Pars The Nickname
Date: Friday, 8th Oct 2004The "Pars" is one of the great unsolved mysteries of football.
Long may it continue! There are numerous theories as to the origin of the nickname the Pars. Read the theories here and make up your own mind!
Where does the name Pars come from?
excerpt from book published in 1984
"Black and White Magic" by Jim Paterson and Douglas Scott.
There are numerous theories as to the origin of the nickname the Pars. Most tend to confirm the more common belief that the name arose from the team`s parallel striped shirts, their drinking habits or their style of play. The latter were both described as "paralytic". The earliest theory claims that in the early days when the Football Club was closely connected with the Cricket Club, the footballers were renowned for their performances at the bar and so were called the "Paralytics".
However in the early 1900s it is known that Athletic`s nickname was the"Dumps" - shortened from Dunfermline- and this is said to have been coined by English sailors visiting East End Park when their ship docked at Rosyth. After the 1914-18 War they were known as the Pars and some believe the parallel black and white stripes to be the reason.
Another school of thought involves English workers who came to work at the armaments depot at Crombie and at Rosyth Dockyard; they kept their association with their local team by forming the Plymouth Argyle (Rosyth) Supporters Club and it is said that the Dunfermline nickname comes from the banners in evidence around the ground.
original story : - 18th June 2000
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added 31st January 2006:
after reading the Pars nickname posts, I have a cutting from an old Daily Record in which the question was asked as to how our nickname came about. This is the reply that was printed.
No one knows for sure. In his book Fifeshire Football Memories David A Allan says the first mention of it was in the local papers around 1912-13 & that it may have stemmed from a court case involving Cowdenbeath. In a bid to ascertain Cowdenbeath`s standing in the game, a solicitor asked their club secretary if they were "on a par" with Dunfermline. Allan reckons fans could have adapted that for the Pars tag
It`s always another theory
Harry Innes (newcastlepar)
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