No man could have ensured that Pars United were truly united other than Jim Leishman.
Former player and manager on more than one occasion, director, councillor and now Fife provost, there is no standalone title that incorporates decades worth of commitment to one football club and one community but Mr Dunfermline probably comes closest.
So when the East End Park legend puts the confirmation that Pars United now have formal control of Dunfermline Athletic Football Club alongside their greatest day on the pitch, you get some perspective on what the success of the supporters’ rescue campaign means to him.
“I’ve been very fortunate because I went to Hampden to see Roy Barry lift the Scottish Cup and then two years later I was playing alongside one of the greatest players in Dunfermline’s history, Alec Edwards,” Leishman said.
“It was like a daydream for me. I’ve had great memories in football, from going up the leagues to keeping the club up and taking Dunfermline to Hampden.
“The aim of Pars United was to give every Dunfermline fan of the future the chance to share what we have shared.
“To live those memories in future and it was a very different feeling when we managed that.
“I remember being beat 3-0 in a cup final and my guts were killing me. I didn’t want to talk to a single soul. But then when that fades you think about the journey that took Dunfermline to Hampden, and that was great.
“My stomach has been rumbling a lot of times over the last six months, but we are back in business and there are loads of cup finals to come for Dunfermline Athletic.”
He added: “It was back in March I was standing here almost greetin’. I can’t believe it.
“My association with Dunfermline goes back to the 1960s and the whole situation was so surreal. But the steering group deserve great credit for turning this situation around to reach where we are today.
“What you have to remember is a lot of local businesses suffer when a football club goes into administration. We have to get their confidence and their trust back.”
When complications over the club’s lease of their Pitreavie training base were being settled in the Court of Session in Edinburgh last Friday, Leishman was fearful that months of hard work would have all been for nothing.
“It went right to the last hour,” he said. “We were about an hour and a half away from going under. It was really scary.
“I’ve always believed there would be a Dunfermline Athletic. It’s been here for 128 years and I’ve been a part of it since the 60s, but I never once thought we would fold. But that was my heart ruling my head, really, because when I let my head do the thinking it got too frightening.
“But we are moving forward now and that’s the main thing. We are not talking about the negatives of the past, we are talking about the positives for the future. The players under Jim have been great and the fans have clapped them off every week. There’s a unity around the place now.”
Leishman is one of six on the newly formed interim board and he is confident “the trust is coming back” from fans to the club’s custodians after the Gavin Masterton and John Yorkston years.
He said: “I don’t really want to get into what happened in the past but I know what you mean.
“The Dunfermline supporters genuinely care about their club. I’m not saying Gavin Masterton and John Yorkston weren’t Dunfermline supporters. Of course they were, but it didn’t work for them. What they tried didn’t work and it was time to move on.
“But I think the trust is coming back. We’ve 1,800 season tickets and a walk-up of 1,200. Most match days there’s up to 3,500 in League 1, which is great. We need them. Take Rangers out of our division and we are by far the best supported team.
“Do the fans now have to get behind the club to stop the wolf coming back to the door? Yes. It would be great to see Dunfermline back up at the top and playing in front of big crowds at East End again.
“We are at no means at the end of the road today but the fans know that. Our target was to save the club then to buy the club and now the aim is to secure the club’s future for the grandchildren of Fife.”