IN part 2 of the story of Central Park 's centenary being celebrated this season club historial, David Allan looks at how things developed once the new stadium was established.

After the new Grandstand was erected in 1922, Cowdenbeath laid out a putting green on vacant ground at the east end of the ground.

At the west end a corrugated iron wind break was put up. Then in 1924, Cowdenbeath were promoted and they would spend a decade in the top flight.

The industrial depression created widespread financial challenges and in order to help combating the impact of this greyhound racing was introduced at Central Park in 1928. This was despite opposition from the local churches and the Fife Coal Company. A Glasgow syndicate was to operate the races.

A trackless hare was used — the most modern system used in the sport, and one that was only in use in one place in England at the time.

The west end of the Central Park enclosure was altered so that the ground would offer the best facilities for this recreation that could be found in Scotland.

The syndicate had secured the right of occasional occupation, which meant that they had the use of the enclosure for two or three days per week.

By April 1928, orders for the kennels had been placed, and the arrangements for the electric equipment the track were soon to be put in the hands of the contractor. There would be no encroachment on the pitch as there was ample room outside.

The racing was to take place on moss litter. Scott Duncan, the football club manager, was to be secretary of the greyhound racing company - The Cowdenbeath Greyhound Racing Company, Limited (later succeeded by the East of Scotland Greyhound Racing Company). The 'dugs' commenced at Central Park on Saturday July 7. The six races on opening day were the Lochgelly Stakes, Kelty Stakes,

Dunfermline Stakes, Crossgates Stakes, Lumphinnans Hurdle and the Lochore Stakes.

The Cowdenbeath Supporters Club was then founded on May 16 1932 at a well-attended meeting in the Old Co-operative Hall, Cowdenbeath. Its aim was to ‘do its level best to assist the club during the present financial crisis’.

In 1937, a loudspeaker system was installed at the ground in November. It played numbers (music) both before the match and at half-time.

Cowden beat Brechin City 10-0 that day with Rab Walls scoring four. Another innovation that day was the introduction of six smartly dressed ball boys in club colours. In 1938, the Supporters Club agreed to purchase 50 telegraph poles to use for terracing the ground. Plans were also

completed to equip a clubhouse underneath the stand, and powers were given to a committee to purchase wood for that purpose.

Then when the club won promotion in 1939 it was reported that, ‘A call at Central Park this week found number of people busy. Members of the Supporters' Club were putting the finishing touches to a brick lavatory, and not far away a number were working as bricklayers, building a porch at the entrance of the newly erected clubrooms. I have a suspicion that if they are amateur bricklayers, well they know more than the average man about the work, but I think few have laid bricks before. Inside the room amateur (?) joiners were finishing off the woodwork.

This room on match days will be used as refreshment room, and on week nights a club room for members. At one corner two men were squaring up the season ticket rush, getting

in the last of the money, and busier still telling other applicants that they were very sorry all "

seasons " were sold out’.

However, just 2 months later Cowdenbeath (and the rest of the UK to be precise) were at War.

The closedown of Cowdenbeath due to the War in 1940 saw Central Park looked after between 1939 and 1945 by a skeleton staff on a care and maintenance basis. Greyhound racing remained popular and there were occasional football matches.

In the heyday of local greyhound racing in the 1930s to 1950s you also had the Crossgates Greyhound Racing Stadium aka Humbug Park and Dunfermline East and West tracks.

Dunfermline East was at East End Park and Dunfermline West was at the Old Quarry, Milesmark. In 1945 the fans were prime movers behind the Cowdenbeath Football Trust that revived the club. The ground was brought back into order.

In May 1946, it was announced, ‘Cowdenbeath Supporters' Club, responsible for getting Cowdenbeath F.C. to resume senior football last season at Central Park, are still going ahead.

During the season they have handed over £1000 to the club. Now they are embarking on a huge park improvement scheme, including the terracing.

Assistance will come from the Fife Coal Company, who will lay a railway to the ground, and thousands of tons of "redd" from No. 7 Pit will be taken there.

The use of a bulldozer has also been promised. The manual labour of finishing the work will be supplied

by the supporters' club, who intend to fix up new steel crush barriers, paint the stand, and do other repairs. When the job is completed Central Park will hold at least 50,000 people’.

Five months later and it was announced, ‘Cowdenbeath Supporters' Club are proving that they do mean something for the club. They have a scheme to erect a covered enclosure to be situated opposite the stand. Permits have been applied for and it may not be long before the work will

be started’.

The plan though was stymied as the club was unable to get a permit for the steel that was required given the restrictions that applied back then.

Later, Cowden manager of the 1950’s, Bobby Baxter, had a revolutionary plan for that side of the ground. Bear in mind that back then that south side of the ground basically consisted of a large bing and stretched away back to

encompass the area now outside the ground where the red blaes pitch was located. Bobby’s idea was to have the ground layered into wide terraces and for a tunnel to be built whereby cars could drive in and park on tiered terracing – instead of drive in movies there would have been

drive in football. This too was a plan that never came to fruition.