Ken Currie

The club were saddened to hear the news this week that former player Ken Currie had passed away at a Care Home in Glenrothes at the age of 91.

He had been possibly the oldest former Dunfermline player still alive at the time of his death on 22nd March 2017.

Born and bred in Thornton, Ken Currie’s football career saw him progress through Buckhaven High School and the Wemyss Area Select before joining Bayview Youth Club, managed by Davie McLean. Along with his brother Willie, Ken was a member of the team which lifted the Scottish Juvenile Cup in 1942. At the end of that season McLean moved on to Heart of Midlothian, taking three Bayview players with him – Jimmy Brown, Davie Laing and 17 year-old Ken Currie.

Ken broke into the Hearts’ team during the war-time North Eastern League in 1943/44 and was still there when normal service resumed in 1946. In that first season back he helped the team reach the last four of the League Cup and went on to make 59 appearances for Hearts, scoring 15 goals. With players of the calibre of Conn, Bauld and Wardhaugh it was difficult to get a regular game and a fee of £1,500 took him to Third Lanark in 1951. Things weren’t so successful there and he played just six times, scoring once, before moving on to Raith Rovers in February 1953.

He was released at the end of the season without playing a competitive match but was picked up by Dunfermline manager Bobby Ancell. A chartered accountant by profession, Ken made 24 appearances for the Pars during 1953/54, scoring seven goals. The emergence of players such as Jimmy Millar and Felix Reilly led to his release after just one season at East End Park. He concluded his senior career by scoring in his one league match for Stranraer.