When Jock Stein took charge at Dunfermline Athletic it was the launchpad for a glittering career in management.
Stein’s apprenticeship had been long, hard and varied.
Born in Bellshill in 1922, Stein followed his father and grandfather down the pits and had a full career as a miner before turning to professional football.
The experience of working bare back to bare back below the earth as part of a fiercely loyal team for 11 years shaped his outlook on life.
After playing for Albion Rovers, he joined non-league Welsh club Llanelli Town in 1950 and became a full-time professional footballer on the sum of £12 per week.
Being homesick, he lasted just a year.
Jock Stein played 148 games for Celtic
Celtic brought him back to Scotland for a transfer fee of £1,200.
Stein led them to victory in the 1953 Coronation Cup.
He won the League Championship and Scottish Cup the following season.
Stein was forced to retire from playing in January 1957.
A persistent ankle injury resulted in him having a permanent limp.
He stayed at Parkhead in the job of coaching the reserve and youth players.
Dunfermline Athletic came calling on March 13 1960.
Stein was appointed manager with just six games of the season remaining.
They were two points from the bottom of the league and without a win in 15 games.
Stein demonstrated his capabilities from the moment he arrived at East End Park.
Hard work and the ability to read a man like a book were the qualities he brought from the pits and he gave the players a new confidence in themselves.
Stein’s Dunfermline Athletic spell was stuff of dreams
Stein’s first test was against Celtic and it seemed a daunting challenge.
The opening goal came after 10 seconds.
Scored by Pars striker Charlie Dickson, it was set-up by inside forward Jim Kerray.
Dunfermline won the game 3-2 in the spectacular style he would become noted for, which was the beginning of a remarkable run of six consecutive wins.
The Stein legend was born.
They finished the season in sixth-bottom spot with 29 points, seven clear of the relegation spots — St Mirren (22) and Arbroath (15).
There was a lot more to the man than a short-term boost.
He brought a new attitude to the club.
Stein was a great man-manager.
Training changed very quickly and the players found themselves doing all manner of different drills including running over moors and pony-trekking.
The following season Dunfermline not only gained more points in the league but made club history by winning the Scottish Cup for the first time against Celtic.
When the first game ended goalless, a lot of people thought their chance had gone.
The Pars lifted the trophy when they won 2-0 in a replay at Hampden.
Dave Thomson and Charlie Dickson got the goals.
Stein ran on to the park with coat tails flapping to embrace his players.
Dunfermline won the Scottish Cup in 1961
The Hampden joy was repeated in Dunfermline that night.
As the result came through just on 8pm, the houses began to empty and the people moved towards the City Chambers where the bells were ringing out the news.
Fans were packed like sardines as far as the eye could see as the double-decker bus carrying the team moved down High Street shortly after 11pm.
Provost Archibald Frederick started to make a speech at the City Chambers.
He was interrupted by thousands of voices chanting: “We want Stein!”
Stein said: “Thank you all very much for this wonderful welcome.
“I am quite sure you will understand how difficult it is for me to express the joy I feel.
“I hope this is the first of many happy nights we shall have together.”
Stein was given a five-year contract after winning the Scottish Cup.
Memorable European nights followed.
Stein took Dunfermline to the quarter-finals of the European Cup Winners’ Cup the following season, where they were stopped by Ujpest Dozsa from Hungary.
Then, competing in the 1962-63 Fairs Cup, they scored a remarkable 2-0 victory against Everton at East End Park for a 2-1 aggregate win.
Greater things were in store.
Valencia game was greatest comeback
Dunfermline were drawn against the Fairs Cup holders in the next round.
Valencia showed their quality with a 4-0 first-leg victory in the Mestalla Stadium.
But, remarkably, Stein pulled another rabbit out of the hat.
Almost 15,000 packed into East End Park on a chilly evening in December 1962.
Amazingly, they were 3-0 up after just 17 minutes thanks to a goal from George Peebles and a double from Jackie Sinclair.
Valencia got one back to silence the crowd.
However, inspired by 16-year-old Alex Edwards on the wing, Dunfermline came back with goals from Jim MacLean and Peebles again to make it 5-1.
All before half-time.
MacLean deflected a shot into his own net five minutes after the break but the Pars fought back and Alex Smith made it 6-2.
6-6 on aggregate it finished.
The comeback forced a third game play-off tussle in Lisbon.
Valencia won by a single goal and went on to lift the cup.
Jock Stein left Dunfermline post in 1964
Stein unexpectedly resigned in February 1964.
Dunfermline captain George Miller summed up the shock.
“I had to break the news to the rest of the players,” he said.
“At first they wouldn’t believe me.
“It still doesn’t seem possible even now that Jock Stein is going to leave the club.
“All the players realise that it was the boss who made everything possible for us.
“As far as we are concerned, there’s just no one like him.”
Stein became Hibernian manager in March 1964.
He won the Summer Cup but this proved to be a stop-over before his return to Parkhead and the start of a new chapter in Scottish football history.
During his golden sojourn with Celtic, Stein won 10 league championships, eight Scottish Cups and six League Cups.
Nine of those league titles were in a row.
The glorious peak was 1967 when Celtic became the first British side to win the European Cup when they defeated Inter Milan 2-1 in Lisbon.
Stein returned to Dunfermline before he died
Stein moved to Leeds United in 1978.
But headed back north after just 44 days at Elland Road.
He became manager of Scotland after Ally MacLeod resigned.
It was his second stint, having been part-time national manager in 1965.
Stein won his first game, against Norway, and gradually introduced players like Steve Archibald, Alan Hansen, Paul Hegarty, Alex McLeish and Gordon Strachan.
His side qualified for the World Cup finals in Spain in 1982.
Stein suffered a heart attack and died in the very moment of his final triumph, during Scotland’s World Cup qualifier in Wales in 1985.
He was 62.
He had been at East End Park to celebrate Dunfermline’s centenary just a month before he collapsed, which was his last visit to where it all started.
Stein will be forever associated with the legendary Celtic side he steered to dominance through the mid-60s to mid-70s.
It is a mark of his greatness and his standing in football, however, that he remains a revered figure at yet another Scottish football club.
Jock Stein was “the man who made everything possible” for the players who enjoyed such success at Dunfermline Athletic in the 1960s.
They loved him for it.
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