The fifty years following the club's admittance to the SFL saw little success, with the side most frequently playing in the second tier, with occasional appearances in the top flight.

[13] Pars United's Bob Garmory was appointed the club's interim chairman and was joined on the board by Jim Leishman, Ian Hunter, Kip McBay, Craig McWhirter and Margaret Ross.

[15] The club stumbled to a 7th place finish under John Potter but the squad was in a much stronger position and Allan Johnston lead the Pars to the League One title by an 18-point margin in 2015.

[16] This period in the club’s history saw the arrival of fan favourites such as Faissal El Bakhtaoui, Andy Geggan and a returning Joe Cardle.

John “Yogi” Hughes replaced Grant after five months and with the club bottom of the Scottish Championship he failed to turn around the team’s fortunes, with the Pars once again relegated to League One.

[20] In September 2020 and at the height of the COVID 19 pandemic, Dunfermline announced that a group of four German investors had agreed to purchase a minority share in the club with the intention to eventually be the majority owners.

[23] Work stalled due to pandemic related construction cost increases and a fading interest from the German investors who had still not taken up the commitment to purchase the majority shares they had previously agreed to buy.

[24] Dunfermline appointed former Dundee boss James McPake as manager on a two-year deal following relegation to League One, with Dave Mackay joining as assistant.

[25] January 2025 saw a deal finalised for American based outfit Park Bench SFC LLC to buy the club, with former poker star James Bord & business partner Evan Sofer named co-owners.

[26] The Las Vegas based duo cited their desire to utilise their backgrounds in data analytics and artificial intelligence to realise the club's "immense potential".

Already owning a minority stake in Spanish Segunda División side Córdoba CF and Bulgarian outfit PFC Septemvri Sofia, Park Bench LLC aquired 99.84% of Dunfermline.

The club's social media profiles quickly replaced the "Living True Sportsmanship" motto of the previous German owners with tag lines of "A new era".

The new owners first act was to fill the head coach vacancy by appointing Fife neighbours Kelty Hearts manager Michael Tidser on a two and a half year deal.

The authors wrote: "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.

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.

Dunfermline Athletic have traditional rivalries with local sides Cowdenbeath and Raith Rovers as well as contesting the Kincardine Derby with near neighbours, Falkirk.

In the STV television detective drama Taggart, the writer and Dunfermline fan, Stuart Hepburn used the names of the 1968 Scottish cup winning side for the characters in a 2003 episode.