleasant. I chose to then go the the East Port Bar for a drink, a bite to eat and watch the lunch time games on the TV. It was a very nice and friendly bar with both the Celtic and Arsenal games showing on the big screens. Unfortunately no food available though!
What you thought on seeing the ground, first impressions of away end then other sides of East End Park?
My first thoughts on East End Park were how handily placed it was for the train station and the town centre on the other side. It looked a bit bigger and more modern than I perhaps expected. It had a quaint system for buying tickets from what they called a kiosk but what I would call an old wooden shack built into the fabric of the ground itself. It felt quite big inside the ground but was sparsely populated with one stand not being used. Credit to it though it created a reasonable atmosphere.
Comment on the game itself, atmosphere, stewards, pies, facilities etc..
The conditions were poor. Driving rain and sleet throughout the game. The players though made the best of it in a keenly fought battle of attrition rather than flair. The game was a team of taller stronger looking Premiership players with a bit more skill versus a championship side with m ore heart and determination. It was an even game but with an hour gone, and while one up, Dunfermline missed two gilt edged chances to seal victory. Hamilton eventually got the equaliser and earned a replay. The atmosphere was quite good for a sparse crowd although disappointingly the cry's of derision that met poor play were a lot louder than the periodic songs of support. Finding hot sustenance on a freezing day was a bit of a saga. On squeezing through the very tight turnstile the stairs led straight to the seats. Being a spoilt Premier League fan I'm used to being delivered to a big concourse with numerous toilets and food counters before getting to my seat. Here I had to walk to the far end of the stand and down some back stairs to find all of the facilities. The food point was very homely and run by some lovely ladies with a reasonable selection of food and drink. I was over the moon that they served Scotch Mutton pies. They were that good I had two before the game and one at half time to drive out the freezing cold weather (don't judge my gluttony too harshly, remember there was no food on at the pub!).
Comment on getting away from the ground after the game:
After the game the trains to Edinburgh seemed to run about every 30 minutes from Queen Margaret's station. Unfortunately there were some extremely drunk Hamilton fans at the station and on a cold and very wet day all those waiting for the train were huddled in to one small shelter so you couldn't get away from them. When I first arrived there was one big drunk lad trying to kick off but after the usual pleas for him just to calm down it came to nothing. Having said that he was that drunk I think if he'd swung a punch at anyone he'd have more likely fallen over himself rather than knock anyone else over. There was a Police presence at the station but they only came over to the platform as the train arrived. To be fair after ensuring I got in a different carriage to the drunk bloke when the train arrived the Hamilton supporters in that carriage were all very decent!
Summary of overall t houghts of the day out:
It was a very enjoyable day even though it was wet and freezing cold. Dunfermline is a good package for having train station, ground and town center relatively close together and all pretty much on the same straight road. I got the usual buzz of visiting a new ground and at a very reasonable cost. The train fare was good, being a cup match it was only £15 to get in the ground and the food and beer were all reasonably priced as well. The whole day cost me roughly what I would pay just for the ticket to get into Stamford Bridge. All in all it felt like a long but very enjoyable day. What else are Saturdays for?
Dunfermline v Stranraer
Scottish Football League One
Saturday 27th February 2016, 3pm
Andrew Goddard (Neutral fan)
Why were you looking forward to this game and visiting East End Park?
I was making this first trip to Dunfermline with an old friend, both as neutrals but with an interest in seeing the stadium first hand having recently read about the history of the club and town. Since the town was in 'striking distance' of Edinburgh we'd also booked an overnight stay in the capital. A few beers were planned, and indeed they duly materialised to suitably lubricate what on the face of it a hell of a trip from West London for a game at this level.
How easy was your journey/finding the ground/car parking?
Something of an epic journey, involving as it did a 6.45am departure. We travelled by train, the bulk of the journey taking place on the largely picturesque East Coast Main Line. A few cans and a chance to see the recently re-homed Flying Scotsman at York meant the four and a half hour journey to Edinburgh from Kings Cross passed surprisingly quickly. Changing onto the 2-carriage local Scotrail train at Waverley to complete the journey (£6.40 return) was happily straightforward enough, and the views from the Forth Rail Bridge were also a treat on a bright, crisp February day. There didn't seem to be much in the way of signage on arrival at Dunfermline Town station but we soon found our way into the town centre.
What you did before the game pub/chippy etc, and were the home fans friendly?
Having arrived into the town centre for about 2pm, we decided against the obvious default option of 'pub' since the couple we saw were filled to the brim with locals watching the perennial 'wooden spoon' match in the Six Nations, Scotland v Italy, and neither us were fans of the oval ball. So after a quick look at Carnegie Hall we headed to the stadium (which didn't appear to be signposted from the centre) to sort out tickets and (hopefully)a beer.
What you thought on seeing the ground, first impressions of away end then other sides of East End Park?
The ground was rather more modern than I'd anticipated, slightly disappointingly so. There was a large superstore immediately next door and we didn't pass any pubs where we could have ducked in and brought our miniscule Pars knowledge up to speed. But announcing ourselves as 'first timers' in the Ticket Office, we were provided with a brief summary of the three stands in usage on the day (Stranraer presumably not expected to bring the numbers worthy of staffing and stewarding an away end) by a very helpful member of staff, and directed to a club bar (the somewhat optimistically titled 'Legends'). We opted for seats in the Main (South) Stand on the basis that it was the biggest, oldest, closest and the one containing the club bar. This facility turned out to excellent – £3.30 for a pint of Stella (unexpectedly but thankfully served in glass rather than plastic), with plenty of club memorabilia from happier times and pictures of old stars. A great facility which even the presence of rugby on all screens couldn't dampen for us.
Our View Of East End Park
Comment on the game itself, atmosphere, stewards, pies, facilities etc..
We entered the stadium at 2.50pm and I immediately procured two bridies. Having been drinking since Peterborough we thought these mysterious items might be just what was required, admittedly being slightly swayed by signs proclaiming their award-winning status all round the ground. They turned out to be vast steak pasties, at £2.40 apiece great value and very tasty. Don't leave East End Park without indulging!
The game? Great fun. Dunfermline clearly a cut above at this level but alas Stranraer producing some of the worst defending I have seen in 30 years of watching senior football. There was some clinical finishing in a 6-1 home victory and intriguingly named Pars striker El Bakhtaoui certainly looked a player in this company, but the general standard of play was not surprisingly rather modest. The stadium on the other hand was excellent, even with just 3,016 inside. A knowledgeable and friendly home crowd clearly came along expecting the three points but being a novice to the Scottish game I don't know whether Stranraer's inept defending is typical of the level or something more worrying for the visitors to agonise over. Dunfermline soured our upbeat mood somewhat by insisting on playing the dreaded goal music after each of the half-dozen home goals, the irksome 'Glad All Over' by the Dave Clark Five. Why do clubs persist with this kind of nonsense?
Comment on getting away from the ground after the game:
Having cheered off our heroes, it was back to Legends, situated about 15 yards from our exit onto the main road. Surprisingly though (for a football club) rugby was again on all screens, this time England playing someone or other. Given this prevented us from being able to check on bets and league tables we took the executive decision to bail out without any of that souring the celebratory mood and headed off to town to find a pub. We had to give the town Wetherspoons a swerve as despite a grand exterior there was the inevitable carnage of food remnants and empty glasses strewn across every available table inside. This proved to be a blessing as we instead tried The Commercial which was a lovely pub with an intriguing selection of (mostly Scottish) ales. After a couple of those apiece, we headed back to Dunfermline Town for the train back to Edinburgh and our overnight digs.
Summary of overall thoughts of the day out:
Really enjoyed the day at East End Park. Friendly folk, an excellent 'clubhouse' set-up with the Legends facility, and despite initial reservations we were very impressed with the Main Stand interior. Clearly a club that respects it's traditions but isn't bound by them. Wish them every future success in what will surely be a title-winning season. The Stranraer boss, reverting to what managers do best, put the mauling down to 'decisions going against us' in the following days press. I suspect he didn't even believe that himself!
Dunfermline v Rangers
Premier League
Saturday September 24th, 2011, 3pm
Jim Prentice (Rangers fan)
1. Why you were looking forward to going to East End Park?
I am not exactly sure why, but I had wanted to go to Dunfermline's East End Park for some years before the opportunity came along. I think I had probably seen the ground on the television numerous times and thought it'd be a good idea to tick it of my list. Sadly the chance of a trip was put on hold for four seasons due to the Pars' exile in the First Division, but they won promotion back to the top flight in 2011, so when my Rangers Supporters' Club decided to run a bus to East End Park I jumped at the chance.
2. How easy was your journey/finding the ground/car parking?
I left Lincoln by car at something ridiculous like 4.30am to be at Knaresborough to get on the coach for 6.30am. These lunchtime kick offs mean VERY early starts for Bears living south of the border! The coach journey was pretty straightforward and I really liked going over the Forth Road Bridge – the view across the water is amazing. Before the match we were dropped off about half a mile from the ground to go for a swift pint.
3. What you did before the game pub/chippy…. home fans friendly?
We went to a pub called the Elizabethan on Halbeath Road. It seemed well equipped for large crowds, with spacious insides with a large bar and pool tables along with a fair-sized patio area to the rear, and had a nice mix of home and away supporters. I had a brief chat with a couple of Dunfermline fans who were pretty friendly – a nice surprise given that most SPL fans won't give you the time of day if you support one half of the Old Firm!
4. What you thought on seeing the ground, first impressions of away end then other sides of the ground?
We walked the short distance along Halbeath Road towards the ground – it was like the 'good old days' before out of town stadia started popping up everywhere because we just followed the sight of the floodlights! Our seats were situated in the North Stand, at the side of the pitch. Rangers fans shared half of this stand with the home supporters, and were also allocated the East Stand behind the goal and a couple of blocks of the Main Stand, so we were well represented as always.
What struck me about East End Park is how they have retained a nice mix of 'old and new' since redeveloping the ground in the 1990s. The East and Norrie McCathie stands (behind the goals) are smart, steep affairs that offer a good view of the pitch and are not dissimilar to the 'behind the goal' stands at Kilmarnock. The Main Stand is a proper, old-fashioned design that has worn well over the years. The seating in the North Stand is quite shallow and is home to the television gantry, while the concourse runs directly behind the last row of seats and is not partitioned off from the main seated area. It is looking quite tired and the toilets in particular could do with a bit of a refurb, but all in all I was very impressed with a ground that has a lot of character without being totally out of step with modern times.
5. Comment on the game itself, atmosphere, stewards, pies, toilets etc…
As mentioned, the toilets in the North Stand weren't great, but the pies more than made up for it! There was a bit of banter with between the home and away fans in the North Stand and the Rangers fans sang constantly throughout the game. The home fans were rather quiet for the duration but tried to rouse their side when they made the odd foray into Rangers' half.
A the time, Rangers were in a rich vein of form having won every match away from Ibrox since the season started. They picked up from where they had left off in their previous match when Carlos Bocanegra headed home from a corner after just eight minutes, before Mo Edu doubled the lead with a cracking low shot from the edge of the area on 16. The rest of the first half was relatively dull, with Rangers just containing the home side.
After the break, the Gers looked like they really mean business and Steven Naismith made it 3-0 six minutes in following a barnstorming run – I was still queuing for a pie when he scored! Rangers played really well in the second half and could have scored a bag full, but in the end found the net just one more time, Naismith grabbing his second nine minutes from time. In the end, it was a commanding display as the Gers ran out 4-0 winners.
6. Comment on getting away from the ground after the game:
Supporters' buses were parked just outside of the North Stand and we got away pretty quickly after the match, with no incidents of note. The journey home was lengthy but easy enough, with another trip over the the sun-drenched Firth of Forth to savour. I did note that there are two railway stations very close to the stadium that are served by Edinburgh Waverley and Haymarket, so fans travelling by train should be able to get to East End Park with no difficulty.
7. Summary of overall thoughts of the day out:
Overall, a cracking day out and yet another ground visited. East End Park is a really good ground to go to and I would recommend it to anyone who hasn't been. Of course, this was helped by the scoreline and the glorious sunshine, but so often I have been looking forward to visiting a stadium but have left disappointed; thankfully, this was not one of those occasions.