Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Crossing the Raith-Dunfermline divide: 7 top players who played for both

With the third Fife derby of the season set to take place this weekend, Courier Sport looks at some of those who have pulled on both Pars and Rovers shirts.

From left: Andy Tod at Raith Rovers, Jimmy Nicholl at Dunfermline, Stevie Crawford at Raith and and Paul Smith at the Pars. Images: SNS.
From left: Andy Tod at Raith Rovers, Jimmy Nicholl at Dunfermline, Stevie Crawford at Raith and and Paul Smith at the Pars. Images: SNS.

There are plenty of players currently playing for Raith Rovers or Dunfermline who have also turned out for their Fife rivals.

Pars skipper Kyle Benedictus last year swapped the navy of Raith for the black and white stripes, joining up with another former Rover in Craig Wighton.

At Stark’s Park, there is a glut of ex-Dunfermline players, even extending to boardroom level.

Aidan Connolly, Callum Smith, Ross Millen and Shaun Byrne will all be in line to take on their former side this weekend, while Euan Murray is now in his second Rovers spell, having spent time at Dunfermline in between.

Ross Millen scored a ‘Panenka’ for Raith last season – and one for Dunfermline back in 2014. Images: SNS.

Even Ethan Ross, currently on loan at Falkirk, spent time at East End Park.

Raith CEO Andrew Barrowman also had two stints at the Pars and technical director John Potter has been on the books there as a player, coach and manager.

Ahead of Saturday’s derby clash, Courier Sport has pulled together a list of seven top stars to have featured for both clubs.

Jimmy Nicholl

Jimmy Nicholl would go on to seal legendary status at Raith as a player-manager, winning two promotions, taking the side to the top flight and winning the 1994/95 Coca-Cola Cup along the way.

But before he signed up at Stark’s Park in 1990, the Northern Irish full-back spent a season at East End Park.

Dunfermline Athletic's Jimmy Nicholl passes back to keeper Andy Rhodes. Image: SNS.
Dunfermline’s Jimmy Nicholl passes back to keeper Andy Rhodes. Image: SNS.

Nicholl returned to Stark’s Park for a second time as Rovers manager after a year at Millwall and was later Pars assistant manager under both Dick Campbell and Jimmy Calderwood.

Kevin Nisbet

Playing for Raith and Dunfermline before a move to Millwall is something Kevin Nisbet shares with Nicholl.

After promising signs as a youngster, Nisbet dropped down a few levels to rekindle his career, leaving Partick Thistle as they were relegated from the Premiership and joining Raith in League One.

Over his season at Stark’s, Nisbet netted 34 times in 46 appearances before moving to the Pars and scoring another 23 times over 32 appearances.

That alerted Hibs and Nisbet continued to shine, earning caps for Scotland before a big-money move to England.

Bobby Kirk

We have to go right back to the start of the post-war era for our oldest entrant, full-back Bobby Kirk.

Kirk played 180 times for Dunfermline over a six-year spell, during which he helped the Pars to their first-ever major final – the 1949/50 League Cup.

He would go on to play two seasons at Raith before a dream move to his boyhood Hearts during a golden era for the club.

Kirk died in 2010, aged 82.

Paul Smith

These days, Paul Smith is more known for being John McGlynn’s No 2.

The former midfielder has had two stints as Raith assistant, winning the Challenge Cup in his latter spell.

Paul Smith and John McGlynn, pictured on the sidelines, had two spells as a management duo at Raith. Image: SNS.
Paul Smith and John McGlynn had two spells as a management duo at Raith. Image: SNS.

Smith was also on the books for four years as a player at Stark’s Park, one of six Scottish clubs he played for over his career.

After that came six years over two spells at Dunfermline where he made more than 100 appearances.

Andy Tod

Part of a rare breed in the mould of Dion Dublin and Chris Sutton who could play up front or at centre-back, Andy Tod is a Pars legend.

The towering Tod played well over 300 games for Dunfermline over two periods and now his two sons feature regularly for their reserves.

Andy Tod during his season at Raith. Image: SNS.
Andy Tod during his season at Raith. Image: SNS.

The older of the two, 17-year-old Andrew, has made seven first-team appearances so far across three different competitions this season.

After his time at East End Park, Tod senior was brought to Stark’s Park by McGlynn for one season where he was part of the 2007/08 side that finished third in the then-Second Division and lost to Airdrie United in the play-offs.

Craig Brewster and Stevie Crawford

Like cheese and wine, these two were better when paired and Dunfermline got a healthy serving.

Stevie Crawford and Craig Brewster, pictured celebrating a Pars goal, were a formidable partnership at Dunfermline. Image: SNS.
Stevie Crawford and Craig Brewster were a formidable partnership at Dunfermline. Image: SNS.

Taking the analogy further, Brewster was one of those players who improved with age and often brought out the best in his strike partner.

That’s not to take anything away from Crawford, who broke into the Scotland squad as a Rovers youngster before becoming a favourite at East End Park and returning later as manager.

Back in 1993, they were part of Raith’s First Division title-winning squad.

Conversation